I have been dealing with these people for years and never once have I actually had a trouble free experience with them. I am supposed to be on PIPP (Percentage of income payment plan). Every year I do the same thing. I have the gas on in winter and then shut it off in summer because I only use it to heat the house, everything else is electric. Each Winter I reapply for PIPP and HEAP will usually pay a one time winter heating payment of around $175.00 to the gas company. Since I haven’t used the gas all summer you would assume that I had a 0 balance and would qualify for PIPP once more. Nope. They tell me that I have an unpaid PIPP balance that needs to be paid off in order to get back on PIPP. This made no sense to me. I made certain that I had paid off my remaining balance prior to shutting off the gas. In the past I have had issues with this. I thought that when HEAP made their payment that would take care of half the bill and then I could pay off the rest of the bill and be good. That never works because the gas company informs me that while yes HEAP paid 175 and I then paid off what was left, the new billing cycle came out at which time they charged me another monthly payment (at full price, not my PIPP amount) on top of what I had just paid. I then wait until I get my check and when I have the money I pay the NEW amount owed, and then assume that my PIPP will be activated and they say oh no, you now have to pay the newest bill that just came out because you failed to pay the last amount before the bill rolled over. We play this game until I finally borrow money from my mother to pay the money that same day because God forbid I have to wait two weeks to give them their money.

So this time I made sure that I owed nothing at all before having the gas shut off. So when I reapply for PIPP am I approved? NOPE again! They say that I have an unpaid PIPP amount that has to be paid off before I can be put back on the program. So I ask them how is that possible and the reply I got was that even though I had shut my gas off, was not using gas, had a 0 balance on my bill at the time the gas was turned off, I failed to tell them that I also wanted REMOVED from the PIPP program over the summer while my gas was shut off. So all summer long I was being charged every month for my PIPP amount even though I wasn’t using gas, and I never got a bill because my service was disconnected. So, after HEAP made a one time payment (Once a year) I still had a balance of $277.77 to pay. I paid this amount, was assured by the gas company that I am now eligible to be placed back on PIPP, assumed that I was now on PIPP again, and went to pay my bill this month and find out that I am not on PIPP and owe the full amount! So, I called them to find out what happened and the woman I spoke with referred me to the collections department, who then told me they will look into it and get back with me. So I checked today, still nothing has been done. I called them again to see what was happening with my account and I was told that it could take up to two weeks before they get around to checking my account and getting back with me.

I swear, if they tell me that I now have to pay the full amount owed before getting back on PIPP I am going to scream. The day I paid off the past due balance that I didn’t actually owe but paid anyway, they should have put my account back on PIPP. Why should I be penalized because they didn’t get around to updating the information? It’s not like they care really. Unless I decided to go with propane or install a wood burning stove I have no choice but to use their company, so they can pretty much do what ever they want. I could contact the corporate office I suppose but I don’t know how to contact the devil, who I am fairly certain runs this company! Seriously, what do these people want? My Blood, hair, and signature in his little black book of souls? This is so infuriating. I was so happy thinking I had all my bills paid and caught up only to find out that I’m now past due on my gas because they can’t be bothered to update my freaking information! Better to let my kids freeze to death than have to come off their damn cigarette and lunch breaks to actually do their jobs. I now see why Amish live the way they do. If they tried to get gas service they would be charged for the past 200 years of non-service and probably have to sacrifice a virgin just to get some heat!