Having never had a BC Hydro account I wasn’t sure about the process. I knew that it was something that I had to have done before we moved to PR. Brian assured me that I did not want to have cold showers. He said you don’t really know what a cold shower feels like until you don’t have hydro. I am guessing that at some point someone flicked the switch off for him. I look up the number on the BC Hydro website. For new service call this number. I call the number and am put on hold as the automated voice messaging system rattles off some type of message about all customer service representatives are currently busy right now……………. I have heard this message way too many times. So I wait and wait and oh great the phone is ringing. Some guy answers the phone and I explain to him what I need. He asks me “where I would like service“. I tell him Powell River. He says, “I have to transfer you to Sechelt” So the phone is ringing again and I get the voice mail of some lady named Edna. The message doesn’t even say anything about hydro, just “you have reached the voice mail of Edna please leave your name and number and I’ll get back to you”. So I leave a message, it’s 10:00am. By 3:00pm I have not received a call back from Edna. It’s a Monday, maybe they don’t work Monday’s in Sechelt. I call BC Hydro again and tell them my situation. I ask if there is anyone else I can talk to. The man tells me yes, there’s Edna and there’s Scott. I tell him that Edna has not returned my message (and she never ever did) so can you transfer me to Scott. The phone rings and a polite lady answers the phone. After telling her my address and information she asks me if I will have an electrican on site. What? Electrician on site? We’re only renting what do I need an electrican for? So after a few giggles on both ends I realize that “new service” really means “new service”. What I need she tells me is to open up an account with BC Hydro. I feel kind of stupid but am glad that I didn’t wait around all day for Edna to call me back. I am transferred to the accounts extension and give all my information to the lady. She tells me that since I am a new hydro customer that I will need to put down a $250 deposit or have a credit check done. I could also have a payee verify that I have paid a bill consecutively for 12 months but I am in quite a hurry so I decide to have the credit check done. I am actually quite a bit nervous to have my credit check. She asks me for my address and puts me on hold. Not too sure what type of credit check this is; don’t they usually need your SIN to do a credit check? After a few minutes she gets back to me and tells me that she can waive the $250 deposit. Phew! I am told that we have missed the last meter reading and that the next meter reading will be around the 5th of November. The lady also informs me that there is a one time fee of around $13 that will appear on the bill. As much as bills suck, I can’t help but feel so grown-up and responsible having bills in my name.10 days go by and I receive mail from BC Hydro. It’s a bill. Odd, I thought the lady said we wouldn’t receive a bill until November. I look at the bill and see that it is for service for September 2nd to September 2nd. I see the $13.89 for the first time service fee and another total for energy consumption. Apparently we used quite a bit of electricity in one day. About $31 worth!!!!!! Holy crap! I do some quick math in my head and I come out to a total of around $900/month. Holy shit! Something has got to be wrong. I look at the bill, show it to Brian but neither of us know how to read this bill. What’s this step 1 and step 2 thing? So I decide to go to the BC Hydro website where there is a page that is entitled “Your Bill Explained”. It doesn’t help me so I call their customer service number. The lady brings up my bill and she tries to explain it to me. I still don’t get it. I ask her if this bill seems quite high for one day. She realizes that the meter was read from July (the last time there were tenants in the house) until September. Phew! I am feeling much better now and she assures me that she will send it back to billing and I will receive a new correct bill in the mail.
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