LP&L, f'ing pisses me off Options

[Spectatrix]

Me: Hi, I'm a former LP&L customer and I'm setting up new electric service in Austin. I'd like to have you guys send a letter of reference to them showing my good payment history so that I can get my deposit with them reduced. *gives old address & name*

LP&L: Well, you have a rating of "poor" with us, so this won't help you any.

Me: Wait, what? I had perfect payment history with you for two years!

LP&L: You have an outstanding debt with us for 18 dollars.

Me: What? From when?

LP&L: November 2003 (at the first address I lived at in Lubbock)

Me: I had service transferred and had service in my name at the 2nd address for a year and a half after that. Why was that charge never assessed THERE?

LP&L: Well if they didn't look you up by customer number, billing wouldn't have made the connection between the two accounts.

Me: But, but, but... you looked me up by ADDRESS now and it brought this up!

LP&L: Yes, well, we hate you. (Ok, she didn't really say that) You could pay the debt, but your rating would still be poor with us.

Me: Fax me all that info, please. I'm going to call back after I can compare it to my old bills.






@#%!#%&%&@#$&#$!@#%^ FUCK LP&L. Why the hell am I just NOW finding out about this debt? 3 1/2 f'ing years old! At least they never submitted it to a collection agency (I guess 18 bucks isn't worth the cost of collection), so it hasn't damaged my credit rating, but fucking hell! Needless to say, an LP&L supervisor is going to get a nasty call from me tomorrow or Friday, IF they ever actually fax me this damn info. Thankfully I've kept pretty good track of my bills over the years, so I can look at bills and bank account history and see WTF is up.

This post has been edited by Spectatrix: Apr 12 2007, 12:54 PM

[Hartmann]

Well, it is their responsibility to link the accounts, not yours. I would call them back and tell them the exact same thing and if they say "well, they didn't look it up by address", tell them that isn't your fault and that you never received notice of payment not being received and that the charge and the poor rating should be removed. You should not pay something you never received notice of because of their screwup.

I've learned that you have to be assertive, especially when you know you are right. Dealing with businesses on the phone is hard and if they sense that they can get something out of you, they'll attempt to.