| Hydro Quebec |
| Hydro Quebec, Quebec, Canada Hydro Quebec has been asking me to pay another customer's phone bill! Montreal, Quebec |
| 15th of Sep, 2011 by User926187 |
In September of 2009, Hydro QUebec, which furnishes electricity for the province of QUebec, sent me an electric bill stating that I had not paid a portion of my bill from a previous address. I quickly wrote them informing them that I had not only called and terminated my services prior to my move into a new apt., but had also asked them to install services at my new place. Two years later, I am still receiving collection bills. At this time, it appears that Hydro Quebec failed to terminate my service, and the tenant who lived in the apartment after I had moved out, never called them to tell them that she was the new tenant. As such, she ran up a bill of about $400.00 and HQ has been hasseling me, every two months, to pay that money. At first I was told by HQ CSR support that new computers were to blame. Then another CSR told me that she could see that I had indeed terminated my contract, and asked them to turn off the electricity, and she knew what day I had done that. SHe said she didn't know why collections was asking me to pay this bill. In the meantime, of course, I continued paying my current electric bills. FInally, after 3 years at my new address, I again asked HQ to terminate my electric service at the end of my lease, and gave them them my new mailing address, where I would be living with a friend. I also requested that they send me ONLY the portion of the bill I owed for current address, and not the extra $400 dollars they had been asking me to pay for the past two years. However, even when I moved I was still getting billed for that extra account, which was not mine. They then explained that my previous landlord would need to fax my lease over to them. I called him and he spoke to their reps and they flatly refused that and told him that I was the one who needed to contact them and provide my lease. I followed up with that by visiting their home office in downtown Montreal. The agent I spoke to, a Mr. Andre Desjardins, refused to examine my leases, and told me that my landlord needed to fax it to a certain number. Again, I contacted the landlord and he faxed my lease, and then the lease of the women who had lived in the apartment, and not paid any electricity bills. Weeks later, I had my social worker contact HQ to see what they had done, and nothing had been done. I personally contacted CSR reps in collections again and was told that the fax number I had was a specific department where decisions were made, but that he HAD NO ACCESS, WHATSOEVER, to that department, and neither would I. I would simply have to wait. In the meantime, not knowing the total of the amount of my bill for the past two months at my last address, I went to the bank and paid $80.00, hoping that that would at least cover the past two months. However, when I called back again, days later, I still could not get any information about my bill and the CSR again explained that all I could do was wait. Because of my poor health and medical conditions, I cannot work. It is very stressful, and was stressful to receive these bills every two months for the past two years. I have never seen such a messed up system as Hydro Quebec. In addition, I was hoping that they would eventually take me to court, so that I could present my case, however, this is not the way it happens. I am now looking for a new apartment and will have to call HQ to have a new account. This means that they may ask me to enter into a "agreement plan" because of my outstanding bill—the bill that wasn't mine in the first place—in order to have electrical utilities, otherwise, I would have to live in an apartment without lights, or heat. It is sad that the Regie d'Energie, which offers some help, at a $30.00 fee, and no real legal status to force HQ into changing its policies, or remedying my account and clearing my name, exists. As such, all residents of Quebec are at the mercy of this utilities monster. As such, there is little recourse except to pay, and that is what Hydro QUebec is counting on—that citizens will pay, even if the bill is not their own. This, it is my belief, is an abuse of power, and the local provincial authorities, at some level, should hold Hydro Quebec accountable, however no politician will want to challenge the Goliath that is Hydro Quebec. Politicians are, after all, interested in promoting their own brand, and themselves, and challenging the HQ monster would certainly not bring money in their political coffers. The recent report that the Quebec construction industry is in collusion with numerous mafia affiliates, and that city hall has had a hand in this makes it clear that Quebec citizens are simply the serfs who maintain the castle on the hill, and the politicians surrounding it. When once it was the Catholic church that was the monster in the community, it is clear that local government and utility companies like Hydro Quebec, and other providers of services like Videotron, etc., will continue to take what is not theirs' from their customers, and the local government agencies will simply look on...
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| I actually owe them $3000 for similar reasons and I can't believe they can get away with it. We need alternatives but are stuck with a monopoly. Like most services in Quebec and the rest of Canada. |
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