Piedmont Natural Gas PNG RIPOFF Unethical, rude, expensive, price gouging monopoly Wilmington, North Carolina

Ripoff Report.....in fact, you pretty much lied.

Business are forced into these situations by lying, delaying tactic customers.

As mentioned by several here, PAY YOUR BILLS ON TIME and the problem(s) will go away.

I don't know about Flynrider but I think this is the first International company I have been accused of working for.  You see it is pretty much SOP on this site that if someone does not like what is said they accuse them of working for the company.  This is often done when they actually have nothing and try and find a way "out" without admitting they may be wrong.

Well you asked who we are, well speaking for myself I am just a regular consumer who responded to what you posted on a PUBLIC web site.  If you don't want people to respond to it or point out issues with your claims then get your own site where you can control what is said.

As a regulated utility in the State of North Caroline, Piedmont is only allowed to terminate your service after the second non-payment of service bill is sent to you (which is 65 days of service you have now not yet paid for), and then it must go through a 10-day notification process.  A simple call to Piedmont to discuss payment arrangements would have halted this action.

In summary, after non-payment of your first bill, the second bill that you received was marked showing charge for second month's service and arrears separately and stating: "Arrears must be paid within 10 days after billing date to avoid disconnection of service. CONTACT THE UTILITY IMMEDIATELY TO DISCUSS CREDIT ARRANGEMENTS IF FULL PAYMENT IS NOT POSSIBLE. NO OTHER NOTICE WILL BE MAILED."

It is not until day 75 of the service you have not yet paid for when the account is reviewed to determine whether customer has taken necessary action to avoid disconnection. Then, supervisory approval must be given for final disconnect orders.

On day 76 of the service you have not paid yet paid, a field representative visits home to notify customer, receive payment or defer disconnection, make satisfactory credit arrangements, agree to defer action because of death or illness, or disconnect service. Customer has immediate recourse to the utility for reconnection action.

The $85 reconnect fee covers the utility's expenses in sending out a field technician to disconnect and then reconnect service, as well as other office and administrative expenses that are incurred.

Finally, the deposit they may charge you for reconnection of service pays you 8% per year in interest and is refunded to you in a year if you have a good payment record or is credited towards your last bill and/or refunded to you when you move.

I used to take consumer complaints for a living, and I know the rules regarding utility companies.  Piedmont, nor any other utility in NC, will not disconnect your service for one late payment.  I'm pretty sure it's the same in SC, TN, and VA.  You normally have to be 60 days in arrears, even up to 90 and beyond, before they will disconnect you, unless you've been stealing gas/electricity (tampering with the meter, using stolen meter, etc).  You will also receive a final notice with a minimum you have to pay within 5-10 days to avoid this.  You can also call and make payment arrangements or get an extension, unless you've done this in the past and repeatedly broken the agreements.  Also, they close your account after you have been disconnected for nonpayment, and still have not paid or called to arrange anything in 5 days.  They normally assume you have moved at that point.

To avoid this kind of problem, please read your bills.  I have dealt with many people who caused themselves lots of unnecessary trouble because they just glance at their bills and don't actually pay attention and look at them carefully.  You may have forgotten to pay last time and didn't even realize it.  You could have a final notice in that envelope.  Open it.  Read it.  If you have a final notice, call the company and talk to them.  Normally, they will work with you.  Also, the last poster is correct.  Even if you had another company to choose from, they would check your credit with the last company and charge you a deposit.  They do this to protect themselves.  Many people get behind and just move away, leaving a large, unpaid bill.  That costs the company money, and legally, they can pass that cost onto the paying consumers.  So, deposits help keep your rates from going up.  Companies in NC can even charge you a deposit if you're late more than twice in a 12-month period, so again, please read your bills carefully!  Paying online is never going to credit your account instantly.  It usually takes 2-3 days, so if you pay your bill on the last day possible online, you may still end up with a late payment.  If you're on the last day to pay, go to a payment center authorized by the company, or pay by phone.  It's better to pay that little fee to pay by phone than to pay a $200 deposit.  Just some info I thought may help, and I also wanted to clear up mistakes in the original complaint.

They have a policy in place to protect their assets from late or non payers.

Sounds like YOU were more than 5 days late and got disconnected.  The $85 reconnect fee is pretty typical as they first had to send someone out to disconnect you and then dispatch someone to re-connect you in addition to the additional paperwork hassle and handling more phone calls from irate late payers.

The $200 deposit is in no way a rip off.  It guarantees them that is you default they have some funds available to pay the bill.  It in no way is a fee and if your account remains current for a period of time, you may just get it back or it will be eventually credited to any final bill you have with them.

"Guess the stupid public should just be glad that their reconnection fee isn't $10,000 because, in reality, it very well could be..."

I would guess this could include you.  This is a business you're dealing with and not a government agency nor a charity.

Sorry for your trouble, but try paying your bill on time.

If you knew your payment was going to be late, you did call and ask for their help....didn't you?

Having another gas company to utilize would likely not help you much.  They would want to know why you wanted to change to them and would likely check your payment record with PNG and then they would want at least a $200 deposit. 

YOU, after all, are responsible for what happened, NOT PNG nor anyone else.