Consumers Power is a monopoly, and they hire inept people.

[jynxxxedangel]

If anyone has any scrap wood or brush (already cut in usable size pieces), it would be greatly appreciated. I don't know when my gas will be on, again. Consumers Power said up to 24 hours.

The lend of a space heater or two, for the evening, would also be appreciated.

Thanks.

[jynxxxedangel]

Bump..

Down to the last log, and it's not looking good.

..and the %^@%##)@(#%#*%_(%#!!!(^!)(! gas company says no one will be out here until tomorrow.

[torn asunder]

really sorry i'm not closer - i could drop off a ton of firewood. do you have an electric stove? i've had to resort to turning the top burners on high for a few hrs at a time, with a fan going to circulate the air. if you can, and you try this, try to place a cookie sheet or something on any side wall that might be adjoining the stove to protect it from the excess heat. if that's not possible, some high-wattage halogen lamos will put off enough heat to keep the house from freezing.

if worse comes to worst, you could pick up a few bags of charcoal, just be careful not to light too much of it at one time. i'll be on yahoo if you have any questions...

[jynxxxedangel]

I have a gas stove..of course.

Down to my last log, and it's COLD in here.

The spiders are underneath my only halogen lamp in the house.

[Rayne]

I got wood, you just got to come get it. More has even fell.

[Msterbeau]

I can't come tonight. Would it help if I brought you one in the morning? It doesn't work all that great, in my opinion, but I'm sure it's better then nothing.

[the eternal]

I just realized this was last night, not tonight.

Iz she a frozen angel?

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

if worse comes to worst, you could pick up a few bags of charcoal, just be careful not to light too much of it at one time. i'll be on yahoo if you have any questions...

OMG! Dont do that! Charcoal burned int he house will KILL YOU! The amount of Carbon dioxide that comes of it is off the charts!

[Msterbeau]

Still need heat?

[jynxxxedangel]

NO WORRIES, everyone!!!! I have heat, now!!

Consumers Power left me without, for over 24 hours, in below-freezing weather. Had I been old, or an invalid, I probably wouldn't have lasted through the night. This is TRULY DEPLORABLE.

Then, 26 hours AFTER I paid the bill in full, and had the work order called in for service, these two idiots (who were about as harebrained as the burglars from "Home Alone") showed up. I shit you not-- these guys were a couple of rubes. First of all, they had supposedly been instructed to ring me 20 minutes before arrival. This did not happen, of course. They just fucking showed up. I'm pretty sure they smelt my pet skunk.

When they first arrived, they came in to check and see what appliances would need pilots re-lit. The short weaselly blond guy couldn't remove the panel to my furnace-- he fought for nigh onto 5 minutes, just to take it off, and another 5 to put it back on (oh, and the big, dumb-looking, dark-haired guy just stood there, and looked at him).

Anyway, Barney and Fred went out to the meter, to unlock the box and turn the gas back on. I happened to spying on them; and AGAIN, the tall, vapid-looking dark haired guy just stood there, watching the other. They were out there for about 20 minutes!!!! Now HOW feckin' long does it take to unlock a padlock, and unscrew a valve? All the while, they were chit-chatting-- about the most IDIOTIC shit. The sort of bland chit-chat you might hear two metrosexuals, or church people, discussing at lunchtime.

At about this point in time, I began to smell mercaptan STRONGLY in the house. I actually had to crack the window, as the gas leaking out from the pilots was making me a bit faint. It was another TEN MINUTES before the guys came back in, again...they stood around chit-chatting some more at the cargo doors of the work van.

When they did come back inside, they DIDN'T KNOCK-- ONE OF MY PET PEEVES! Even though I knew they were here, you don't DO that shit when you're a stranger, at my house!! That triggers old instincts within me, that people really don't want to find out the consequences of. The entire time the guys were here, I felt weird..they were a bit off-- you know that creepy feeling you get when around 7th Day Adventists or JWs? My creep meter was in the red!

Anyhow, they go to light the stove and oven pilots, with a long propane BBQ lighter. Neither guy could do it-- apparently, it was too difficult to hold the child safety lock and click the button, at once. Barney pulls some wooden lucifers out of his pocket, and it takes him ANOTHER five minutes to light the fucking stove pilots. He then has Fred light the oven, and it took him another five to do that. I could have had them ALL lit, little cupcake that I am, within two minutes-- but you gotta let the gas guys do it when they turn your shit back on..liability, and legal stuff.

Onward to the hot water heater..

This is where it gets quite funny. They get into my master bath, where the access panel is. Barney looks at Fred, and says, "Do you have a screwdriver?" I ALMOST CAME UNGLUED!!!!!! So I go out into the kitchen and GET one FOR THEM. Now, folks-- is it just me, or do you find it a bit odd that TWO MEN, who are supposed to know what they are doing (and apparently do this all day long), would not have a flat-head screwdriver in at least ONE of their tool belts??????

It took Fred YET ANOTHER ten minutes, to prime the pilot and light it, once he got the panel open. All I could do to keep from laughing my ass off, or telling them to get the fuck out of my house, was to keep stuffing grape liquorice in my face.

They went to leave, and I had to ask them, "There is nothing I must sign to prove you were here?" and the guy told me there wasn't. Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I DON'T like this. I will never know their names, or their ID numbers, if something DOES go wrong. What if they stole something? What if they did something improperly? What if their conduct was out of line? I really don't like this...no, not one bit.

You can BET that I will be contacting Consumers Energy in the very near future, and TOTALLY going APE-SHIT into the ears of each department I get transferred to.

Monopolistic energy corporations SUCK, and I intend to be a thorn in the side of this one.

[Rev.Reverence]

GET THEM!

I too, HATE peoples I do not know in my house...& I only rent! (wait till O_M_G can finally buy me a house)

It's that territoriality...eh?.....even when the land-lord is over...I gets the twitches...& it HIS building..right!

...luckily...MOST peoples re-entering my house will knock (I guess my size & appearance helps with that)...but NOT the land-lord....he walks around like he OWNS the fuckin' place or somethin'!

[bean]

That's awful! I can't even believe that went on. Not signing anything seems suspicious to me too. Give them hell!

[Onyx]

man.

Just even reading through that made me feel uneasy.

i'm glad they didn't cause a gas explosion or something. I also think it's disgusting they turned your gas off in this weather.

[freydis]

i hatehatehate consumers and DTE.

i am SO GLAD i dont have to deal with them anymore.

[hunhee]

hehe dumber and dumbest.. how cute!!! Sorry you had to go through that. I hate service people that come out to the house. It wasn't that irksome before because I had someone I had always lived with, but now that I live alone, I know the feeling of the creepshows they call technicians. You'd think they screen them for the creep factor before they send them out to people's houses.

[torn asunder]

OMG! Dont do that! Charcoal burned int he house will KILL YOU! The amount of Carbon dioxide that comes of it is off the charts!

she has a fireplace... you burn the charcoal in the fireplace. the coals will heat the unit like the embers of a fire will.

sorry, i thought that was a given - gaf is right though, charcoal without proper ventilation can kill.

[Brenda Starrr]

I'm just curious...why do we need both DTE and Consumer's? In MD, we had only one. Do we even HAVE other options?

[jynxxxedangel]

I have no idea how utilities have become so monopolised in this area. All I know, is there need to be more alternatives, in getting service. I feel as if Consumers is being crammed down my throat. I wish I could get LP gas here-- I certainly would.

[StormKnight (1)]

I was actually far enough north in MD to avoid PEPCO, and ended up with Allegheny power. Average was about 20 dollars cheaper than PEPCO during the summers.

[Michiko_Dreads]

GET THEM!

I too, HATE peoples I do not know in my house...& I only rent! (wait till O_M_G can finally buy me a house)

It's that territoriality...eh?.....even when the land-lord is over...I gets the twitches...& it HIS building..right!

...luckily...MOST peoples re-entering my house will knock (I guess my size & appearance helps with that)...but NOT the land-lord....he walks around like he OWNS the fuckin' place or somethin'!

LMAO!!!!

He does.