Washington Gas / WGL Holdings review: bad customer service 8

I have been trying to get the service started at the above address for TWO (2) weeks now with no resolution.

It is terribly frustrating trying to utilize the Washington Gas Customer Service Department. The representatives are not knowledgeable nor do they understand the requests that are being made. They are rude when they are unable to assist you and I have been placed on hold and hung up on more than I can explain.

I called the service center a total of 10 times on 10/31/08 trying to get service started at the above residence. I was scheduled to have service cut on between the hours of 7am-5pm. A service technician came to the property at approximately 10:40am he came into the house and checked the furnace and went back out side to begin to cut the service on.

When he went out to the meter he informed me that the meter was old and the regulator was bad and needed to be changed. He informed me that he could not do the work because he did not have the equipment. He informed me that he would put the request into the system for another technician to do the work and that they would be out on that day to complete the work.

When the technician left the property he informed that someone would be out that day to change the regulator and that I should call customer service to inquire when they would be there.

Ten minutes after the technician leaving my property, I began to smell gas and my house filled with a gas smell. I called customer service to find out if someone else was coming to the property and it took 30 minutes for me to explain what the technician had told me when he came out, and what had happened. I was put on hold several times before I could even mention to them that the gas was now leaking. When I was able to tell them this and they actually listened and understood what I was saying they then transferred me to the emergency line to someone who spoke English who informed me to leave the residence and wait for the emergency unit to come and check for the gas leak.

The emergency unit arrived about an hour and a half later to assist me. He told me that the 1st technician had not turned the gas completely off nor did he turn off the valve to the furnace and that is why the gas was escaping into the property. He also informed me that he could change the regulator and turn the gas on but he had to call in to check and see if they would allow him to do so. He called in and they informed him that he had to report to another emergency in another area and that they were trying scheduled someone else to come out to the property but did not know if they would make it that day.

I called back to customer service to try to get verification on weather a technician was going to come to the property that day or if I needed to reschedule, again I was placed on hold, told that the technician had already been there and completed the job, hung up on. The 1st representative had me on the phone so long I asked to speak with a supervisor and she said they were all busy, I asked to be placed on hold and she said she needed to go to break so I needed to call back.

I called back and had to explain the whole scenario again to another representative who again told me that a representative had already gone to the property and completed the work. I again asked for a supervisor and was placed on hold for 45 minutes this time. Then the representative came back to the phone and told me that his supervisor was at lunch and he would have them call me back. I asked if there was another supervisor to speak with and he told me he could only speak and refer calls to his supervisor.

I hung up the phone and went down to the main office in Washington DC to speak with someone in person regarding the above events. The representative was very helpful and scheduled me for an appointment on Wednesday 11/05/08 7:30 am to 5:00pm.

On Wednesday the technician arrived at my property around 11:00am got out his truck walk up to the front of my house and look at the gas meter (never touched it) and informed me that he could not do the work it needed to be done by the construction group because the meter was so old. Mind you this is the second day I have taken off from work!

He informed me that he was going to put in the request and that someone would come out later that day to do the work, he informed me that I did not need to be there for them to do the work because it was outside work that needed to be done. He said that I could call and schedule another appointment to have someone come out to restart the service after the regulator was changed.

On Thursday 11/06/08 8:05am I called the customer service department to find out if the work had been completed and to schedule a time for restart and was informed that I was scheduled for someone to go out to do the work today. I spoke with a representative again had to explain the whole thing to them again and they did not understand, then I asked for a supervisor and she informed me that they would be doing the work today and that I did not need to be there. I asked her when they would be going to the property and again I was placed on hold for about 20 mins this time and when she returned she said that she could not give me time but they would do the work today. I asked her if I could get a call when they were done and she told me that she would have them give me a computer generated call when they were on the way to the property I even gave her my cell phone number.

I never got a call so I decided to call the customer service line at 6:30pm 11/06/08 to see if the work was completed and to schedule to have the service started. I was informed by the representative that the technician went out there and that there was no construction work to be done so nothing was done again.

This is extremely frustrating! When speaking with this representative and the supervisor who’s name was Jason. They informed me that I was supposed to be at the property and that the technician noted that there was no work to be done. I kept asking them if they read the prior notes on the account and that the regulator needed to be changed I kept explaining the whole issue to them but they did not understand I was so frustrated I just hung up the phone.

I need some assistance with getting this taken care of and can not get it done through your customer service department. It is truly a shame that customers have to endure such bad service and not be able to get simple assistance because the customer service department can not understand English it is like they are reading from a script and when you ask them something that is not on there they can not help you!

Thank you

I totally agree that WG's customer service is appalling. I tried setting up gas service today and also got nowhere. The rep was clearly a foreigner located somewhere in an overseas call center and poorly trained, incompetent, and didn't know what he was doing. He insisted that I had to go personally to the WG office and present 2 forms of ID plus the deed for my property in order to get gas service. He claimed that this was required of all new customers. If that is so, why was he even talking to me or taking down my info including my social security number? I asked to speak to a supervisor but was told they were all busy. It was the most ludicrous thing and very aggravating. How could a company like this exist? WG should not be allowed to continue this monopoly of the business.

I completely agree. Washington Gas has the worst customer service of any organization I have EVER dealt with. I tried for 3 hours to get service initiated and kept getting told that my Social Security number did not exist or was not real - not that they didn't have it or that their system fouled up, but that I was a liar and had an invalid social security number. When I attempted to pay my first bill, their online services failed to recognize my account, and I had to try it on the phone. However, all I got was their automated system, which hung up on me 3 times without explanation. Finally, I got hold of a representative - one who did not speak English of course and was completely inaudible anyway. He told me in broken English that the account had been closed and so the computer system didn't recognize it anymore, then hung up. The process repeated except that I was connected to an angry Hispanic woman who wouldn't let me say anything, told me that I was not the account holder, called me a liar, had the nerve to say before she hung up on me that I should go online and take care of it if I had anymore questions despite me telling her first thing that the online service does not work at all, and hung up. Finally I talked to another representative who was actually helpful, but informed me that without my knowledge or permission, they had close my account, opened up a new one again in my name, charged me another 25.00 initiation charge, made a 125.00 additional deposit request, and with no way to access the other account, for which they continue sending me REMINDER forms for its previous balance.

They should be out of business, and would if they had a competitor.

Try asking to speak with Joseph - he was fairly helpful and got the deposit request waived for me.

I've had a similarly infuriating experience with Washington Gas today. I don't know what to do to solve this problem. There are other natural gas providers in Virginia, and you can even find information about that on the Washington Gas web site, but even though you'd pay another company for the gas, Washington Gas would still be solely repoonsible for the gas lines and transmission of the gas, and really, that's what we all complain about, right?

I filed a complaint with the VA SCC here http://www.scc.virginia.gov/pue/complaint.aspx

Don't know if it'll get me anywhere but at least it's something. Maybe if others file a complaint someone in the regulatory authority will take notice.

With so many people missing days of work having to deal with WG, I wonder if there's grounds for a class action lawsuit.

Currently on hold with Washington Gas-- it has been over an hour yet I was told by the recording it would be "two-to-three minutes." Horrible way to treat customers, but what can be done?

In September I changed banks and I had automatic withdraw through Washington Gas. I went on their website and changed all the information to the new bank. I had not closed the account at the old bank and Washington Gas still withdrew my monthly amount from my old bank account putting it in the negative. I call Washington Gas and I was told that they had no record of the change but I was not late for my payment so what is the problem. I explained that I now have to pay an insufficient fund fee to the bank and felt that since I had done what I was supposed to do that I should be refunded by Washington Gas. I was told no. I then told the customer service rep that I want all bank acct info removed and I will for now on pay myself without auto-withdraw. That was in September. It is now December and I have paid my bill myself each month including this month. Today I get a late notice. It states that item was returned by my bank. After checking my bank account and seeing that it was paid I call the number on the letter. I was told that there is no notation on my account that I have ever cancelled the direct wwithdraws and because of that they can't remove the $20 fee they charged me for the bank (the old one) not paying the auto -withdraws because it is a closed acct. I then asked to talk to a supervisor and was told that one would not be available for 3 more hours and I had to call back.

Washington Gas - World Class Crooks
We are trying to install a 27 kw generator. Washington Gas told us last week their part of the installation was $2, 500. This week, it's $4, 355 and they refuse to explain why the cost jumped or provide a cost breakdown. If you can find another method to power your generator, you should to avoid these crooks.

Washington Gas customer service is awful. They mumble, are discourteous and are only interested in getting you off of the phone as quickly as possible. These comments are the result of my bad experiences with closing an account, reconciling their multiple "final" bills and trying to get a refund for the balance due me. You know they don't care when there are so many negative reviews here, but they don't respond or do anything to improve.