Electronic meters’ false readings up to six times higher than actual consumption
I was paying upwards of $150 a month for heating in a tiny <400sqft studio in Boston at one point. $200 on one month. There was definitely something wrong with the meter readings, and pretty sure I was getting charged for someone else's electricity considering how little I was at home with the heater on. The utility company refused to investigate and would only threaten to send in debt collectors if I didn't pay up. My property manager only pointed me to the utility company. I tried complaining to DPU, but they didn't respond to e-mails, and I didn't have time for phone calls or mediating this mess, in general.<p>As much as I wanted to fight, as sad as it sounds my time was worth more than the money I'd get back by spending time on the phone arguing and escalating the issue at critical hours of the day. :-/<p>Moved to California, paying a much more reasonable utility bill, and glad I didn't have to deal with that again.<p>If there were a "deal-with-humans-as-a-service" business that took a 20% cut of any money I could get back in situations like this, I'd totally pay for it. I once had to argue for 2 hours on the phone with T-mobile about $250 in excess charges on my phone bill, and while got it all back after escalating it to a manager, I'd totally pay $50 for someone to deal with the 2 hours of phone calls for me.