Jul 3, 2008 4:20 pm US/Pacific
$4,000 PG&E Credit Seemed Too Good To Be True
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) ―
Beverly Whitsitt is a real stickler when it comes to keeping down her energy costs. But as much as she conserves, her December PG&E bill was still a big surprise. It showed a credit of $4,251.18.
"I called them up and said get somebody out here and read my meter. I must have done something wrong," said Beverly.
Beverly says PG&E's customer service supervisor assured her the money was hers, saying a state mandate required them to pay people back for saving energy. "Ok, send me a check. Well, I never got the check," she said.
Her January bill had the credit, too -- with the current charges deducted. She called PG&E again. "What am I gonna do? Just leave it on the books and I won't have to pay PG&E for a while? They said, 'You can do whatever you want to,'" said Beverly.
Then in February, a PG&E representative called Beverly and told her it was all a mistake. What's more, she owed them $132.00 for the prior two months of service.
She asked PG&E what she should do. "You said I have no payment. I don't owe any payments, and I'm on a fixed income. How can I do this? How can I pay this?"
Beverly called our CBS sister station in Sacramento. Their consumer volunteer, Chuck, called PG&E.
PG&E spokeswoman Nicole Tam told CBS by phone: "It was human error. Her account was incorrectly identified to receive a refund."
They agreed to waive the two months of utility bills. PG&E also called Beverly to personally apologize.
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