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TMCNet: The Dallas Morning News Katie Fairbank column: Atmos fixes billing error that burned hot-water user

[February 07, 2010]

The Dallas Morning News Katie Fairbank column: Atmos fixes billing error that burned hot-water user

Feb 07, 2010 (The Dallas Morning News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Solved THE PROBLEM: More than a year ago, Grace Recio's gas bill jumped from an average of $40 each month to $242. "For a hot water heater for one person, it doesn't make sense," she said. "I wrote them and wrote them and called them and called them about this." Problem Solver contacted Atmos Energy about the bill and found there was definitely a billing error. "Due to the misread, it was $64 more than it should have been," Atmos spokesman Rand LaVonn said. The company credited Recio's account, bringing the bill down to $178.

Recio was pleased with the credit but still doesn't understand why her bill jumped so dramatically. "It's just so strange. I paid it, but I don't understand why," she said.

There are probably a couple of reasons.

Her disputed bill was for December 2008, which had an average temperature of 53 degrees. Everyone understands that when the weather turns colder, heating systems work harder to maintain comfortable temperatures. It turns out that water heaters do, too, especially when someone has one in a nonclimate-controlled garage.

"That's why people are encouraged to use a water heater insulation blanket around the hot-water heater to keep the water as warm as possible for as long as possible," LaVonn said.

Also, in December 2008, the price of natural gas was $9.54 per thousand cubic feet, compared with $5.99 per thousand cubic feet today.

The higher price back then made for a higher bill because Atmos passes the cost of natural gas directly through to the customer. "Atmos does not mark up the price or profit from it," LaVonn said.

While those may be likely explanations for a whopping bill, they still don't explain why Recio's usage is so high for a water heater -- especially one inside in a hall closet.

LaVonn said Atmos would be happy to come to her home to check things out for her. Recio said she would welcome the review.

Solved THE PROBLEM: A storm knocked out a reader's phone and Internet service. Despite several calls and a visit, she still couldn't get a dial tone days later. "Can you help me get this issue resolved?" she asked.

The Dallas reader submitted a repair request to AT&T from her cellphone and was told that the work would be done five days later. Thinking that was too long to wait, she called the company to complain. AT&T acquiesced and moved the repair to three days later.

A repairman did come on the promised afternoon, leaving a hangtag on the door. It said the line had been checked and the transmission was working from the alley to the house.

Unfortunately, that didn't fix anything. "This person must have not checked the circuit from the box to the house or he would have noticed there was no dial tone on the circuit going into the house," the reader told Problem Solver.

When she tried to get AT&T back out again, she was told it would be five more days. While she was waiting, she got an automated customer service e-mail. It "told me the problem was resolved and they hope I'm happy with their customer service. I just laughed," she said.

In frustration, she reached out to me, and I contacted AT&T on her behalf. Her phone and Internet were working by that afternoon. She also was promised a credit for the days she did not have service.

Update Some problems turn out to be far bigger than it seems at first glance. Such was the case when some readers wrote me to say they had been overcharged for parking at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

I looked into the issue last fall and found that more than 1,500 people had been overcharged and had received refunds during 2008 and the first half of 2009. The airport checked for the same period and found 100 or so more folks who deserved refunds and hadn't gotten them.

D/FW made some fixes to a faulty connection and added a hand stamp at the remote lots, which were decently successful moves.

"We have had a few minor glitches recently as you would expect from an 18-year-old computer system that had a life expectancy of 10 years, but they were quickly fixed, so nothing significant," spokesman David Magana wrote in an e-mail.

But the airport's parking system needs far bigger fixes.

In December, the airport picked Skidata AG to create a replacement parking system. The Austrian company will create a software program, along with new hardware such as gate arms, reading devices and computer servers. The company was awarded $20 million, which includes maintenance and upkeep for six to eight years.

D/FW has been trying to fix the parking control system for some time. This is the second contract the airport has awarded. The first one was in 2002 and was ended by mutual agreement with no new system installed.

Aside from the Skidata upgrades, other projects are needed.

Those include adding network infrastructure, such as cabling, routers and switches; rebuilding the control plazas; and reinforcing the 35-year-old access tunnels, which run under the toll plazas. D/FW also plans to remodel the parking department buildings at the north and south exits.

There is no finalized timetable yet for all this work, but the airport hopes the entire project will be done by late summer 2012. The total cost should be about $50 million, Magana said.About this column Each week, I hunt down experts to answer your questions or speak with authorities to get your problems fixed.

Look for DMN Problem Solver's answers here each week, as well as on the DMN Investigates blog, dallasnews.com/ investigatesblog.

To contact DMN Problem Solver: E-mail: problemsolver@ dallasnews.com Call: 214-977-2952 Write: Katie Fairbank, P.O. Box 655237, Dallas, Texas 75265 To see more of The Dallas Morning News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dallasnews.com. Copyright (c) 2010, The Dallas Morning News Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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