I once operated a large piece of equipment that used several hundred KWH a month. Our bills averaged several thousand every month.

I got a bill from the utility and it was the monthly minimum. I called them up and told them that their meter was broken. The CSR assured me it wasn't and I said "I warned you". Next months bill was the minimum and I called them back. I told them that their meter was broken. After the third month, I finally got a manager and he believed me after he went out and saw that we had about 50 Horsepower in various motors on the property running 24/7.

I had to laugh!

This is what I do for work. People move into a place and it's their responsibility to make sure they're getting their bill. We have millions of customers and can't worry about getting someone signed up immediately after someone else has moved out. If it goes on long enough with no one signed up, it's my job to find out who's there and who should be paying.

75% are people who are thieves and liars. They don't want to pay their bills, so they don't call us. Then when I call them, they say they just moved in, so I ask them for a lease. Turns out they've suddenly been there for 6 months, a year, 18 months.

20% are people who honestly forgot they were supposed to sign up, or they thought their landlord or HOA was covering the utilities. They're more than happy to get signed up, but are hesitant to accept the back billing.

5% is our mistake. We, for whatever reason, stopped sending bills to the customers who were already signed up. They're not too happy about the back billing, but accept that they owe it (and should have called us when they stopped getting their bill).

Public Utility Commissions govern our operations since we're essentially a monopoly, and they tell us how long we're allowed to back bill people. In Texas, it's 6 months. If you get billed incorrectly or don't receive a bill for more than six months, we're SOL and have to eat it.

Long story, short: I have absolutely no sympathy for this woman. Know your responsibilities and take care of them, damnit. I especially hate the owners who rent out their property, then argue about how they're not responsible for any use between tenants.

Lazy, irresponsible welfare queen. Cut her farkin power the hell off.

Pull the meter and stick some copper rods in there!

My neighbor built a new house (he actually built it--with his hands and a little help from his friends).

When he got the power turned on, he didn't get a bill for several months, but he'd estimated his energy charges and sent them $5 or $10 a month to cover it.

Well, they got mad and turned off his power. He contacted them and asked why.
Ohio Edison: "Well, you didn't pay your bill...".
Neighbor: "Yes, I did, and you cashed the checks. You haven't been sending me bills, btw."
Ohio Edison: "Oops, we sent them to the wrong address. Sorry, we'll turn the power back on. Reconnect fee will be $150.00"
Neighbor: "BTW, do you know it's illegal for you to turn my power off unless you tell me you're going to do it?."
Ohio Edison: "Ummm... We'll it back on. You owe us a buck and a half."

Yeah, really. $5-10 bucks a month. Neighbor doesn't use much power.

Since I expect and get a bill every month I would question not getting one, it would be stupid not to. Plain and simple, don't just throw your bills away, pay them.

I'm so tempted to rig up a few fair sized capacitors to shift my power useage far into the i phase. Heck, it's not that hard.

/Meters only catch the non-i phase power consumption.

This privatization of energy distribution has really worked out well, hasn't it?

This is what happens when you don't think things through..

Blame useless pieces of shiat like Thatcher, Regan, Mulroney and the rest of the goddam conservatives and the cheerleaders for this crap.

FTFA: I discovered this when researching the case of Lori Conway of Fort Worth. She complained to The Watchdog that she received a $2,600 bill from Ambit Energy of Dallas and that she had been accused ... of meter tampering, which she vehemently denies.

When I contacted Ambit and Oncor, I learned that Conway had not received an electric bill for eight months. Her big mistake? She never called to ask why.

...

she signed up with another company, which did not require a deposit despite her big bill with Ambit and a 2-year-old personal bankruptcy filing listed in public records. Among her creditors in that bankruptcy: TXU Energy for $1,100.

...

In Conway's case, her meter stopped and showed zero electricity usage for more than seven months. Meter readers thought the house was unoccupied. But in the summer, a meter reader noticed that the air conditioner was running but that there was still no usage shown.


WTF??? Seriously?

I love when someone gets fired for a small infraction at work and gets a news story about it and the real story is that they were a major farkup and that it was the straw that broke the camel's back.

This Conway biatch has a serious set of brass balls. Maybe meters stop working, but no one forgets that they need to pay the electric bill for 8 farkin months... maybe 1, 2, or, I'll even give ya, 3... but at some point you realize that you're going to get a big farkin bill that you won't be able to afford and you call the farkin electric company and ask them what the fark is goin on.

It seriously sounds like the system in TX is broken, and it sounds like the legislature needs to actually regulate something, or else deadbeats like this Conway are going to lead to some kind of crisis.

Also, finally... $2600/8 months = $325/mo... what... did they have the AC set to 65? WTF? I don't know what a median, or mean bill is in a hot state like TX, but that sounds pretty recockulous!

SparkyRoosta: Also, finally... $2600/8 months = $325/mo... what... did they have the AC set to 65? WTF? I don't know what a median, or mean bill is in a hot state like TX, but that sounds pretty recockulous!

She was charging up her Flux Capacitor.

/all 1.21 Gigawatts.

Day_Old_Dutchie: This privatization of energy distribution has really worked out well, hasn't it?

This is what happens when you don't think things through..

Blame useless pieces of shiat like Thatcher, Regan, Mulroney and the rest of the goddam conservatives and the cheerleaders for this crap.

AMEN!!! We got seriously screwed in California when they deregulated... it's one thing to encourage competition between private companies, it's entirely another to turn your back on an essential commodity that can't be stored and needs to flow at, or above, demand at all times lest a breaker flip in some random place and blow out service to multiple states.

I have a smaller house, 2200 SQFT and line in PA. I have 1 AC running 24/7 in my office for the computers set to 64F except in the winter months. We run 2 other units for about 9 hours a day in the bedrooms set to 66F during the same time frame. We have a Huge double door fridge and an electric stove, that is used daily to cook/bake. Our bill runs about $175-$200 a month for electric.

There was a snafu will PP&L tho one year where we were changed to electronic billing and estimated meter readings. We didn't get a bill and happened to be in the middle of my wife spending about 18 weeks in the hospitol. Point is We didn't pay the electric bill for almost 6 months.

We finally got a notice saying hey you haven't paid and owe us ~$1200.00 So we called and said oh snap ok sorry and paid them.

We owed it. It was a mistake and funny thing is we had that money in our account since we hadn't been paying lol.

The lady from the story is simply a thief. She has done this 3 times at least and she should simply be denied service. Her credit HAS to suck hard core. Make her pay a $2500 deposit.

Archie Goodwin: SparkyRoosta: Also, finally... $2600/8 months = $325/mo... what... did they have the AC set to 65? WTF? I don't know what a median, or mean bill is in a hot state like TX, but that sounds pretty recockulous!

She was charging up her Flux Capacitor.

/all 1.21 Gigawatts.

LOL... SERIOUSLY!

I_Hate_Iowa

"We have millions of customers and can't worry about getting someone signed up immediately after someone else has moved out. If it goes on long enough with no one signed up, it's my job to find out who's there and who should be paying."

Here in MA, at least two years ago, it's the responsibility of the renter to make sure the electric company knows they are moving and no longer responsible for the bill. Even NSTAR, which handles much of the Boston area handled my last move properly.

/my current electricity provider only serves 2 towns.
//rates are low and the service outstanding.

When I first move out on my own (at the age of 18), my roomate was in charge of the electric bill. We never got the bill for 3 months, despite calling numerous times. When the bill finally came, they charged us for the initial deposit, and late fees, over $200 in surcharges(alot of money for two guys just staring out). Although we managed to pay the bill, we ate nothing but Ramen noodles and Mac & Cheese for awhile after that.

Day_Old_Dutchie: This privatization of energy distribution has really worked out well, hasn't it?

This is what happens when you don't think things through..

Blame useless pieces of shiat like Thatcher, Regan, Mulroney and the rest of the goddam conservatives and the cheerleaders for this crap.

Damn, I don't my paper anymore and Texas done went and annexed England. I must get out more.

Why don't people figure out how much the bill is going to be and and set up a direct debit to go out weekly/monthly into a savings account so that when it comes through the money is all there? Not bloody rocket science.

Theiving biatch deserves to go without for a while. If I have to pay out so does everyone else!

flacidbob: I have 1 AC running 24/7 in my office for the computers set to 64F except in the winter months. We run 2 other units for about 9 hours a day in the bedrooms set to 66F during the same time frame. [...] Our bill runs about $175-$200 a month for electric

64 & 66? Dang!

You're asking your walls and windows to isolate 20-25 degrees. No wonder your bill is so high. Set the temps higher and you'll save quite a bit. And once you get used to it, the outside temps won't feel so bad when you walk out the door...

/Florida
//Keeps temp settings around 75-78

peon36: When I first move out on my own (at the age of 18), my roomate was in charge of the electric bill. We never got the bill for 3 months, despite calling numerous times. When the bill finally came, they charged us for the initial deposit, and late fees, over $200 in surcharges(alot of money for two guys just staring out). Although we managed to pay the bill, we ate nothing but Ramen noodles and Mac & Cheese for awhile after that.

Let me point some things out to you:

You KNEW you were using electric. You KNEW it wasn't free. Even if you weren't getting a bill which you called and asked for, you would have been told what you owed had you bothered to ask.

/EVERYONE eats ramen and mac n cheese when they start out. It had nothing to do with your electric bill it had to do with you being careless with your money.

SparkyRoosta: Day_Old_Dutchie: This privatization of energy distribution has really worked out well, hasn't it?

This is what happens when you don't think things through..

Blame useless pieces of shiat like Thatcher, Regan, Mulroney and the rest of the goddam conservatives and the cheerleaders for this crap.

AMEN!!! We got seriously screwed in California when they deregulated... it's one thing to encourage competition between private companies, it's entirely another to turn your back on an essential commodity that can't be stored and needs to flow at, or above, demand at all times lest a breaker flip in some random place and blow out service to multiple states.

Exactly right. Electricity generation/distribution should be run by the State, period. I know all you drooling neocon Goopers out there think that anything the government does is socialism, but ya know what, electricity should be too cheap to meter, with the system kept to the highest operational standard possible. This never ever happens with corporations, they squeeze every penny of profit out of a system they can muster, no matter what that system is. Public utilities should be PUBLIC, with officers directly accountable to the public, and subjected to public scrutiny and control.

My pop lives in the Bay Area. When Enron and Dynegy took over Californias PUBLIC utility, they immiediatly started gaming the system to generate profit rather than electricity. They shut down generation plants, stopped maintaining the system ON PURPOSE, literally sabotaged parts of the system and fired most of the Union workers to generate cash flow to maintain their little ponzi schemes. With the blessing of the Goopers in Congress and a Gooper Governor who had pushed the legislature hard for privatization, they had it made in the shade.

That Gooper Governor lost his job because most intelligent people saw the scam for what it was and the crooked bastard lost his job to a Democrat. He was a crook as a mayor, and he was a bigger crook as a Governor.

My pop saw his electricy bill go from around $120 a month, then a bill for $400, then the next month it was $900, then $1500. When he finally got a bill for $3400 for ONE MONTHS USAGE, (for a 2000 sq/ft house) he called them up and told them to go fark themselves. The companies had made big hash noises about not having the generation capacity, and how the system was so poorly maintained their own capital outlays were putting them out of buisiness. Which, as everyone now knows, was total and complete bullshiat. They had the capacity with literally gigawatts to spare, but had CLOSED THE PLANTS. They were not maintaining the grid at all, parts of the system collapsed after a couple years and had to be almost completly rebuilt from scratch. There was evidence of deliberate vandalism and neglect by these companies. They knew exacly how to squeeze every penny out for themselves they could, knowing full well they were breaking nearly every law in the process.

Enron and Dynegy got to keep their money, and used the scam as a catspaw to elect a VERY freindly Gooper Governor who made damn sure there would be no investigations into what turned out to be a $150 billion dollar scam.

Thanks Goopers! We all know what YOU stand for, dont we?

Happened to me with a heating bill. In College we would move houses every year or two, normal. This house had seen four different occupants every year. They stopped sending us heating bills and since there were four unrelated roomates, we didnt really notice, everyone thought someone else had taken care of it. after four months we got a rather enormous bill. But as someone else said above, it's no big deal since you had been saving the difference all along, right?

Jumper cables.

SparkyRoosta:

Also, finally... $2600/8 months = $325/mo... what... did they have the AC set to 65? WTF? I don't know what a median, or mean bill is in a hot state like TX, but that sounds pretty recockulous!

I'm pretty sure that she got nailed with a meter tampering fee. Those can run between $500-$1000 depending on the provider and the situation.

/acquaintance of mine did it and had to pay approx $1600. $600 tamper fee and aprrox $1000 for 7 months of service.
//Him and his wife were in a desperate situation, but he was still a farking idiot.

SparkyRoosta:
Also, finally... $2600/8 months = $325/mo... what... did they have the AC set to 65? WTF? I don't know what a median, or mean bill is in a hot state like TX, but that sounds pretty recockulous!

My bill (in Texas) last month was $27. I live in a 760 sq foot place and i run the a/c enough to be comfortable. I just don't use too many lights cause I work nights and like it dim. I can, however, posit a guess as to why her bill was so high. I had a problem with my meter for one month a few years ago. It didn't register any use for the whole month. I got a $0.00 bill and called them to find out what was up. They figured out the problem and billed me the maximum possible usage for the month. Took almost 3 weeks to get them to look up my previous history and charge me an average based on that instead...and the only reason they caved is that it turned out to be their mistake. So I'm guessing that since they didn't have a meter reading, they just charged her maximum usage for the missing months.

untaken_name: SparkyRoosta:
Also, finally... $2600/8 months = $325/mo... what... did they have the AC set to 65? WTF? I don't know what a median, or mean bill is in a hot state like TX, but that sounds pretty recockulous!

My bill (in Texas) last month was $27. I live in a 760 sq foot place and i run the a/c enough to be comfortable. I just don't use too many lights cause I work nights and like it dim. I can, however, posit a guess as to why her bill was so high. I had a problem with my meter for one month a few years ago. It didn't register any use for the whole month. I got a $0.00 bill and called them to find out what was up. They figured out the problem and billed me the maximum possible usage for the month. Took almost 3 weeks to get them to look up my previous history and charge me an average based on that instead...and the only reason they caved is that it turned out to be their mistake. So I'm guessing that since they didn't have a meter reading, they just charged her maximum usage for the missing months.

$27 seriously do live in the most insulated place on earth. 1100 sq foot in florida, last months bill $282. Are you from the mojave?

dofus: flacidbob: I have 1 AC running 24/7 in my office for the computers set to 64F except in the winter months. We run 2 other units for about 9 hours a day in the bedrooms set to 66F during the same time frame. [...] Our bill runs about $175-$200 a month for electric

64 & 66? Dang!

You're asking your walls and windows to isolate 20-25 degrees. No wonder your bill is so high. Set the temps higher and you'll save quite a bit. And once you get used to it, the outside temps won't feel so bad when you walk out the door...

/Florida
//Keeps temp settings around 75-78

64F has to do with keeping the heat that the computers give off to comfortable level and helps them run better.

At night I HAVE to be cool or I won't sleep well, just how my wife, son, and I are. So that is the reason we run the AC at 66 in the bedrooms for about 9 hours a day.

I can work ALL day in the sun if needed at 100F + as long as I have a hat and enough to drink. We don't run AC in ANY other part of the house.

I don't consider our bill that high to be honest. I forgot to mention the ginormous chest freezer in the basement that was made in the 50's lol. No energy star appliance there.

The point I was trying to make, doesn't seem that I did, was that even in a home the size that I have with AC on and large appliances running all day, I still can't touch her bill. When she most likley lives in a small apartment/townhouse.

Just paid my August bill, $480, not bad for 3800 sq. ft. in Texas with 10 skylights. Thermo set at 78F, most of house much cooler. No complaints here.

Shocking!

In PA varies by company and region. We pay between 4.7 cents to 16.7 cents per kwh depending on the time of day we use power.

I_Hate_Iowa: 5% is our mistake. We, for whatever reason, stopped sending bills to the customers who were already signed up. They're not too happy about the back billing, but accept that they owe it (and should have called us when they stopped getting their bill).

This was my circumstance. The bills didn't stop, but reduced to about $15 per month in the middle of winter. I was on the phone with the company every time I made a payment, telling them I thought there was a problem with the meter ("that can't be," they'd say) and insisting the put it in my file that I wouldn't be responsible for back payments if the problem was the electric company's fault.

They replaced the meter after the third call. No back payments.

Moral? I guess just be cooperative and smart, and stand your ground.

wildcardjack:
/Meters only catch the non-i phase power consumption.

Not true. (new window)

skinink: I understand your point I_Hate_Iowa , but shouldn't the utility take responsibility and make sure their customers are billed? They have to take responsibility for their actions as well. Kinda like the banks giving mortgages to people who don't deserve them, then expect a bailout when things go wrong.
Not that anything excuses her for not paying the money she owed.

If the last link in the chain is a paper bill being mailed - no. It is too easy for someone to just shred it an claim they never got it. Nope, still not getting them.

I don't think anyone can claim that, barring their landlord paying it for them, they think that power is free.

If you don't get a credit card statement (and you owe money), do you think you just don't have to pay that month. Hah!

Caliman: wildcardjack:
/Meters only catch the non-i phase power consumption.

Not true. (new window)

True (new window)

"An electricity meter registers real power (watts), not apparent power (VA); changing the reactive load has no effect on the meter"

It's not a class of tricks I'm familiar with, but I bet I could push the phase of consumption of my computer by 80-90 degrees with the right capacitor.

As it is, power metering assumes a certain off set to account for the portion of a power load in the i. In large industrial facilities they normally have the motors on their own circuits tuned to the out of phase energy.

The key is to not over do things. Keep the meter spinning, somewhat.

Texas was among the first states to deregulate electricity rates (another thank you to Governor Bush.) The utilities are always cutting corners. Apparently they don't check credit that closely. Credit Bureaus charge for their scam/"service."

My bill last month was close to $300. Sixteen point something cents per kw/h plus about $9.00 in customer service (meter reading) fees and tax.

Yep, they tax electricity in Texas.

The woman was trying to pull a scam. She went whining to the Ft Worth Startlegram. A newspaper reporter checked out her "story" and found her lies.

This happened to me with Philly Gas Works. I moved to a new place and transferred the gas bill to my name in December. I received the confirmation letter and then nothing else. By the end of Feb. we realised that we hadn't gotten a bill yet. We called them several times and were told "that's not possible." I came home one day in July to find a notice on my door basically accusing us of stealing the gas and telling me I had 72 hours to take care of it.
They were actually quite apologetic about it and admitted that their billing dept. screwed up, but still hit me with $1100.00 worth of back-bills.

You mean people can choose from more than one energy provider?

/Long Island monopolies. Meh.

DFW Farkers:

isn't the columnist the same guy that just got arrested for leaving his kid at Mcdonalds but the charges were later dropped?

Just curious...

and it just seems to me that there would be a few more hoops you had to jump through before switching electric companies (or at least a way that they could have known this lady was ripping off people).

When I moved into my current residence, the previous tenant's outstanding balance was over $1,600. I found this out when I tried to switch the power into my own name and the utility provider demanded proof that I wasn't the previous occupant and explained why.

And yet for some reason their service at this address was never terminated, or at least not until I called to ask that it be. On the other hand I have had my own services terminated for a

O'McNoonan: And yet for some reason their service at this address was never terminated, or at least not until I called to ask that it be. On the other hand I have had my own services terminated for a

When I got my first place (it was a new development) the fire department had the whole place renumbered - causing chaos. I wrote a letter every month to the power company asking for a bill. One day, eight months later, I get home to find out that the entire neighborhood of 400 places had no power - apparently crews were sent out to turn off power because of non-payment. You would think a PSNH crews would have the brains to ask why power is bring shut off at every single house in a neighborhood. I called the Utilities comission and my power was back on within half an hour. I also got some major apologies from the power company.

When the cottage my husband and I used to rent was converted to natural gas, the first two odd little bills came to us no problem (relating to service start-up and getting lined up with a monthly billing cycle). Then I fell ill and spent the better part of the next 3 1/2 months in a hospital an hour's drive from where we lived. My hubby dutifully took on "my" job of paying the bills, paying a few at the bank and scribbling checks for the rest as they came in the mail, in-between trips to the medical center. Finally I came home from the hospital for good, and a few days later I received a "courtesy call" from the gas company telling us our gas would be turned off the next day unless we paid our outstanding bill AT ONCE!

For some odd reason we've never understood, the gas company was sending our bill to the right house number and street, but the next town over, so of course we never got them. We can't find out why the first two bills had the right address and the rest didn't, but I was at least able to get the gas company to drop all the late fees. Hubby never missed the gas bills because we weren't used to getting them and he wasn't used to paying ALL the bills anyway.

(Also, someone at the gas company had an all-new way to break wind after my furious landlady got off the phone with them.)

This girl I worked with had problems with her meter, called the local electric company. They told her it wasn't their problem and she needed to call an electrician to fix it, She did and he told her it was their equipment. So she called them back, they told her she didn't use an electrician they dealt with and they wouldn't do anything till she did. So she got another electrician out there and he told her the same thing, so finally they fixed it and just switched the meterbox.

One month later.... The meter reader comes and noticed it's a new box, and not the one he has in his records, calls his company, they call the cops and she gets arrested. Missed 2 days of work, spent one night in jail and the morning she goes in front of a judge, local company goes on about how she stole their equipment and was stealing energy. She tells the judge what happened he says you got proof, she has her husband get the bills from the electricians. So the judge says ok, electric company is going to pay you for the 2 days of work, for having to spend the night in jail, for both electricians and $2000 credit on future bills.

I've had both public and private electric companies, one town I lived in took care of it, and my bill added with trash, water and sewage was never more than $125 a month, and I could pay it locally. The private company, my bill was always around $150 on it own running the same crap, and there is NO local place to pay the bill, unless you Western Union it for a $2 fee, or you call and pay with CC/Debtit card, and have a $6 fee to do so, or pay by check over the phone or internet and (last I knew)pay a $6 fee. Farking unbelievable!

I_Hate_Iowa: This is what I do for work. People move into a place and it's their responsibility to make sure they're getting their bill. We have millions of customers and can't worry about getting someone signed up immediately after someone else has moved out.

NO.

It is the company's responsibility. It is NOT my job to make sure you are sending me a bill.

And if you fail to send me a bill in a timely fashion, it is NOT my problem, it's yours. Eat the loss and move on.

DarkVader: I_Hate_Iowa: This is what I do for work. People move into a place and it's their responsibility to make sure they're getting their bill. We have millions of customers and can't worry about getting someone signed up immediately after someone else has moved out.

NO.

It is the company's responsibility. It is NOT my job to make sure you are sending me a bill.

And if you fail to send me a bill in a timely fashion, it is NOT my problem, it's yours. Eat the loss and move on.

Wrong. Sorry it is YOUR job to make sure you pay your bills. No one elses. Try to use tha excuse for shoplifting.

"I'm sorry officer but they didn't make sure I paid for it they should have to eat their loss, I shouldn't go to jail"

Stealing is Stealing

Thank you, moderators.

Awww, the poster who uses the term Goopers can't handle being called a commie. My first thread deletes, beers are on me!

Ahhh I love getting the electric bill every month. It is never more than $3.50. Right after we bought the house, the meter would only work occasionally. For the last 8-9 years, the bills kept getting smaller and smaller. Even if the electric company goes back and averages from the last few years, it still won't be much.

This happened to me.

I had moved out of a student housing apartment into a normal apartment in Chicago (this is during college obviously). The apartment building told me how to go about contacting the power company to get set up. I did. A week later I get a "Meter running in empty apartment WTF?" letter. So I do it again, and a week later, get another letter.

It got to the point where I was sending in my information AND calling them at least once a week. At one point they had a meter reader there and I gave HIM my information as well. This went on for six months before they finally realized OH SHIAT, this apartment is occupied, and backbilled me for the six months.

I was pissed, needless to say. I'm pretty sure that I couldn't have done anything else to make sure my account was set up. The fact that in spite of sending the form in in writing and calling them every damn week, they STILL somehow missed me, was just freaking sickening. It took me two damn years on budget billing to pay off the bill (I was, after all, a student). This mess now sits on my credit history, of course.

/farking ComEd

Ringshadow: This happened to me.

I had moved out of a student housing apartment into a normal apartment in Chicago (this is during college obviously). The apartment building told me how to go about contacting the power company to get set up. I did. A week later I get a "Meter running in empty apartment WTF?" letter. So I do it again, and a week later, get another letter.

It got to the point where I was sending in my information AND calling them at least once a week. At one point they had a meter reader there and I gave HIM my information as well. This went on for six months before they finally realized OH SHIAT, this apartment is occupied, and backbilled me for the six months.

I was pissed, needless to say. I'm pretty sure that I couldn't have done anything else to make sure my account was set up. The fact that in spite of sending the form in in writing and calling them every damn week, they STILL somehow missed me, was just freaking sickening. It took me two damn years on budget billing to pay off the bill (I was, after all, a student). This mess now sits on my credit history, of course.

/farking ComEd

Let me get understnad what you're saying...

You say you went through all the trouble of trying to make sure you got your account set up so you got a bill and you DIDN'T set aside money that you knew you would owe?

Seems to be a common problem.

People that KNOW they owe money yet still spend everything they make per paycheck plud use credit cars. That is the PROBLEM with to many people. Young and old.