Gowanus Lounge: Serving Brooklyn

On the Sofa, Daily Edition

August 28th, 2008 · 1 Comment

“Our bills are always astronomical because we have a huge poorly insulated wooden house; if the bill from BUG/Keyspan/”National Grid” arrived saying “One gazillion dollars,” we would just sit glassy-eyed and pay it. HOWEVER, on a related topic, a neighbor reports that her husband was almost menaced by a nasty Grid representative IN PERSON bitching about their paying their bill late (which they hadn’t) and threatening to turn off their gas. Anyone else heard of thuggish collection tactics from the Gridsters? Under Keyspan, all that happened if you paid your bill late was that you got a second notice with a little pink reply envelope instead of the usual blue one…”–Gas Pains: Are “Insane” National Grid Bills a Fluke or Pattern?

Tags: On the Sofa

1 response so far ↓

  • 1 Gari N. Corp // Aug 28, 2008 at 10:07 am

    Welcome to the joys of submitting to a limey utility overlord. The reason for the change in tone is probably that the UK is a very creditor-friendly jurisdiction, and utilities there have very little motivation to be nice to their customers when hauling them up in court will work just as well. In the US, given that declaring personal bankruptcy is still relatively straightforward, utilities have presumably developed a slightly less confrontational approach. But I’m speculating wildly here. maybe they just want to spend all your money on Turkish Delight. Goddamn Limeys, 232 years after the Battle of Brooklyn and still laying waste to this fair Borough