Complaint Review: Kcpl - Kansas City, Missouri

I called today to set up new service with kcpl. The rude customer service person after taking all of my information told me that an outstanding balance on my account had to be paid before they would have the service transferred to me. When I set up new service last November at my home after moving back to Kansas City from out of state I was informed then that 4 1/2 years prior that my experience wife and her boyfriend had left a substantial bill unpaid and that kcpl was holding me responsible. I argued and disputed the action by them to transfer my exes bill to me and even had the public utility commission involved but they ultimately transferred the bill to me anyway. They said the reason was that because I had cosigned for my exam to get the apartment she lived in that I was responsible. I explained that I never set up electric in my name and in fact had never lived at that address for even 1 day and that I only signed to be a cosigner because my kids needed a place to visit their mother when they went to see her. They were still asses and pinned her and her loser boyfriends bill upon me.

I didn't realize it at the time but it was November and that's when cold weather rules apply. They made me pay about 400 dollars up front but transferred the utility to my name. Well for the entire summer time the account was active my monthly actual service usage was between 45 and 77 dollars but I was forced to pay as part of the sham of a deal they set up 239.45 each and every month with the excess above the actual usage to be applied toward the bill they pinned on me illegally. That started in December and lasted until July when I moved in with family for a few weeks until the new apartment I was moving into was going to be ready. Well even though I paid on that back balance that didn't belong to me when I called today to get the service started at the new place they said the entire balance of 1250 dollars was due immeadiatly before service would be put into my name. I explained to the rude customer service rep that I couldn't do that and she laughed at me and said that's just the way it was and that's it. When I requested to speak to a supervisor the rude person disconnected me with out any reason whatsoever to do so. I called back and the automated system said they had a high call volume and I opted for a call back in 22-35 minutes when I got to the front of the line.

Well the first time I waited for over an hour and no call so I did it again and the system gave me a call back time of 40-55 minutes so again waited for a call that never came after an hour and a half I called back only to get a live person that actually answered the call on the second ring. After spending 1/2 hour going through all the details again I asked for a supervisor. They put me on hold for about 10 minutes then got back on and said there was no supervisor available and the would have to have them call me back. I refused and told them that I was going on over 4 1/2 hours today trying to deal with this and I wanted to hold for a supervisor. Again they put me on hold for about 10 minutes and came back on saying that same thing. I again refused to wait for a return call and the csr said I had no option but to get a return call. Again I refused and told her I'd been doing this all day and washing of it and would not accept another wait time to be called back. This csr also laughed and said again I needed to wait, when I refused again she hung up on me. I again called only to have a live person answer the phone on the 2nd ring.

I didn't give any if my info to this person only asked them to put me in through to a supervisor to my astonishment the rep said sure thing Mr. XXXX I'll get the supervisor for you. A person gets on claiming to be a supervisor and I proceed to go through all the details again only to hear this person argue again with me about my past due bill. I explained that it was in fact NOT MY BILL but was transferred to me. The person said that it was mine now and it didn't matter about the history of how the charges originated. They said I had to pay in full before I could establish service I explained again it wasn't my bill and I was forced unfairly to take it on. They said that it needed to be paid or else I couldn't get service. I said we'll it wasn't that way before and that I had been paying on it all year. That's when they informed me that since I had the service discontinued in July I am now considered new customer and it needed to be paid. I again said that it wasn't that way before and that's when she said that because it was November when I set the account up before they were required to turn on the service per the cold weather rule. I again said I couldn't pay the entire balance and was moving in the next couple days. The supervisor said that I could pay the entire amount of sit in the dark until November when the cold weather rules would force them to turn on service again.they.laughed.and.hung.up.