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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2016 23:00:15 GMT -6
If the companies are not willing to work then ask for help through agencies that do help out with utility bills. But there are limits that they do. If a person truely needs help then they will more then likely help but if you abuse the system then they wont which I dont blame them. Totally understandable, there are resources out there to help but there needs to be more. Also if people abuse it then they should be cut off. The agencies help as much as they can, funds are limited with them too all the money they get is through donations. Where I used to work they did fundraisers for one place here in town to help the needy. Another thing they do is a program called pack the backpacks which needy people with kids will have a backpack full of all the supplies they need for school. They just did that last week and they had 2600 backpacks they gave out.
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Post by Matt on Aug 13, 2016 5:55:58 GMT -6
That's amazing, a lot of backpacks.
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Emerald
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Post by Emerald on Aug 29, 2016 2:56:34 GMT -6
Do you think it's right for electricity/water providers to cut people off for non-payment? I don't think it's right especially in the winter as these are essential resources and if someone genuinely cannot pay their bill but is trying they shouldn't be punished. No I don't think it is right to cut people off.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2016 5:35:06 GMT -6
from what I have heard but not quite sure how true it is but utility companies cannot cut off if it gets to certain temp or could kill someone. Like I said I dont know how true it is. But I do know here they wont cut you off if the temp is 110 degrees or higher. Interesting thread this and I think you are partly right there @amulet, a lot of companies if you are in arrears with either your gas and electric (not sure about the water bit though) will install a 'Pay as you go' meter with the debt added onto the meter, they will work out your income then add a weekly charge until the debt is paid, example, if you top your card up weekly by say £10 then they will take around £3 off the top up for your debt which will give you £7 electric or gas. I say this as years ago I paid my gas & electric by direct debit in the bank, I got made redundant from work and I could not afford the monthly payments on my gas and cancelled the direct debit in the bank for the gas and informed the company of my redundancy and asked them for an option. They then said about the latter which I agreed with and continued that until I found another job which I did a few months later. I continued with the 'Pay as you go method' with my gas until I got back on my feet, cleared the gas debt off then I came back onto a monthly payment method by a card gas and electric payment method in which I would go and pay at any pay point where they swiped your card and you made your payment. I have never had any problems since then and have been doing this payment method for the last 10 years. Even now that I am retired from work (over 2 years now) I work out my monthly payments off my monthly state pension and just continue on with all my payments and I have never been in the red with any bills.
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Post by Matt on Aug 29, 2016 22:13:18 GMT -6
Yes I think the company should at least try to work something out with the person instead of just cutting them off.
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Vincent Van Ghoul
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That is not drunk which be eternal dry Yet with strange brewing, even beers imbibe.
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Post by Vincent Van Ghoul on Aug 30, 2016 13:46:28 GMT -6
Just to play devil's advocate here; To the people who argue that the gas/electric/water companies shouldn't cut off people who fall behind on payments, what should they do?
If they don't cut people off at some point, they're basically forcing their customers to accrue additional debt, on top of the already unpaid debts.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2016 19:51:57 GMT -6
Like I have said before most utility companies will work with you if you keep your end of the agreement, but if you dont then they wont work with you because they have been burned too many times. It costs the utility companies money to get the service to you so you shouldnt expect it for free.
You would be surprised with the excuses people give. I use to work at a church that use to help with utility services and I have heard the saddest stories from people. Majority of the stories are not true and these people will call every month, after a couple of times you will recognize their voice but they keep trying.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2016 0:05:21 GMT -6
Just to play devil's advocate here; To the people who argue that the gas/electric/water companies shouldn't cut off people who fall behind on payments, what should they do? If they don't cut people off at some point, they're basically forcing their customers to accrue additional debt, on top of the already unpaid debts. Like I have said before most utility companies will work with you if you keep your end of the agreement, but if you dont then they wont work with you because they have been burned too many times. It costs the utility companies money to get the service to you so you shouldnt expect it for free. You would be surprised with the excuses people give. I use to work at a church that use to help with utility services and I have heard the saddest stories from people. Majority of the stories are not true and these people will call every month, after a couple of times you will recognize their voice but they keep trying. Agree with you both, look at it this way, if you owned a gas/electric company that supplied both to customers and people stopped paying their bills then your company will eventually go into the red and then fold up. I don't think I would like that if that happened to me but what I would do is take the person(s) to court and let the court of law officials decide a method of payments.
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