BROWNNOSE
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CBC – Tue, 7 Dec 9:43 AM EST
A Port Credit, Ont., man says he is aghast after a surprise one-time $12,000 Hydro One bill payment was taken from his account last week.
Alan Skeoch, 71, had monthly payments of nearly $500 deducted automatically from his account for his weekend farmhouse near Acton, north of Toronto, for years.
He hadn't been billed since August 2008, although he hadn't noticed that. So he got an unwelcome surprise last Thursday when he visited his bank and found that Hydro One had recouped the back payments in one fell swoop.
"I noticed $11,907.40 had been taken out [of my account]," said Skeoch.
"I had barely that much in the account. They wiped me right out. Really no comment, they just did it. I'm devastated by it.
"I thought, well, they've made a mistake."
Skeoch, a retiree who used to be a contributor to CBC Radio, was on an equalized billing system, in which customers pay the same bill every month based on an estimate of average power consumption over the entire year.
Skeoch said that even though he didn't notice he hadn't been billed for months, Hydro One should have informed him of the lapse and given him more warning of the large deduction. He spoke to a Hydro One representative, who wasn't immediately able to provide a refund or resolve the issue to Skeoch's satisfaction.
But Hydro One spokesperson Danièle Gauvin told CBC News they will refund Skeoch's money and set him up on a plan that would arrange payment over a 24-month period. As of Monday evening, Skeoch has yet to be refunded the money.
Gauvin said it's a highly unusual case, and that the company has "a system in place for when bills get a little bit higher, and we're reviewing those systems. So there should have been a communication further ahead than Dec. 1."
Hydro One "did note on the bills ... that we would like him to call us in with a meter reading. And of course not everyone reads their bill very closely," she said.
Skeoch was unimpressed by Hydro One's response.
"That's the type of thing, you see, you put the fault on me, as much as you can — like 'Go check the meter.' Well, I can check the meter, but what does that mean?" he said.
"I assume it's all covered and I have no worries. I don't have to worry about it. It's been like that forever."
B Hunter
WOW!! This is why you never give your bank accounts out for auto withdraw,,
just my 2 cent!!
A Port Credit, Ont., man says he is aghast after a surprise one-time $12,000 Hydro One bill payment was taken from his account last week.
Alan Skeoch, 71, had monthly payments of nearly $500 deducted automatically from his account for his weekend farmhouse near Acton, north of Toronto, for years.
He hadn't been billed since August 2008, although he hadn't noticed that. So he got an unwelcome surprise last Thursday when he visited his bank and found that Hydro One had recouped the back payments in one fell swoop.
"I noticed $11,907.40 had been taken out [of my account]," said Skeoch.
"I had barely that much in the account. They wiped me right out. Really no comment, they just did it. I'm devastated by it.
"I thought, well, they've made a mistake."
Skeoch, a retiree who used to be a contributor to CBC Radio, was on an equalized billing system, in which customers pay the same bill every month based on an estimate of average power consumption over the entire year.
Skeoch said that even though he didn't notice he hadn't been billed for months, Hydro One should have informed him of the lapse and given him more warning of the large deduction. He spoke to a Hydro One representative, who wasn't immediately able to provide a refund or resolve the issue to Skeoch's satisfaction.
But Hydro One spokesperson Danièle Gauvin told CBC News they will refund Skeoch's money and set him up on a plan that would arrange payment over a 24-month period. As of Monday evening, Skeoch has yet to be refunded the money.
Gauvin said it's a highly unusual case, and that the company has "a system in place for when bills get a little bit higher, and we're reviewing those systems. So there should have been a communication further ahead than Dec. 1."
Hydro One "did note on the bills ... that we would like him to call us in with a meter reading. And of course not everyone reads their bill very closely," she said.
Skeoch was unimpressed by Hydro One's response.
"That's the type of thing, you see, you put the fault on me, as much as you can — like 'Go check the meter.' Well, I can check the meter, but what does that mean?" he said.
"I assume it's all covered and I have no worries. I don't have to worry about it. It's been like that forever."
B Hunter
WOW!! This is why you never give your bank accounts out for auto withdraw,,
just my 2 cent!!
