Georgia Power Shutoff Request Ignored, then Fraudulently Charged Me for 4 Months of Service Atlanta, Georgia

I emailed Georgia Power and told them to shut off my lights in Feb 2011 because my family was moving.  They left the lights on for 4 months... and then claimed there was "unauthorized usage" at the house.  Because I own the house where I asked that the service be turned off, I would go back to check on the property every other day or so, and I was always surprised to see that the lights were still on.  So, I didn't give a second thought to turning on the porch lights and leaving the air conditioner on automatic timer.  A month later, I called Georgia Power and asked them why the lights were still on.  The only response they would give me was, "We have your request on file.  The order is in process."  I emailed them a month after that with the same question and I received the same response.  I even tried resubmitting the termination of services request and their website said they already had a request for my address on file and that the shutoff was pending.  So, I left it alone.  I thought Georgia Power had its own reasons for leaving the lights on; reasons that they chose not to divulge to the consumer.

Four months later, I decided to move back into my house.  The lights prior to that were in my mother's name.  I was about to switch them to my name when I received a postcard in the mail that said, "We have left the lights on at your house as a courtesy, but you need to make arrangements to reconnect the service."  Three or 4 days later, a technician came out and turned the power off at the meter.  When I walked into the office the very next day, I was stunned when they told me I had to pay a deposit, show proof of home ownership in the form of a security deed, and pay for the past 4 months because, according to them, I fraudulently used their services.  I told them there wouldn't have been "unauthorized usage" if they had turned the lights off as I had requested.  Then they flipped the script and said, "If you were being so righteous and above board as you say, then why didn't you turn off the lights at the main power switch inside the house?"  I, in turn, told them that question didn't make any sense.  Why would I do that when my request was "in process".  Furthermore, I had no way of knowing why Georgia Power left the lights on in the first place.

I went into the office 3 times to argue my case.  The first time, I went to Conyers where I was told, 1. that if I raised my voice at them, they would call the police and have me escorted out of the office, 2. that they didn't have any record of a shutoff notice in the system and 3. that they didn't have a supervisor on duty to address my issue.  (I had made a copy of the original shutoff notice so that didn't fly.)  At the Decatur office on Flat Shoals, one teller told me that they had cut off the lights and that I had illegally turned them back on.  I told her that was a lie and then I told her about the postcard I had recently received.  She acknowledged that Georgia Power did issue such postcards and that I should come back the next week when a supervisor was on duty.  The next week, the same office marched a "supervisor" out into a box-like room with bullet proof glass.  He had his badge turned around so that I couldn't see his name and he argued with me for about 30 minutes, finally said that what I said made sense and that he would call me the next day.  It's more than a month later and no call.  I paid $340 to have the lights switched to my name.  Two weeks later, I received a bill from them for $182.72!  That's for 2 weeks of lights.  For the past 3 years, the bill at this residence has been $207.00 per month for 4 people.  Now there's only 1 person and I'm only there part of the week.  How can the bill be almost $200 for just 2 weeks of usage!?

They are liars, thieves and charlatans.  No wonder this country is going down the tubes.