J.r.
Dahlgren,#2Author of original report
Tue, February 12, 2013
Thank you for your comments.
Some of your suggestions seem meritorious. However, the overall tone of your response is unfair.
Both can be true, a) my bills be higher than the average and b) other similarly situated victims of VDP exist. Please re-read what I wrote and convince yourself that there is no contradiction in what I said. I have read of other Virginians with similar to my grievances against VDP, including on http://www.ripoffreport.com.
Why does VDP do this to some and not others? Maybe because it can. Why did Verizon Wireless create a second account for me and charged me for nearly a year, until I discovered the reason for my outrageous cellular bills? Maybe it was an honest error to begin with. However, why did they refuse to reimburse me after admitting the account was erroneous and so were the charges of nearly $1000 that I had paid? Because they could.
A day-and-night kind of busy single parent that I am, I could not spend an hour a day on the phone with Verizon every workday, week after week, ping-ponged back and forth between the Fraud Department, the Billing Department, the management, etc. -- the same cycle each time.
I do not presume VDP specifically targeted me, but I believe the company has many victims such as I, including based on some postings on this web site.
It is difficult in the elitist, corrupt legal system such as ours to stand up for one's rights, whether the villain is a corporation, government, or any other entity. The courts have made it nearly impossible for an ordinary person to recover enough for the abuses to make contingency fee arrangements worthy of the attorneys' time, and most victims neither have the resources nor incentive to pay attorneys for fighting big law firms and government attorneys with unlimited budgets. This unconstitutional legal system is the biggest reason we experience so much abuse today and have to be on a constant watch against being screwed.
All the houses in my development are fully electric. I keep my furnace on 62, whereas two of my neighbors with the same size houses and roughly equal numbers of residents pay half of what I pay and yet keep the temperatures in the house around 70.
Anyone interested in further details may e-mail me at [email protected] or call at 202-277-7454.
Robert
Irvine,#3Consumer Comment
Mon, February 11, 2013
If everyone else in your area is paying much less, I guess you feel that they must have just randomly decided to "pick" on you? So why exactly would they do that?
You also say that you know they do this to others, yet you also say that no one else has a bill like yours..so which is it? In 5 years did you do any research to try and figure out where the problem is?
Just a few things it "could" be. Do you have a Gas or Electric Appliances? Having an Electric Stove, Oven, Furnace, Dryer, Water Heater instead of Gas could explain the difference right there. How old are your appliances such as your furnace or refrigerator? If they are older they may not be as efficient. How much do you use them? Setting your furnace to 65,68, or 70 could make a huge difference as well.
Have you done anything to check your meter yourself? How about hiring an independent electrician? Or better yet, try this. Cut the main power to your house at the circuit breaker. If the meter stops..then you don't have a "leak". Now if it does not stop you may have issues and probably should call an electrician. If they agree there is an issue with the electric company..then see if they will write a statement you can give to a lawyer to handle. If it passes that test, turn on one appliance at a time and see how much each one uses.