electric ireland gas

tramoreman77

this is the most insulting and downgrading conversations i had with electric ireland gas yesterday ,to start off i recieved a letter saying i need to ring them as i am in arrears with my gas bill and it said networks will start disconnection on the 5 th of march unless i contact and either make a payment or get a meter installed.when i rang the department that deals with this the person on the other side of the phone kept demanding i pay it while i was trying to explain my reasons she kept demanding payment after about 10 mins of hearing nothing but her voice i asked to speak to a supervisor even tho she insisted i didnt need too...so conversation with the supervisor ..i told him my reasons which are that i am unemployed ,2,ive 2 kids who spend just under the allocated time allowed by social welfare to be able to claim any benefit for them,3,ive been ill for the last year and a half and have been out and in of the hospital......now as i didnt like to use excuses which i made clear to the suprvisor heres his response....could your children have not paid it for you?....you ve got a top up meter for your electriciy how did you pay for that.....and finally this is top it off.....you get a social welfare payment to pay for your gas ..........thats when i said to him in a loud voice how dare he .
im just looking for advice as to what i should do
should i name and shame
should it go viral
radio
tv
any help welcome or advice
ohh and finally he said you ve no options left

homer911

So you in arrears with your utilities and all you can offer is reasons why you cant pay? You expect to get your utilities for free? Did you not accept their offer of having a pay-as-you-go meter installed?

I doubt the service agent spent 10 minutes doing nothing but demand payment from you - they must have asked questions and proposed the new meter..

L1011

Who is there to name and shame?

Go to your CWO (as they have already suggested), or the SVdeP, or any other applicable local equivalent organisation. You're probably going to have to take the prepay meter, with an arrears % payment.

dudara

Did you propose to make any payments? Or offer to enter into a repayment plan?

I know you're in a tough spot, but if you owe the money, you owe the money. What you can do now is to try to negotiate a plan with them.

Also, you should approach your CWO or perhaps Saint Vincent de Paul to see if they can offer any assistance.

tramoreman77

i didnt offer reason why i cant pay i offered reason s to there questions the bill is 600 euro and i wanted to set up an installment plan and pay something every week as i dont use the gas in the months from march to september,which by then it would have been cleared

tramoreman77

for an employee of electric ireland to bring my children into the coversation also is disgusting .any reply to that dudara??

tramoreman77

l1011 would you leave someone speak like that about your children in that manner

slimjimmc

It's a difficult situation but if you fail to pay then they are fully entitled to discontinue service and they are entitled to get paid for the gas you have used.
Naming and shaming, going to the media, even Joe Duffy etc won't resolve your situation.
https://www.mabs.ie/ may be able to help you with budgeting and coming to an agreement with EI.

L1011

tramoreman77 wrote: »

l1011 would you leave someone speak like that about your children in that manner

Like what? Asking if you can obtain money to pay bills is pretty much standard practice with utility firms, and it sounds pretty much like you brought them in to the conversation, not them. Doesn't give any justification (or reason, as it achieves precisely nothing) to "name and shame" as you threatened.

tramoreman77

ive contacted mabs slimjimmc but im angrry at the supervisor for been unprofessional , i want to pay back on installment s and that seemed like out of the question ,it was the total amount today or 170 in stallements they are leaving me no options thanks for ur reply

slimjimmc

tramoreman77 wrote: »

ive contacted mabs slimjimmc but im angrry at the supervisor for been unprofessional , i want to pay back on installment s and that seemed like out of the question ,it was the total amount today or 170 in stallements they are leaving me no options thanks for ur reply

What about the pre-paid meter they mentioned in their letter. Is that not an option?

L1011

tramoreman77 wrote: »

ive contacted mabs slimjimmc but im angrry at the supervisor for been unprofessional , i want to pay back on installment s and that seemed like out of the question ,it was the total amount today or 170 in stallements they are leaving me no options thanks for ur reply

They don't take installments for large arrears, the option is to pay via a levy on a prepayment meter.

tramoreman77

asking to obtain money is one thing but making reference to your children to pay money in his insulting agressive tone is another thing ,theres a way to speak to people when dealing with them ,theres no need to insult them or bring family members into it L1011

tramoreman77

well excuse me L1011 i wasnt aware of that fact but im willing to accept the metter

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

OP action to disconnect doesn't come out of the blue. They have to have been following up for payment. Repeated bills must have been in arrears. What effort to pay did you make? Did you come to any instalment arrangement before it got to the disconnection stage? Whybdid the conversation not end as soon as a card meter was suggested as you should have accepted it and moved on?
No offence but we only have one account of the conversation and it is very much at odds with my experience of Electric Ireland. You brought up your children and social welfare. I suspect you are reading what you wanted to hear into what was actually said.
Name and shame who? What will that achieve? Your priority now has not be to sort out the debt and that will definitely not be done by roaring about it on forums or in the media. Call EI back and ask politely if you can get a meter installed.

punisher5112

Op. Bit confused as from what you said you told them about kids.

What's stopping you paying a certain amount each week or 2 weeks now to show you are willing to pay.

It is a business they are running not a charity and need to be paid just like many others out there.

I fully understand you are in a hard place at this time but as others have said contact them again maybe by letter as you seem very defensive on phone and state your problems and are looking for a pre pay meter and come to an arrangement.

These companies do not want to cut you off but sometimes it is all they can do at the end of trying to resolve.

tramoreman77

yes one side of the story ,i did mention that my children live with me and my medical issue but does that give an employee the right to add a comment ..well why dont your children pay? is that the professionlism that is shown by electric ireland srameen ,im a very quiet person and it takes a lot for me to feel insulted ,in this case i have been left utterly ashamed and felt downgraded .i am willing to pay my debts and i undderstand from what L1011 was saying there is no repayment on such a large balance been 600 euro. i had rang them previously and obtained a card but struggled coming up to xmas with money and i have e 2 children who reside with me and i have to provide for them for the 83 hours or more there with me while reciving 160 a week

tramoreman77

i am willing to pay a certain amount and brought that up with them but they wont accept it

punisher5112

The employee would have in no way been trying to insult they were just stating some options you may have as it can be hard to ask for help.

As I said send a letter and work from there honestly worry about getting better and paying off debts then be worried about 1 phone call conversation.


Best of luck op and you will get there.

L1011

tramoreman77 wrote: »

i am willing to pay a certain amount and brought that up with them but they wont accept it

Because you need to get the prepayment meter in for them to accept any partial payments at this stage.

Either go to the CWO/SVdeP or get the prepayment meter - or both, realistically, as neither is going to cover a 600 quid arrears.

tramoreman77

the employee was right so in mentioning my children in asking them to pay so alright i see your point of view punisher.but i was on the end of the phone ,listen people i appriceate what advice ur giving ,dont think for one minute this is about me not paying or refusing to pay this is abput the way i was spoke to and the way i was treated

Triceratops Ballet

tramoreman77 wrote:

i am willing to pay a certain amount and brought that up with them but they wont accept it

just phone the automated payment number and make a payment of that amount, or go to the post office and pay it and then just pay it weekly.

L1011

dottie_lottie wrote: »

just phone the automated payment number and make a payment of that amount, or go to the post office and pay it and then just pay it weekly.

That won't stop him being cut off at this point.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

tramoreman77 wrote: »

i had rang them previously and obtained a card but struggled coming up to xmas with money

Are you now saying you had a payment arrangement which you broke? That would explain the harder line now being taken.

tramoreman77

i cant make a payment as they said it has to be 170,300 or the full balance there was no consitancy in there demands i offered 30 a week for 20 weeks which is 5 months and the bill would have been cleared

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

dottie_lottie wrote: »

just phone the automated payment number and make a payment of that amount, or go to the post office and pay it and then just pay it weekly.

It's way too late for that course of action. Poor advice, as it will not remove the threat of disconnection.

tramoreman77

no not a payment arrangement just a card to make payment with i have been a customer for 5 years srameen

dudara

I know you're emotional about this, but you need to become calm and cool here. Continuously bringing your family into the conversation is not helpful. We weren't party to the conversation between you and the customer service agent, so we can't comment on the discussion.

By the sounds of it, it seems like a pre-pay meter is the way forward here. If you're willing to get that installed, you can mitigate the risk of disconnection.