Consumer Complaint

SoCal Gas Los Angeles - Gross Incompetance and Negligent practices

Good Afternoon, I am a man of patience. Which is why it pains me to write this. As a customer of SoCal gas for almost 3 years (we in Los Angeles have no other alternative), I moved apartments and have had service for over 6 months. I signed up for auto pay and paperless on their website but apparently - they never took hold. Instead of calling me and informing me that I was 3 MONTHS LATE on a payment, they simply shut my service off. When I called to resolve it, they said it would be over a week before they could get the gas turned back on. I asked why they didn't just simply call me and save us all the trouble to which the customer service representative said, "We don't call cell phones. You have to have a home line for us to contact you." I do not have a home line and would be hard pressed to find anyone in this day and age who does. No matter, I set the appointment for one week. I carved 4 hours out of my busy work schedule at a motion picture production company (and industry that if you miss 20 minutes, the day could be lost), and came home. I took out the dog for 20 minutes and came back to find a notice on my door that the gas company had been there and left. I was furious. They didn't call me. Every utility technician calls whenever they're close or at the door. I literally could have been at my front door within 2 minutes had they simply called. Upon calling customer service, they stated that their technicians "do not carry cell phones" (if that is not a bold faced lie its an unbelievably insane policy), they then said it would be another week for a technician to come out. I said, "But they have their time freed up since they didn't turn on my gas...how do they not have time." To which the customer service representatives became incredibly rude and said they just didn't have time. Understaffed, lack of communication, and a complete absence of service makes this a company reminiscent of the oversized monopolies of the 1920s. If anything can be done to increase their staff, tighten their practices, and to actually COMMUNICATE WITH THEIR CLIENTS it would be greatly appreciated. We have no other options in Los Angeles and this is the very definition of consumer negligence. Thank you and have a good day.