ComplaintsforVirginia Natural Gas

• Initial Complaint

  12/16/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I called to start services in august 2022 because I have moved into a new home and I never had gas in my name before; the lady told me she will work on that. I haven't gotten any response so I called back in September and they told me that I had to pay the precious resident bill because we have the same last name even though the resident no longer live at the property. I told them I won't pay anyone else bill but I will pay my deposit. So they told me they would give me a call back they never called me back. So I called them in October and they told me they was still working on the matter.they never reached back out so I called them in November and they told me they was still working on the problem. But they assured me the gas will stay on until they come to a conclusion. And here it is December 14th 2022 no one contacted me but they turned off my gas and don't want to give me an account because someone with the same last name as me had an account at my address it's my son and my fiancé and I living in the property. My son has asthma really bad and it gets real bad when it gets cold and one night without heat cause him to have asthma issues. Please help me get to the bottom of this.

  Business response

  12/21/2022

  Good day,

  We apologize for any inconvenience customer ****** ******** may have experience. Virginia Natural Gas (VNG) advised M** ******** we will need supporting documents to show that she did not reside at **** **** ******* ******* ***** ** ***** during the time gas was consumed at premise. *** have asked *** ******** ** ******* * ** ** **** **** *** ** *** ******* ***** ********* is requesting service in his name to send a notarized lease to show when he moved into the property.

  *** Customer Verification Team and our Leadership Team were both engaged, and the account is on hold pending receipt of the supporting documents that we have requested. 

  Thank you!

   

• Initial Complaint

  09/27/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  VNG has not been allowing me access to my online account since November, 2021. Despite all my calls to their representatives, their system still will not accept my login info since then. 7/6/2022 was the last time I talked to ****** of *** and she said she put in an "IT Ticket" to get this fixed and it did not fix anything and she never called me back as she said she would. So I've had to mail in a hardcopy form on both my previous home and my current home to set up auto-pay. Once Auto-Pay is set-up, the bill is supposed to say "do not pay, will be debited" but my last bill for ****** did not, so I called up and paid it yet now I see they also debited my checking account resulting in "double-billing" which I am fairly sure is illegal. Today I called 3 times and cannot get through their "bot menu" to a real person. VNG has wasted at least 20 hours of my time since 11/2021 trying to get my online login working again, my accounts started, auto-pay started, and accounts shut down since I've had to do it all through their phone system which is terrible and wastes hours of time often with each call. It is time to elevate this as no one should have to go through this, especially someone older with disabilities like myself.

  Business response

  10/13/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/30) */ Mr. *****'s account was no longer enrolled in My Account (online account). Mr. ***** established a new online account today; he successfully accessed his online account and viewed his billing statements. I reviewed Mr. *****'s billing statements with him and showed him the section of his billing that indicated his bill payment was due to be debited from his checking account. I confirmed Mr. *****'s enrollment in AutoPay; confirmed his current balance, and advised when his next billing statement will generate. Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2022/10/03) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

• Initial Complaint

  09/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On short notice, I moved into a new property that I purchased from a relative. Said relative had an outstanding balance on the account. I paid the existing balance in full and filed for new service under my name. My order for new service was placed on Tuesday August 30th. Service will not start at my location until Friday, September 2nd. I am a caregiver who has just taken a relative into my new home for hospice care. I need hot water. They are unwilling to help me get service before Friday. They are a monopoly, they are not being held accountable. In the past, I have heard stories of gas service disruptions due to non payment, upon satisfaction of overdue payment, reconnection can take 4-8 days even during winter months. It's unjust. They need to be held accountable. I have been contacted by the staff of my congresswoman Elaine ****** I want to find advocates within the government who will hold Virginia Natural Gas more accountable.

  Business response

  10/13/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/08) */ We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that you have experienced while attempting to start service in your name. You have advised that you are a caregiver preparing your home for hospice care. We do provide override appointments for medical necessities if a letter is provided from the physician's office. However, your account does show that the service has already been connected, as of September 2, upon receipt of your complaint. Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.

• Initial Complaint

  07/06/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Virginia Natural Gas shut our gas off, without warning, despite payment 2 weeks prior. When we called to ask why, they said we owed over **** despite the bill on our website saying our next payment was for **** and not due till the end of the month. We were told our gas couldn't be turned back on for another week. We paid the **** over the phone and still won't get our gas turned back on right away. One representative hung up on us after receiving payment. I believe they are trying to scam us or their system is flawed.

  Business response

  08/19/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/07/14) */ Good day, We apologize for any inconvenience that you have experienced. We attempted contact on Monday, July 11th, to advise of an override appointment available same day for an all day appointment. Our technician arrived to the premise on July 12th and was advised that the service was turned on July 8th. We have provided a detailed explanation via email regarding the account balance. We advised that the total outstanding balance became due once the payment arrangement set up in May defaulted and notice was sent via email on June 21st. The service has been reconnected and the account is now in good standing.

• Initial Complaint

  04/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Submitted a request to turn my gas off when I move, then the move out date changed and went online to change, then called to cancel turnoff. Gas was turned off today anyways. The guy that turned it off said his boss didn't care that it was a mistake, and turned it off and left quickly as I was on the phone to fix the mistake. Jennifer, the rude girl on the phone, said she can get someone out tomorrow... regardless of me being active duty Navy on a ship and therefore can't cook dinner for my family when I get home or even shower with hot water! When I asked to speak to a supervisor, I was told she didn't have one... and would get a call back from someone after 4 hours... disgusting!!!

  Business response

  07/07/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2022/04/18) */ We apologize for the inconvenience that you experienced regarding the disconnection of service. We have confirmed that the service was turned off on 4/1 due to a stop service request. A next day appointment was offered to reconnect the service but we received a request to cancel the reconnection order. We have forwarded the concern regarding the behavior of the phone representative and requested that the call be reviewed and appropriate actions be taken if necessary.

• Initial Complaint

  03/10/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Military service member recently moved into this residence on 18 JAN 22. This is the first gas bill received that covered a 43 day period from 19 JAN 22 thru 02 MAR 22 with a total bill of ******** that is significant high and abnormal after conferring with rental management and neighbor. Based on the bill & I've informed the virginia gas company customer service rep the reading on 18 JAN 22 is an estimated reading, without an actual reading there is absolutely no way to calculate my actual usage. I've also contacted property manager for this property which from previous historic date this bill is abnormal. I've also spoken with neighbor their bill is significant lower and with a bigger household average the same usage. We would need to acquire the previous "last bill" previous tenant so we can ensure this is indeed accurate. Resolution is without an actual reading on 18 JAN there is no baseline on how much I really utilized, with the house vacant 3 months prior to me moving in. I suspect the 3 months gas bill was tagged on. Per the Virginia gas company technician who came and checked for leakage, he mentioned they never did turn off any gas and usually it is tag onto the next tenant's bill. If the company can provide the last actual reading then we can calculate the actual usage.

  Business response

  04/28/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2022/03/15) */ An apology was extended for any inconvenience Mr. **** may have experienced and we thank you for your patience as we complete our investigation. It was determined the first meter reading for the account was entered by our Field Service Representative incorrectly, as the meter reading was lower than the previous reading. This error caused the billing invoice to show as a meter reading estimate, instead of an actual reading. Our billing department has corrected the start reading index, the first bill has been canceled in the amount ******* and a new bill generated with a start meter reading of 400 cubic feet of gas usage, which is what the reading would have been January 19, 2022. We also sent Mr. **** the new bill dated March 10, 2022 and he has my contact information should there be further questions or concerns. Consumer Response /* (3000, 8, 2022/03/16) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I do not agree with the response from Virginia natural Gas. This is my first initial bill as a newly moved in tenant, during the first 3 weeks I was living alone and has the heat on bare minimum (60s), to include utilizing my own portable electic heater for heat. Since now Virginia natural gas response was the reading was entered in error by the field service representative, how would they corrected the new reading after 50days has past stating it was "entered incorrectly" and the bill still states it is an "estimated" reading and not an "actual" reading? If there isn't a base reading of an "actual" reading, there is absolutely no way to calculating the actual usage it can be merely by guessing (IE Estimate). Virginia natural gas insisted the "estimated" reading is an "actual" reading but yet first reading was "incorrectly" recorded and after 50 days of usage re-visited and gave a second "estimated" reading. Two of Virginia natural gas employee visited the property to checked on any gas leaks and found nothing. After conferring with them, they too state it is almost impossible to have such a high bill and usage. They do acknowledge, from other residences around the area "newly moved in" experienced the similar issue with significant high bill and state usually the gas company will not shut off the gas after previous tenant moved out and will tag the previous bill along hence the higher amount. This house was vacant for 3 months prior to me moving in and after consulting with neighbors the amount $618.50 would be reasonable and similar to what they have if it is spread through the 4 months timeframe. Business Response /* (4000, 10, 2022/03/18) */ Virginia Natural Gas has contacted Mr. **** and per request has scheduled an appointment for March 25, 2022, to have the natural gas meter exchanged and tested. Our Service Center Leadership have been engaged and the meter will be tagged and bought into the Northern Division office for in-house testing. Upon completion of the meter investigation the service center will provide the results and we will advise Ms. **** of our findings.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩