Back-dating Natural Gas Bill, almost 3 years of it, how much am I looking at it?

[Anonymous]

OP back. Thank you pp's for the additional comments. Yes, WashGas never contacted me for the last 3 years. I had no ide why they did not contacted me until now when obviously WashGas can monitor the usage at their end (at least phone agent was able to point out that).

Thank you for the tip on the resident ombudsman for Arlington. I will see if they could somehow help me with this situation. Oh, such a nightmare. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

I meant to say there is no bill what's so ever generated because my unit was listed vacant the last 3 years. My new account with them will be opened up this Friday. Unfortunately (?) I authorized them to back-date the bill, which I should have waited until I find the way?!

[Anonymous]

When you move into a house, it's your responsibility to switch your utilities. 'I didn't know' is not a valid response,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP back. Thank you all for the helpful comments. Geographically, we are located in Virginia, Arlington county. And, it is a purchased condo and not the rental property. Until I bought my condo, I never had to open up an account with natural gas distributing company since most of my utilities were included in the rent (apartment). All I needed to pay, prior to condo, were for the electricity and internet, which were quickly moved to the new address. And, I had mistakenly believed that the electricity bill covers both Natural gas and electricity. Really, I did not know.
But, why would they waited 3 years into service to contact me? Had they contacted me earlier, I would have been able to pay off quickly, but after 3 years? Not a single communication from them for the last 3 years....
Anyway, I am waiting for the bill in the mail any days now.

So, after the bill is generated, what recourse do I have? Of course, I will try to negotiate with them for the installment payment, and such. But is there anything else that I should be looking at? Any suggestions/pointers hugely appreciated. Thank you.

But wait. You wrote you have a gas stovetop. Then you wrote the gas company had the unit listed as vacant so finally their audits caught up with you. Pay the bill and hope for installments and negotiate LATE fees.

Obviously you knew it was gas cooking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP back. Thank you all for the helpful comments. Geographically, we are located in Virginia, Arlington county. And, it is a purchased condo and not the rental property. Until I bought my condo, I never had to open up an account with natural gas distributing company since most of my utilities were included in the rent (apartment). All I needed to pay, prior to condo, were for the electricity and internet, which were quickly moved to the new address. And, I had mistakenly believed that the electricity bill covers both Natural gas and electricity. Really, I did not know.
But, why would they waited 3 years into service to contact me? Had they contacted me earlier, I would have been able to pay off quickly, but after 3 years? Not a single communication from them for the last 3 years....
Anyway, I am waiting for the bill in the mail any days now.

So, after the bill is generated, what recourse do I have? Of course, I will try to negotiate with them for the installment payment, and such. But is there anything else that I should be looking at? Any suggestions/pointers hugely appreciated. Thank you.

Okay come on OP! I find it hard to believe this is true, sorry.

[Anonymous]

Boy, I don't even know where to start. But it is all true that I completely believed my electricity bill which has the portion "Gas Distribution" meant to cover all the Natural Gas used in the unit. And now I am mortified with the amount on the bill I am about to face....

I have zero experience with any other utlitiy companies except phone/internet and electricity before. Lucky in that sense everything was covered in the rent. So elementary mistake, but it never occurred to me until now that it was serviced by a different utility company.
Oh, boy....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP back. Thank you all for the helpful comments. Geographically, we are located in Virginia, Arlington county. And, it is a purchased condo and not the rental property. Until I bought my condo, I never had to open up an account with natural gas distributing company since most of my utilities were included in the rent (apartment). All I needed to pay, prior to condo, were for the electricity and internet, which were quickly moved to the new address. And, I had mistakenly believed that the electricity bill covers both Natural gas and electricity. Really, I did not know.
But, why would they waited 3 years into service to contact me? Had they contacted me earlier, I would have been able to pay off quickly, but after 3 years? Not a single communication from them for the last 3 years....
Anyway, I am waiting for the bill in the mail any days now.

So, after the bill is generated, what recourse do I have? Of course, I will try to negotiate with them for the installment payment, and such. But is there anything else that I should be looking at? Any suggestions/pointers hugely appreciated. Thank you.

Did you attend college? Do you hold a job? How have you made it this far in life?

[Anonymous]

OP I too never got a gas bill when I lived in an apartment in DC for my gas range. I moved out, never got a bill then or later. So don't feel bad. Some of the people on this thread are ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

OP our gas bill is included in our HOA. I had no idea we even had a gas bill until we went to sell our unit and the buyers asked about a gas bill-- to which I replied "it is part of our electricity bill."

Signed,
College educated

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:3 years they haven't billed you?!! I would not pay that bill without talking to a lawyer or someone in government in charge of regulating utilities. They can't wait so long to charge you.
I would ask for copies of each monthly bill and what address is listed on the bill. If they can't provide a paper trail to prove it they can't charge you.
They have been having terrible issues with their billing for the past year. I would not trust them.

I would fight, fight, fight!!

Another idea would be to call the local news station. There have been stories about WashGas and their billing issues lately so they may be interested in running your story.

+1. They have been trying to improve their billing system for the past YEAR and still haven't gotten it right. I would not pay that. I would definitely fight it. My gas bill in my apartment is usually around $20, but it's only the stove that's using gas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP back. Thank you all for the helpful comments. Geographically, we are located in Virginia, Arlington county. And, it is a purchased condo and not the rental property. Until I bought my condo, I never had to open up an account with natural gas distributing company since most of my utilities were included in the rent (apartment). All I needed to pay, prior to condo, were for the electricity and internet, which were quickly moved to the new address. And, I had mistakenly believed that the electricity bill covers both Natural gas and electricity. Really, I did not know.
But, why would they waited 3 years into service to contact me? Had they contacted me earlier, I would have been able to pay off quickly, but after 3 years? Not a single communication from them for the last 3 years....
Anyway, I am waiting for the bill in the mail any days now.

So, after the bill is generated, what recourse do I have? Of course, I will try to negotiate with them for the installment payment, and such. But is there anything else that I should be looking at? Any suggestions/pointers hugely appreciated. Thank you.

Did you attend college? Do you hold a job? How have you made it this far in life?

So rude. Do you think they teach actual real life skills in college these days? That's one of my biggest gripes about college- no real life skills taught like how to write checks, how to read apartment leases, dealing with utility companies etc.

[Anonymous]

I sympathize with OP. My prior house in a different state had electricity and gas provided by the same company. My dominion bill does say "Electricity supply- fuel." Which confused me at first. I spoke to neighbors though and got hooked up with Washington Gas. Which ranks as a shittier company than even Comcast.

[Anonymous]

OP please update when you get the bill. I'm curious what the cost is! Mine is like $100 in the winter and $25 in the summer months when I don't use the heat (just hot water and stove).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you move into a house, it's your responsibility to switch your utilities. 'I didn't know' is not a valid response,

When this happened to me, I had set up my account for electricity. I realized after a month that they weren't charging me for gas. I called and tried to set up an account and they told me that my unit didn't exist in the system, and there was nothing they could do. I had my landlord call, same answer. Eventually they must have worked it out, and I got a bill in the mail for the previous 6 months-they charged me about $100 for 6 months of service.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you move into a house, it's your responsibility to switch your utilities. 'I didn't know' is not a valid response,

+1

You thought the gas was just magically appearing?