Non-Payment Offs

[Squizzy]

Some the undesirable customers here get a special fuse box fitted when they carded for "scheduled" work then all you do is drive by with a remote control and clunk off with the contactor.

[wtdoor67]

take cash from the customers. I remember this guy once who drug up all the cash he had for about a 100 or so dollar bill he owed. It was a lot of ones etc. He wound up with the kids piggy bank and emptied it out and eventually paid his bill to the penny. I gave him a receipt and bagged up all the coins etc. and took them to the office. Everyone was amused.

We had one old gal who lived in a small trailer and was a regular disconnect for no pay. She had a breaker just below her meter. We never did go to the trouble of booting her meter. Just flip that breaker off and she would come in and pay up. She never did figure it out.

[markwho]

Our meter dept. usually does the cutoffs at the meter w/boots. Once in awhile they give us a call for c.t. metering, problems with access or problems with the customers equipment. They called one day for us because they could not get the meter cover off, the people had sided right along side the pedestal of the trailer and there was no way of removing it without damaging the siding. This was a urd service and we would of had to go into the h.h. to disconnect. So we ended up shutting the breaker off and sealing it there. We have done the same for some c.t. jobs where there were multiple customers and used the disconnects. The people at customer service just don't realize how much labor is involved to just shut some people off for as little as a few hrs. Sometimes all it would have taken was a phone call to have them come in and pay up. I hate it when you give them a little time to pay up and you end up needing to go back and cut them off. It surely is the worst part of my job.

[LINETRASH]

as a troubleman in our system I often get "no current" calls that happen to be recently disconnected folks,

They are very clever. They call in "out of service" before the disconnect order is in the system.

When I arrive at the address I dont even bother to ask the dispatcher as to the status of the account. I hook 'em up.

My take on the whole thing is if the trouble ticket gets to me, it has passed muster in the system, and I make 'em hot.

You have to consider the massive call volume here in s. florida. Lotts of custumers, tons of troulble calls.

I figure I will err on thr side of caution and help the folks.

[willy]

When we go do a cut-off for nonpayment we do not even contact the customer we cut and run. Sometimes in the bad neighborhoods we cannot run fastest enough. I have gone to get an outage to do work and have ran into similar situations, no offers but really nice women dressed to please. Stay safe and becareful

[linemansmilestones]

I used to do all my lock non pays in the morning, so the customers could pay and then re energize in the afternoon. Knock and lock was the policy, although most of us know the normal policy is cut it and cut out.

Some customers had a legitimate reason for the bill lapsing, and I would give them the opportunity to pay, if I believed them. On a FAS (field automation system) the tag will disappear from the screen when the bill is paid. If it did not disappear I would return in the afternoon and cut them off.

I knocked at a door one morning to tell the customer I was cutting them off. An aging woman opened the door, and I told her what I was there for. She dejectedly said OK. I asked if she would be able to pay the bill, and if she could, I would leave the service on.
She came out on the porch and sat down on a bench. She told me her son had just be shot and killed (I remember reading about it in the paper) and her other son had died a year ago. I could feel her depression.
She was a nurse by profession, but had to quit to take care of her husband who had a stroke. She hadn't paid the bill because she had to choose between medication for her husband, which he needs to live (no insurance) or the utility bill. The last thing she needed was for the lights to go off and no heat.

I gave her some numbers to call for relief, and left her on. By the afternoon the job did not go off my screen, so I unfortunately had to return. I knocked on the door again and the woman answered with a receipt for a paid bill. We both smiled and hugged.

I was working that weekend and it was Mothers Day. I had told the story at work and took up a collection. I bought a Mothers DAY card and put the $100 cash donation in it, and took it to her. I told Blanche the money came from people who care about her. We hugged, shed a tear, and Blanche said she will always pay on time because people of PG&E care. It was so rewarding to see her smile after all the tragedy she had endured.

[Orgnizdlbr]

Hey Stones, you're all right in my book brother!

[duckhunter]

We have an AMR system installed on about 2/3 of our system, the remainde before the end of the year. We have reconnect collars installed on our regular members that have to be disconnected for non-pay. A signal is sent down the line and off goes the power. When they pay we send another signal and tell them to hit the reset on the bottom of the collar. No more problems in the field.

[freshjive]

LOL pay your bill..I used to do collections before I became an apprentice and every month it was the same people, and the same sad lame ass stories..I have heard every story you can imagine, from "my husband just ran off with another man", to "no you can't shut me off, my hampster is on oxygen", .....These people know its coming and it shouldn't be a surprise when the power co. shows up to either collect or shut you off.....

[old lineman]

I recall reading a story once where the power company turned off the power without contacting the home owner.
Wrong address!
About 2 weeks they returned and the freezer meat stunk so bad the power company was ordered by the courts to demolish the house and build a new one. EXTREME MAKEOVER.
The Old Lineman