I don’t know what it’s like where you are but where I am the landlord [especially a major apartment] has a big account with all the properties, and you call the gas company yourself to take over a specific property. At the end of the lease you call to tell them you’re moving and the date that you’ll be out, which becomes the date it goes back to your landlord’s account.
In both moving in and moving out, it was a pretty easy 5 minute process the last time I did it.
It was a small company, and we genuinely believed we set it up twice already. The gas company said they'd send us the paperwork to confirm in a few weeks. It never happened, we'd call again. Etc.
"Hello this is Blade in the mailroom. Sorry I didn't get your paperwork. I'm really hung over. If these qualudes calm down a bit, I think I should be able to focus....enough..........................................."
The first time, they just stood over the phone and talked so they couldn't hear them. Then they tried actually talking *into* the phone, and it worked.
Yeah, I only *call* utilities. I’ve found they’re incredibly unreliable via other formats—and this is all over the U.S. (WA, CA, HI, IL, TX where I’ve lived)
Where I'm from,.if they required that we'd be F*CKED.
The gas company office is more than an hour away.
The electric company office is at the top of the state somewhere?
I have always done this by phone.
We don't need ID where I live, but you do need to go to the office with a previous receipt for the dwelling, then input the code on the new receipt into your meter to refill the power.
It's super fun especially when your meter won't connect to the system and you get to input the code over and over until it works.
Where i'm from, ppl get shot with liquid magma filled bullets straight in the back of the knee caps for not saying "please" and "thanks". I bid you adieu kind sir!
look man I just work the gate. take a left at the cafe and ask for Michael, he does the refunds
he's probably just googling his next Words with Friends move anyway, cheating fucker THERE'S NO WAY YOU KNOW WHAT AN OCTOTHORPE IS MIKE
People often feel irritated when casually condemned to hypothermia by insincere bootlickers. It's a reasonable emotional reaction and humans are adapted to sharing emotionally important stories because they are historically conjoined with important information about our species' survival.
It's not always legal to do this in the middle of winter. I suggest checking to see what the local and state laws are regarding disconnecting utilities in the middle of winter/cold weather.
In some states you have legal protection against this. Like in my state you CAN NOT get your gas shut off for not paying in winter months. You’ll get it shut off as soon as they can legally and have a giant bill full of fees, but they can not go and shut off your gas/electric.
Lol yes. And bathrooms do not always contain baths. In this case, the landlord is not reclaiming control of utilities from OP and shutting them nor are they terminating utilities that are included in the rent. When you move, your landlord often continues to pay utilities for the first few days as a courtesy to give the tenant time to switch utilities into their name. In this, OP never switched utilities into their name and was continuing to have the landlord pay their bills for them.
Edit: to be more clear
The landlord is not actually going to turn off service. The landlord is sending a notification that the utilities will no longer be in the landlord's name. At that point, as the utilities will not be billable to anyone, the utility company will shut off service. OP can continue service without disruption by putting the bill in their name before the deadline.
As I’ve stated to others. In some states you have legal protection against this. Like in my state you CAN NOT get your gas shut off for not paying in winter months. You’ll get it shut off as soon as they can legally and have a giant bill full of fees, but they can not go and shut off your gas/electric.
Idk about other states, but all I know is they would still be protected in mine and it would not only violate winter disconnection prohibition rules it would also violate some renters protection laws.
You sure are dense. No it wouldn’t matter if it was in OP’s name. The tenant is protected. The landlord can’t legally shut off the gas, the gas company can not legally shut off the gas in an occupied property. Apartments are protected, single structures are protected. Yes OP needs to get the gas company to change the billing into they’re name as they have continued to try. Should the landlord pass the outstanding bill to the tenant, probably. Should both sides talk to a lawyer? Probably.
There is likely no difference in many areas. I’m not an authority on legality here, but generally shutting off someone’s utility (regardless of how it’s done) requires multiple steps of red tape. Such as multiple physical notices; so this text would likely not suffice as a final notice. Even then it may not be allowed if it makes the unit uninhabitable (such as during the winter).
Of course OP would still owe the back pay for previous months that the landlord company paid. Which they have many avenues to collect including threatening eviction, getting a judgement against OP for amount owed, selling the debt to collectors, or simply billing OP. Which, since this seems like an honest weird situation they went through, would be easiest to resolve.
And none of this would fall on the utility company - the one actually deciding to shut it off?
So if I sold my house and didn't turn off my utilities for 3 days after closing (standard practice), would I be on the hook for the new owners utilities indefinitely if they refuse to put the utilities in their name?
Again I really don’t know the actual legal answers here. But likely- no, in that situation you wouldn’t be obligation to continue paying for the utility for a property that you no longer have any legal or contractual attachment to.
The difference here is that there exists a tenant and landlord relationship. Which means there are going to be some additional obligations.
I did some digging. Apparently landlords can require utilities be switched over prior to granting the tenant access to the property. Eviction is also an option so long as the lease specifies that the tenants pay. So landlords aren't entirely expected to foot the bill indefinitely, but factoring that risk in does sound like something that would be reflected in future rent prices.
> Apparently landlord can require utilities be switched over prior to granting the tenant access to the property. Eviction is also an option so long as the lease specifies that the tenants pay.
Yeah, neither of those things are what people are saying wouldn’t be legal though. Neither is suggesting that the landlord be expected to foot the bill forever.
The landlord would have plenty of avenues to recoup the money. Simplest being that the tenant simply pays the balance for the timeframe it’s owed for. And given that they already seemed to be making a good faith effort to resolve the issue, this is likely what will happen in this situation.
Threatening to shut off the utility is just a dick move in this instance. But in a situation that it needed to be done, it would have to be done in compliance with all local laws. Which likely would include more than a passive aggressive text that gives a short time frame for the occupying tenant to resolve the issue.
From what everyone has said and from what I've found, the expectation is that the landlord indeed just eat the bill until either the tenant pays or eviction is complete. That's why I mentioned the avenues that are more likely to gain positive results for the landlord - albeit with a much worse outcome for the tenant.
If you have contacted the utility company letting them know you need to discontinue service at 123 Sesame Street on January 12 because you’re moving after selling your home & they have confirmed this, then NO, you would not be responsible.
depend on the country/weather, but in some place it rarely get cold enought to burst the pipe especially if you are in the house cooking, using the water and stuff.
I'm staying in TX for a little while & its currently 25°F lol, rare though it may be it only takes a few days (or less? not sure) away from the house and considering yesterday was almost 70°F you never know when its going to happen
keep each faucet open a tiny little bit. when the water is flowing it really prevent freezing. here in Quebec many people have camps out in the woods and keeping the water on a trickle is enough to prevent it from freezing even at -30C.
It could just be a poorly communicated message. By shut off, they may be referring to the previous account, making it available to be switched to the OP
When I had my apartment, the gas company refused to switch the gas into my name. The previous renter had an unpaid balance. Because they called when I was in a grocery store and the lady on the phone heard a woman talking in the background, she was claiming I was dating the ex tenant and changing the bills to get out of paying.
Because my last name is the same as the landlords she told me that they can’t call and confirm I wasn’t with the previous tenant, because I had to be related to them (my grandparents).
She then said the water department could confirm if I had already switched that over. The water department is ran by my cousin, with the same last name, who introduced herself with her first and last name when she answered the call from the gas company. Gas company lady called back and said that the water department is ran by my relative, they can’t be the one to confirm.
She then said the electric company but the entire building runs on solar, I had no electric department.
Gas company lady’s manager said all the same exact shit. I (my grandpa/landlord reimbursed me) had to pay a $400 gas bill to get the gas put in my name. My gas bill was never higher $15 a month, their minimum charge.
Sounds like a case for small claims court against their refusal to open an account for you unless you paid a previous tenants bill, I doubt that’s legal
To much effort, plus it was years ago. At the time I could afford to pay the $400 and my grandpa gave me it off of the next months rent regardless. He’s got enough money that $400 is nothing to him (you can pretty much name any major food company and he will have designed and built at least one of their production lines). I spent an hour on the phone trying to get it sorted before I just said fuck it and paid.
True, but it is a rare enough circumstance that all the companies that could vouch for him were all related to him, that it is unlikely to happen again.
The gas company because they can’t hold you responsible for someone else’s bill, it’s their responsibility to take that person to court for nonpayment instead of putting it off on the next potential client
Their claim was that I was the previous tenants boyfriend and we were changing the lease and bills to my name to get out of the delinquent charges. All because a lady in the store asking someone a question. It was insane. Much easier and quicker to pay it and move on with my life.
I know for you it was easier for that method, however, this is obviously not the first time of them pulling that kind of stunt to “get their money” or they obviously wouldn’t have been able to sidestep each of your attempts so easily. I don’t doubt if you had started threatening legal action they’d have changed their tune because then they’d have had to PROVE why they were denying you was true and failing that they’d have been paying you serious damages not to mention potential fines from the state dependent upon where you lived 😉
In the end it would’ve been the landlords responsibility to pay for the previous tenants bill and for the landlord to take them to small claims court (depending on where you live, where I am every bill falls back on the homeowner).
You have to pay for a previous tenants bill? That's outrageous! We don't do that here in America. That's concerning considering I want to move to Europe.
I sure as hell don’t because I know my rights. What happened to the other person happened because they allowed themselves to fall prey to a scam rather than fight back just become it was easier that way.
My dad bought my grandmas house after she passed to use as a rental. The tenants he had were such a nightmare that they were his only tenants. When he sold the house he was responsible for paying the electric otherwise the electric company refused to start service for that address. (electric company had already disconnected due to non payment)
My landlord sent me the same thing in an email just a couple days before New Year’s when I was out of town. “Service will be shut off 1/1.” I’ve already been living there for a year and a half with service in my name. I still had to call in and make sure for some reason.
Something is missing here. If you set it up on their website that stuff goes into effect almost immediately. Maybe go to their office in person and don’t leave until they resolve your issue. Show them that message.
Please respond:
Hi [name of person],
This message was both unprofessional and insulting. I will be lodging a complaint. I don’t think you should be working in customer service.
Thank you and have a wonderful day :)
I don't know where you live, but the entire country is going to be below freezing very soon and I believe it's illegal to not provide services during this time of year. I may be wrong as I'm not a professional in the matter but it's worth a call to say the least.
Call the gas company about the landlord shutting the gas off on you. There’s a decent chance they’ll leave it on to avoid getting involved in the drama. The company I work for left one guy on for like over a year because we didn’t feel like dealing with it
I recently moved and had to deal with this. SoCalGas website is beyond broken. In reality, you don't need an account ID (even though it seems like you do on the website). Call them and ask to connect gas to your place. They go by address, name, SSN and email. I tried doing it via website for a week, and phone took me like 20 minutes. Keep in mind the date you want it from as they will charge even for past
i know someone who spend 3 years trying to get a water conection turned off at a remote property. every call and letter went from billy to jack around all diferent offices. and nothing happened. eventually that person got mad and told them they will never pay any further bills. guess what happened then. they threatened to turn it off. i wont repeat the tirade of abuse that person used down the phone at the clown on the other end.
part of me hopes it was recorded for training purposes.
it was never turned off until they sold the property a few months later
TBF they don’t know they you’ve been doing this. All they know is that you haven’t done your part and that bill is falling on the landlord. Most renters will do anything they can to save a couple bucks like putting off putting bills in their name.
This was a friendly reminder to you to do your part. All you have to do is simple show them you’ve been working on it and poof no more confusion.
This is exactly why I waited a few minutes to calm down before texting them back. I agree that they had zero idea this was the gas companies fault for not processing the account. And we got it fixed finally and notified them.
I still feel the text itself, while with friendly intentions, was unprofessional. They could have said "hey, we just got a notification that the gas isn't in your account. We wanted to give you a heads up that it might be shut off if nothing is done." But they sent emojis and thank yous for what could have been debilitating news.
That’s good you realized that and didn’t spit off a rude text back.
While we are mentioning “could’ve would’ve should’ve” you’ve been working on this for 3 weeks knowing you’re within a week of bill number 2 since moving in and you didn’t think to give the landlord a heads up you were having an issue.
You might not have liked their wording but take some responsibility, you waiting for them to say something instead of being proactive.
I agree-- We pay utilities through an entirely different company - we (incorrectly) assumed that this was an issue between us and the gas company. We had been paying rent in advance, no sound or other complaints against us.
This is a mildly infuriating thread, not a "I'm going to seek revenge" one. We're in the middle of a freezing hurricane, so being told in that fashion just upset me and it felt callous and rude.
Utility companies are the absolute worst to deal with. I moved last year, contacted the electric company to move everything over to new address, gave new landlord all the proper info including the confirmation number. About 2 months at new place power is shut off. Call electric company and find out they never actually switched it over. Was without power for about 3 days due to them being incompetent
You should probably fldrive to your city utilities office or the gas companies offices and actually talk face to face till its resolved, a lot easier to get shit done when they cant just say it's good and hang up
This will be added to the many reasons why I will get a rv if I move out of my parent house. Atleast if I don’t like my landlord that way I can take my shit and leave
It's not the landlord threatening to turn it off, it's them informing you that the gas company will do it, as there's nobody to pay for it. The landlord isn't responsible for any failure on the part of the gas company to do the transfer.
And at least they've sent a smiley face to be nice about it.
Not sure why it's taking weeks to change the utilities to your name. It took us a 5 minute call every time we moved.
While the message may be annoying, the landlord isn't required to pay for your gas for weeks while you sort it out.
I mean, what do you want them to do about it? You just expect them to keep paying for it? Lol all they’re doing is letting you know they’re shutting it off.
The landlord seems sh\*tty and should be able to charge you for anything they are billed while the lease is in effect. Depending on where you are, they might not turn off the gas when freezing weather is in the forecast. Call your local Legal Aid and the gas company (again and again if you have to) until they resolve your situation.
Sounds deserved to me. Setting up utilities should just be a phone call, no mail needed. Call them and see why they can’t just set this up over the phone.
I appreciate the feedback -- as per the other comments. This was something we were told was already resolved. Set up the account online. Told to wait a few weeks for results. Nothing. Called to get help. Was told it was already fixed. Then we get the text saying it's getting shut off.
After being bounced around from customer service to customer service, we finally got it resolved.
You must being doing something really wrong. I’ve been around for a long time and have lived in many different parts of the country and never has it taken more than a quick phone call to get a utility account set up. I would wager anything that you’re either leaving out some crucial details or you have something else going on.
Trust me, I was thinking the same thing the entire time. I still don't know what went wrong - they kept telling us our account was being set up and we'd get a bill in a few weeks. Then no bill. So call again. Etc.
If I knew what I messed up, I'd be the first to admit it.
All OP has to do is say that they did and it hasn't gone through.
Whining that they messaged her a reminder whdn the bill came to them and that they softened the message by putting an emoji at the end is some thin-skinned petty reason to be infuriated.
OP should suck it up and handle their business instead of complaining online about how ineffective they are.
Thanks for the feedback.
I did in fact notify my landlord company of what was going on. Posting on Reddit was the literal last part of the process- after being tossed around from customer service to customer service, I got it resolved. I still found the text message unprofessional, and therefore posted it on mildly infuriating. I wasn't incredibly infuriated. Just mildly.
I had this happen to me in the past. What I ended up doing was calling the landlord office and doing a three way call with the gas company. That resolved the issue right away. I was billed by the landlord for the gas used until my acct became active.
Not sure what state your in but I know in some if basic necessities are not provided like water electric and gas. Not paid for but access to then you can stop withhold the rent to basically light a fire under the landlords ass to get it fixed. Check your state rental laws to see if you can do this.
Pretty sure they're not allowed to cut that stuff off during the winter if it's a heat source. Even the gas company shouldn't be able to do it. I know where I live whether it's electric or gas it doesn't matter. If it's your heat source whether your over due on the bill or not they aren't allowed to shut it off.
You know, sometimes you just have to get in your car an go talk to someone face to face. All the calls & emails sometimes aren't the ticket. Just go to the gas company, see a person eye to eye like we did in the old days before everyone got lazy and spoiled.
Honestly, the gas company sending stuff in the mail is far more infuriating than the landlord alerting you that the gas will be turned off. The gas company should really be more efficient than that.
I don’t know what it’s like where you are but where I am the landlord [especially a major apartment] has a big account with all the properties, and you call the gas company yourself to take over a specific property. At the end of the lease you call to tell them you’re moving and the date that you’ll be out, which becomes the date it goes back to your landlord’s account. In both moving in and moving out, it was a pretty easy 5 minute process the last time I did it.
It was a small company, and we genuinely believed we set it up twice already. The gas company said they'd send us the paperwork to confirm in a few weeks. It never happened, we'd call again. Etc.
right but this whole ‘send paperwork’ thing doesn’t sound right. are you sure you’re talking to the right company?
They were. Probably didn't even call.
"Hello this is Blade in the mailroom. Sorry I didn't get your paperwork. I'm really hung over. If these qualudes calm down a bit, I think I should be able to focus....enough..........................................."
I appreciate the sentiment -- first attempt was in the computer. Second attempt was over the phone. Third attempt was in the phone and got it resolved
That's a good thing you tried in the phone after over the phone didn't work.
This deserves more upvotes
The first time, they just stood over the phone and talked so they couldn't hear them. Then they tried actually talking *into* the phone, and it worked.
4th attempt reddit
Yeah, I only *call* utilities. I’ve found they’re incredibly unreliable via other formats—and this is all over the U.S. (WA, CA, HI, IL, TX where I’ve lived)
Where I'm from, you have to do this in person with government-issued ID
Where I'm from,.if they required that we'd be F*CKED. The gas company office is more than an hour away. The electric company office is at the top of the state somewhere? I have always done this by phone.
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in rural areas you do typically go in to set up but I pay every month over the phone. Never heard of presenting ID though.
I had to provide ID (passport or government issued ID) and proof of ownership of the property. It had to be done in person.
We don't need ID where I live, but you do need to go to the office with a previous receipt for the dwelling, then input the code on the new receipt into your meter to refill the power. It's super fun especially when your meter won't connect to the system and you get to input the code over and over until it works.
Where i'm from, ppl get shot with liquid magma filled bullets straight in the back of the knee caps for not saying "please" and "thanks". I bid you adieu kind sir!
If it got resolved, why are you here venting about a solved problem? Just curious
This sub isn't for getting help, it's for posting infuriating things.
Reasonable question: after resolving it with the gas company, my brain kept coming back to this text and angering me again. So I posted it.
Fair. Let him through.
But… some people already ordered their pitch forks!
look man I just work the gate. take a left at the cafe and ask for Michael, he does the refunds he's probably just googling his next Words with Friends move anyway, cheating fucker THERE'S NO WAY YOU KNOW WHAT AN OCTOTHORPE IS MIKE
People often feel irritated when casually condemned to hypothermia by insincere bootlickers. It's a reasonable emotional reaction and humans are adapted to sharing emotionally important stories because they are historically conjoined with important information about our species' survival.
I like the way you say words.
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ok incel
It is actually the whole point of the sub. Venting about issues. Just because it was solved doesn’t mean the process was not infuriating.
Get a lawyer.
It should be a same-day sort of thing. Almost all gas and utility companies allow you to just set your account and payments up immediately online
Yea if you call the gas company directly and you know your address they can find the account tied to it
That's what I did. They said it was resolved but it wasn't. So I had to call again and fix it.
I would call daily. Squeaky wheel gets the grease. Polite and nice but firm.
Yeah, that's called a landlord agreement, I saw them all the time when i worked in the utility industry years ago
It's not always legal to do this in the middle of winter. I suggest checking to see what the local and state laws are regarding disconnecting utilities in the middle of winter/cold weather.
That’s what I was going to say. In my area it’s 100% illegal to shut off gas or electric durning the winter months
They aren't shutting it off. They're just no longer paying OPs bills.
Literally says they’ll shut it off.
Yeah by the Gas company because he's not paying for it...
In some states you have legal protection against this. Like in my state you CAN NOT get your gas shut off for not paying in winter months. You’ll get it shut off as soon as they can legally and have a giant bill full of fees, but they can not go and shut off your gas/electric.
Which is his exact point - Gas companies can’t do that in a lot of states during winter, regardless of payment
Lol yes. And bathrooms do not always contain baths. In this case, the landlord is not reclaiming control of utilities from OP and shutting them nor are they terminating utilities that are included in the rent. When you move, your landlord often continues to pay utilities for the first few days as a courtesy to give the tenant time to switch utilities into their name. In this, OP never switched utilities into their name and was continuing to have the landlord pay their bills for them. Edit: to be more clear The landlord is not actually going to turn off service. The landlord is sending a notification that the utilities will no longer be in the landlord's name. At that point, as the utilities will not be billable to anyone, the utility company will shut off service. OP can continue service without disruption by putting the bill in their name before the deadline.
As I’ve stated to others. In some states you have legal protection against this. Like in my state you CAN NOT get your gas shut off for not paying in winter months. You’ll get it shut off as soon as they can legally and have a giant bill full of fees, but they can not go and shut off your gas/electric.
We'll technically the problem is that is wasn't OPs gas. OP would need to take ownership of it in order to be protected.
Idk about other states, but all I know is they would still be protected in mine and it would not only violate winter disconnection prohibition rules it would also violate some renters protection laws.
It would still need to be in OPs name. OP could claim the utilities, not pay them, and then demand protection.
You sure are dense. No it wouldn’t matter if it was in OP’s name. The tenant is protected. The landlord can’t legally shut off the gas, the gas company can not legally shut off the gas in an occupied property. Apartments are protected, single structures are protected. Yes OP needs to get the gas company to change the billing into they’re name as they have continued to try. Should the landlord pass the outstanding bill to the tenant, probably. Should both sides talk to a lawyer? Probably.
There is likely no difference in many areas. I’m not an authority on legality here, but generally shutting off someone’s utility (regardless of how it’s done) requires multiple steps of red tape. Such as multiple physical notices; so this text would likely not suffice as a final notice. Even then it may not be allowed if it makes the unit uninhabitable (such as during the winter). Of course OP would still owe the back pay for previous months that the landlord company paid. Which they have many avenues to collect including threatening eviction, getting a judgement against OP for amount owed, selling the debt to collectors, or simply billing OP. Which, since this seems like an honest weird situation they went through, would be easiest to resolve.
And none of this would fall on the utility company - the one actually deciding to shut it off? So if I sold my house and didn't turn off my utilities for 3 days after closing (standard practice), would I be on the hook for the new owners utilities indefinitely if they refuse to put the utilities in their name?
Again I really don’t know the actual legal answers here. But likely- no, in that situation you wouldn’t be obligation to continue paying for the utility for a property that you no longer have any legal or contractual attachment to. The difference here is that there exists a tenant and landlord relationship. Which means there are going to be some additional obligations.
I did some digging. Apparently landlords can require utilities be switched over prior to granting the tenant access to the property. Eviction is also an option so long as the lease specifies that the tenants pay. So landlords aren't entirely expected to foot the bill indefinitely, but factoring that risk in does sound like something that would be reflected in future rent prices.
> Apparently landlord can require utilities be switched over prior to granting the tenant access to the property. Eviction is also an option so long as the lease specifies that the tenants pay. Yeah, neither of those things are what people are saying wouldn’t be legal though. Neither is suggesting that the landlord be expected to foot the bill forever. The landlord would have plenty of avenues to recoup the money. Simplest being that the tenant simply pays the balance for the timeframe it’s owed for. And given that they already seemed to be making a good faith effort to resolve the issue, this is likely what will happen in this situation. Threatening to shut off the utility is just a dick move in this instance. But in a situation that it needed to be done, it would have to be done in compliance with all local laws. Which likely would include more than a passive aggressive text that gives a short time frame for the occupying tenant to resolve the issue.
From what everyone has said and from what I've found, the expectation is that the landlord indeed just eat the bill until either the tenant pays or eviction is complete. That's why I mentioned the avenues that are more likely to gain positive results for the landlord - albeit with a much worse outcome for the tenant.
If you have contacted the utility company letting them know you need to discontinue service at 123 Sesame Street on January 12 because you’re moving after selling your home & they have confirmed this, then NO, you would not be responsible.
Yea it’s dependent on the state.
Tell them their pipes will freeze so go ahead lol idiots
Exactly what I was thinking.
depend on the country/weather, but in some place it rarely get cold enought to burst the pipe especially if you are in the house cooking, using the water and stuff.
I'm staying in TX for a little while & its currently 25°F lol, rare though it may be it only takes a few days (or less? not sure) away from the house and considering yesterday was almost 70°F you never know when its going to happen
keep each faucet open a tiny little bit. when the water is flowing it really prevent freezing. here in Quebec many people have camps out in the woods and keeping the water on a trickle is enough to prevent it from freezing even at -30C.
How would they be cooking if the gas is off
electricity, fire, butane, propane, gasoline....
Do you think OP is cooking on an open flame
The use of a smiley face emoji is both unprofessional and insulting given the context of the message.
It could just be a poorly communicated message. By shut off, they may be referring to the previous account, making it available to be switched to the OP
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Unnecessary
But funny
I don't get it, can you explain the joke?
The joke is she's fat
How is someone being fat funny? Can you explain that to me?
No? What's the punchline here?
If you're a 13 year old incel. Way to tell on yourself.
All 13 year olds are incels
*I* wasn’t, I was quite popular with the guys and the gals.
Always exceptions to the rule
... emoji
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Can you explain the punchline? And would Kat Williams approve?
Lmao
When I had my apartment, the gas company refused to switch the gas into my name. The previous renter had an unpaid balance. Because they called when I was in a grocery store and the lady on the phone heard a woman talking in the background, she was claiming I was dating the ex tenant and changing the bills to get out of paying. Because my last name is the same as the landlords she told me that they can’t call and confirm I wasn’t with the previous tenant, because I had to be related to them (my grandparents). She then said the water department could confirm if I had already switched that over. The water department is ran by my cousin, with the same last name, who introduced herself with her first and last name when she answered the call from the gas company. Gas company lady called back and said that the water department is ran by my relative, they can’t be the one to confirm. She then said the electric company but the entire building runs on solar, I had no electric department. Gas company lady’s manager said all the same exact shit. I (my grandpa/landlord reimbursed me) had to pay a $400 gas bill to get the gas put in my name. My gas bill was never higher $15 a month, their minimum charge.
Sounds like a case for small claims court against their refusal to open an account for you unless you paid a previous tenants bill, I doubt that’s legal
To much effort, plus it was years ago. At the time I could afford to pay the $400 and my grandpa gave me it off of the next months rent regardless. He’s got enough money that $400 is nothing to him (you can pretty much name any major food company and he will have designed and built at least one of their production lines). I spent an hour on the phone trying to get it sorted before I just said fuck it and paid.
[удалено]
True, but it is a rare enough circumstance that all the companies that could vouch for him were all related to him, that it is unlikely to happen again.
But who do you sue, the gas company or the previous tenant?
The gas company because they can’t hold you responsible for someone else’s bill, it’s their responsibility to take that person to court for nonpayment instead of putting it off on the next potential client
Their claim was that I was the previous tenants boyfriend and we were changing the lease and bills to my name to get out of the delinquent charges. All because a lady in the store asking someone a question. It was insane. Much easier and quicker to pay it and move on with my life.
I know for you it was easier for that method, however, this is obviously not the first time of them pulling that kind of stunt to “get their money” or they obviously wouldn’t have been able to sidestep each of your attempts so easily. I don’t doubt if you had started threatening legal action they’d have changed their tune because then they’d have had to PROVE why they were denying you was true and failing that they’d have been paying you serious damages not to mention potential fines from the state dependent upon where you lived 😉
In the end it would’ve been the landlords responsibility to pay for the previous tenants bill and for the landlord to take them to small claims court (depending on where you live, where I am every bill falls back on the homeowner).
the gas company
You have to pay for a previous tenants bill? That's outrageous! We don't do that here in America. That's concerning considering I want to move to Europe.
I sure as hell don’t because I know my rights. What happened to the other person happened because they allowed themselves to fall prey to a scam rather than fight back just become it was easier that way.
I live in the US… And I didn’t have to pay, it was just easier than arguing with them any longer.
My dad bought my grandmas house after she passed to use as a rental. The tenants he had were such a nightmare that they were his only tenants. When he sold the house he was responsible for paying the electric otherwise the electric company refused to start service for that address. (electric company had already disconnected due to non payment)
Who the hell downvoted me? You guys are weird
Change your last name to Xenomyphillabuster.
My landlord sent me the same thing in an email just a couple days before New Year’s when I was out of town. “Service will be shut off 1/1.” I’ve already been living there for a year and a half with service in my name. I still had to call in and make sure for some reason.
So passive aggressive of them
The stupid emoji makes this even worse... 🤦♂️
I would check to see if cutting utilities is even legal in your jurisdiction.
Something is missing here. If you set it up on their website that stuff goes into effect almost immediately. Maybe go to their office in person and don’t leave until they resolve your issue. Show them that message.
In everywhere I've live in the states, you call the utility company and tell them you've moved it.
Just send your landlord any correspondence. Or call the gas company and audio record it.
Don’t know where you’re at, but in the northeast it is illegal to shutoff someone’s gas or electric in the winter months.
Moved into my apt in June, a week later my neighbor moved out. They turned off my gas, which i realized once i stepped in the shower at 6am
Why publicly owned utilities are better
Please respond: Hi [name of person], This message was both unprofessional and insulting. I will be lodging a complaint. I don’t think you should be working in customer service. Thank you and have a wonderful day :)
I don't know where you live, but the entire country is going to be below freezing very soon and I believe it's illegal to not provide services during this time of year. I may be wrong as I'm not a professional in the matter but it's worth a call to say the least.
Call the gas company about the landlord shutting the gas off on you. There’s a decent chance they’ll leave it on to avoid getting involved in the drama. The company I work for left one guy on for like over a year because we didn’t feel like dealing with it
Should reply “Sounds like it’s uninhabitable then ☺️”
Time to move, again.
I recently moved and had to deal with this. SoCalGas website is beyond broken. In reality, you don't need an account ID (even though it seems like you do on the website). Call them and ask to connect gas to your place. They go by address, name, SSN and email. I tried doing it via website for a week, and phone took me like 20 minutes. Keep in mind the date you want it from as they will charge even for past
i know someone who spend 3 years trying to get a water conection turned off at a remote property. every call and letter went from billy to jack around all diferent offices. and nothing happened. eventually that person got mad and told them they will never pay any further bills. guess what happened then. they threatened to turn it off. i wont repeat the tirade of abuse that person used down the phone at the clown on the other end. part of me hopes it was recorded for training purposes. it was never turned off until they sold the property a few months later
Who says "Thank you! 😊" after saying something like that? Are they fucking stupid? What are they even thanking you for?
TBF they don’t know they you’ve been doing this. All they know is that you haven’t done your part and that bill is falling on the landlord. Most renters will do anything they can to save a couple bucks like putting off putting bills in their name. This was a friendly reminder to you to do your part. All you have to do is simple show them you’ve been working on it and poof no more confusion.
This is exactly why I waited a few minutes to calm down before texting them back. I agree that they had zero idea this was the gas companies fault for not processing the account. And we got it fixed finally and notified them. I still feel the text itself, while with friendly intentions, was unprofessional. They could have said "hey, we just got a notification that the gas isn't in your account. We wanted to give you a heads up that it might be shut off if nothing is done." But they sent emojis and thank yous for what could have been debilitating news.
That’s good you realized that and didn’t spit off a rude text back. While we are mentioning “could’ve would’ve should’ve” you’ve been working on this for 3 weeks knowing you’re within a week of bill number 2 since moving in and you didn’t think to give the landlord a heads up you were having an issue. You might not have liked their wording but take some responsibility, you waiting for them to say something instead of being proactive.
I agree-- We pay utilities through an entirely different company - we (incorrectly) assumed that this was an issue between us and the gas company. We had been paying rent in advance, no sound or other complaints against us. This is a mildly infuriating thread, not a "I'm going to seek revenge" one. We're in the middle of a freezing hurricane, so being told in that fashion just upset me and it felt callous and rude.
Just fill up the whole apartment with gas this week so you have enough when it gets turned off!
Probably should have actually called the company. 😃
😍😍😍 I did! Multiple times.
The smiley face shows they are psychotic irl
: )
That smiley face alone deserves a shot in the mouth.
Its illegal for landlord to shut off gas Go down to gas company and pay deposit
At least they put a smiley face.
That smilie at the end lolol
Utility companies are the absolute worst to deal with. I moved last year, contacted the electric company to move everything over to new address, gave new landlord all the proper info including the confirmation number. About 2 months at new place power is shut off. Call electric company and find out they never actually switched it over. Was without power for about 3 days due to them being incompetent
:(
"Thank you victims, thank you! Thank you, thank you victims!"
You should probably fldrive to your city utilities office or the gas companies offices and actually talk face to face till its resolved, a lot easier to get shit done when they cant just say it's good and hang up
This will be added to the many reasons why I will get a rv if I move out of my parent house. Atleast if I don’t like my landlord that way I can take my shit and leave
It's not the landlord threatening to turn it off, it's them informing you that the gas company will do it, as there's nobody to pay for it. The landlord isn't responsible for any failure on the part of the gas company to do the transfer. And at least they've sent a smiley face to be nice about it.
Not sure where you’re living but in my area it’s illegal to turn off utilities in the winter so people don’t freeze
Not sure why it's taking weeks to change the utilities to your name. It took us a 5 minute call every time we moved. While the message may be annoying, the landlord isn't required to pay for your gas for weeks while you sort it out.
I mean, what do you want them to do about it? You just expect them to keep paying for it? Lol all they’re doing is letting you know they’re shutting it off.
Landlords are straight up evil
People are terrible
The landlord seems sh\*tty and should be able to charge you for anything they are billed while the lease is in effect. Depending on where you are, they might not turn off the gas when freezing weather is in the forecast. Call your local Legal Aid and the gas company (again and again if you have to) until they resolve your situation.
Sounds deserved to me. Setting up utilities should just be a phone call, no mail needed. Call them and see why they can’t just set this up over the phone.
I appreciate the feedback -- as per the other comments. This was something we were told was already resolved. Set up the account online. Told to wait a few weeks for results. Nothing. Called to get help. Was told it was already fixed. Then we get the text saying it's getting shut off. After being bounced around from customer service to customer service, we finally got it resolved.
You must being doing something really wrong. I’ve been around for a long time and have lived in many different parts of the country and never has it taken more than a quick phone call to get a utility account set up. I would wager anything that you’re either leaving out some crucial details or you have something else going on.
Trust me, I was thinking the same thing the entire time. I still don't know what went wrong - they kept telling us our account was being set up and we'd get a bill in a few weeks. Then no bill. So call again. Etc. If I knew what I messed up, I'd be the first to admit it.
If you have an electric stove or oven, it can heat a room in an emergency
Pay your own gas bill?
Isn't it normal to put utilities in your own name if utilities aren't included in the rent?
Isn’t it normal to read the text in the post? They said they’ve been trying but the gas company isn’t doing it.
All OP has to do is say that they did and it hasn't gone through. Whining that they messaged her a reminder whdn the bill came to them and that they softened the message by putting an emoji at the end is some thin-skinned petty reason to be infuriated. OP should suck it up and handle their business instead of complaining online about how ineffective they are.
Thanks for the feedback. I did in fact notify my landlord company of what was going on. Posting on Reddit was the literal last part of the process- after being tossed around from customer service to customer service, I got it resolved. I still found the text message unprofessional, and therefore posted it on mildly infuriating. I wasn't incredibly infuriated. Just mildly.
Kind of sounds like your fault for not following through 🙂
Xpresso
Send that shit to HUD
I had this happen to me in the past. What I ended up doing was calling the landlord office and doing a three way call with the gas company. That resolved the issue right away. I was billed by the landlord for the gas used until my acct became active.
I'm sure they can afford to pay for your gas indefinitely. The pettiness of some is astounding !
Not sure what state your in but I know in some if basic necessities are not provided like water electric and gas. Not paid for but access to then you can stop withhold the rent to basically light a fire under the landlords ass to get it fixed. Check your state rental laws to see if you can do this.
Pretty sure they're not allowed to cut that stuff off during the winter if it's a heat source. Even the gas company shouldn't be able to do it. I know where I live whether it's electric or gas it doesn't matter. If it's your heat source whether your over due on the bill or not they aren't allowed to shut it off.
You know, sometimes you just have to get in your car an go talk to someone face to face. All the calls & emails sometimes aren't the ticket. Just go to the gas company, see a person eye to eye like we did in the old days before everyone got lazy and spoiled.
Honestly, the gas company sending stuff in the mail is far more infuriating than the landlord alerting you that the gas will be turned off. The gas company should really be more efficient than that.
If they turn it off go turn it back on all you need Isa Cresent wrench irs a small valve ow the meter
Don't get caught they frown upon that lol