Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  09/22/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I moved out of the property at **** * ****** ****** ** after the unit flooded. The utility company is stating that I owe money to them even after I moved out of the unit

  Business response

  10/09/2023

  Reason for the lateness, the utility here just received this BBB by mail on 10/6/23. These should be sent by email to myself or the utility. Customer had never called us to cancel his service in 2022 so this unit the customer was in was reverted to the landlord per the request on the account to not shut off service and just revert. This happened on 9/27/22. Per tariff, customer is responsible for notifying utility of stopping service. No calls from the landlord either about any flooding as we would have had calls to come shut off the gas. No orders were generated. Customer would need to contact old landlord about the situation at the apartment complex as we were never informed. Customer needs to pay arrears of $388.51 due on the account before starting service at his new location. No payment terms are allowed since the account was final billed last year. 

• Initial Complaint

  05/31/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Regarding account number **********-***** and billing date of 2/14/2023, we were overcharged on our natural gas bill due to a faulty meter module; this is the communication device attached to the top of the meter casing. The average usage up until then and since was/is 34.5ccf; the usage for the bill dated above was 303ccf. On May 15, 2023 we noticed a Michigan Utilities Vehicle at the address of the before mentioned meter. We approached the the technician and asked the reason for his visit. He said he was replacing the meter module because it was faulty and not reading correctly. We inquired if that would be the reason for the previous months excessive charges and he said “it’s quite possible; you should contact the utilities and discuss the event with them.” We have called the Michigan Gas Utilities Company (seems they use a contracted company) 6 times and either been hung up on, lost the connection, been left on hold for 1 hour and 24 minutes, or been connected to another number that charged us $2.79 for the “call”. We have tried numerous times to speak with a representative/supervisor to no avail. It appears that the company has no interest or intention of communicating with us to resolve this issue.

  Business response

  06/21/2023

  These types of complaints are not coming to MGU through the proper channels, so they are becoming late by the time we receive them.

  Customer was responded to on 6/6/23 but Mr. ****** is not the Customer of record on the gas account, so we were reaching out to the wife *** to get him added to the account. Customer emailed us and I was able to confirm even though we didn’t do the index exchange to fix the ert until 3/15, we still got an actual reading off the meter usage on 2/2/23 of 356 so that is usage since last actual read on 10/25/22. The usage was estimated in November and December. Even when an ert fails, the meter is still capturing usage at the property. The meter itself was not defective, only the ert which allows for van reads.
  
  What you were billed for was usage back to the actual meter read from 10/25/22. It equates to 3 almost 4 months of usage. If you had been billed for usage monthly, it averages to less than $100 a month through the winter months. The customer contacted us again and is completely satisfied with the explanation as to why the bill was so high in February. I expressed a sincere apology to them for the poor customer experience they dealt with on those calls. I offered a $50 courtesy credit as a token of MGUs willingness to make it right for them. Expressed also the level of service they received does not meet with the commitment to excellence in customer service MGU strives for each and every day. 

  We also were going to reach our call center leadership to provide coaching for our agents that took all these calls in regard to the poor customer experience the customer received. No further action is needed at this time. 

• Initial Complaint

  05/22/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Michigan Gas Utility did not give a notice when shutting off the gas. On May 15th, it was stated on the bill would be the disconnection service. On May 17th, they advised my mother to set up a payment arrangement and to pay half the amount due on May 22nd. On May 18th, they shut off the service without notice. My mother spent approximately three hours talking to the Michigan Gas Utility. They said we should have been advised to pay the amount due because there was no stop with the payment arrangement. Multiple representatives said that we have to pay the full amount by the 19th and they would restore service immediately. This morning, on May 19th, my mother and I split the cost of the Michigan Gas Bill to restore service to our home. One representative said that it didn't matter that we payed the full cost and had to make an appointment to turn on the gas. Mind you, there are four children in this house, two of them being under the age of 5. Another representative laughed at us for not having gas and proceeded to hang up after laughing. In her notes, it said she put in our appointment for the 22nd and said she was going to call us back. After speaking to a third representative she kept our appointment for the 22nd and put in an emergency rush to send someone out by 5pm today to turn it on. No one accepted the request. My mother called at 2pm today and said they were waiting for dispatch to come out. At 5pm she called again and the representative stated that no children was listed in the file and there was no emergency request put in. So now, there is 4 children without gas for an entire weekend after they stated someone would be back to turn on the gas once we payed the entire bill. So for the past two days multiple agents have lied to us about restoring the gas to our home. Between the 12 representatives we got, not a single one has helped restored the gas when they said all we had to do was pay the full amount.

  Business response

  06/01/2023

  The customer was given notice of disconnection on first letter 5/3/23 and a second letter on 5/9/23. Both with a minimum payment option of $132, due by 5/15/23. Both letters say failure to pay the MPO by the due date can cause service to be disconnected anytime on or after 5/15/23. The customer had created a payment term on our website on 5/17/23 after the due date of the disconnect letters and when doing that the customer received an acknowledgment that they understand making a payment arrangement does not protect from disconnection until the down payment is paid and posted to the account. Making a payment after the disconnect due date could result in disconnection of service. The customer did end up making a payment on 5/19/23 and when calling back into schedule turn on, we did find a call where the customer service rep did make a sound after the customer made a comment. There was no taunting or laughing during any of the calls that were recorded. This rep will be coached for proper telephone edacate and understanding of our customers concerns. The rep proceeded to schedule her for next business day per our tariff for 3/22/23 and put in an expedited request for a sooner time. Informed customer there was no guarantee. Informed her if there becomes an earlier appt, that we would be reaching out to her with a phone call. Customer did have completed turn on 3/22/23. We have attempted to call the customer and leave a message on 6/1/23 and we did go ahead and email the customer in hopes of resolving this issue. We keep trying to reach out to the customer unless they return our call first. 

• Initial Complaint

  02/28/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Hello my name is ******* ******* I paid my gas bill on Thursday of *** with Christian neighbors paying *00 and Michigan gas told me they would be in a service request as soon as my payment wasn't pending. Nothing happened I called back Friday and was told the request was never made but the payment was processed and they were putting in the order right then but because they were adding me to the schedule someone wouldn't be out til after *. I had to go get my kids from school and I didn't hear my phone ring. Plus they only tried 1 time and then left I called as soon as I was home as seen they stopped and by then they were saying they won't have anyone to my house to turn my heat on til Thursday! I have * children in this house with no heat or hot water and it's freezing! I wasn't giving a chance at all they didn't call to inform me they were sending someone early so I could make them aware I had to get kids and they refuse to help anymore they told me they alerted putting me on the schedule for Thursday and hung up on me. That 4?more days to go without heat or anything and it's a mistake on their end I don't see why me and my kids should have to suffer. Please contact me back my number is ************

  Business response

  03/01/2022

  On 2/25 we responded to turn the gas on. People in home would not answer door. Left tag to call in. Gas was turned on when customer called back in. Gas was turned on 2/28. The next business day.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩