Leter to Atmos Energy

8/3/2019 Leter to Atmos Energy

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TODD M HENDERSON 106 N. Washington St. Pilot Point, TX 76258

January 26, 2012

Kim R. Cocklin

President and Chief Executive Officer Atmos Energy CorporationP.O. Box 650205 Dallas, Texas 75265-0205

Dear Kim R. Cocklin:

I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with the service and solutions that Atmos Energy has shown over the last three months. I understand that a great number of communications you receive from customers areto express dissatisfaction so I will begin by first complimenting the people in your company that I believedeserve it. Over the last several months I have dealt with a number of your employees, and of thoseemployees only a select few have taken ownership of my issue and performed in a professional manner toresolve my issue. The first individual is Operations Manager Gail from the Waco call center. None of thecustomer service representatives before her followed up on or proposed a solution that worked towards aresolution. Second is the work crew that showed up on January 24th, 2012. They performed their work in

both a respectable and professional way.

To further express my concern I must explain my situation from the beginning. In September of 2011 Icalled your company to switch my service from 201 N. Winchester, Pilot Point, TX 76258 to 106 N.Washington St., Pilot Point, TX 76258. At that time I was informed that I would have to pay a $65.00 feeand the remaining balance of my account on Winchester, which was approximately $40.00. They also toldme that since the meter at the Washington address had been removed that I would need to get a city permit.Over the next three months I brought the existing gas lines and ventilation up to current code at myexpense. During this time I also had to purchase several electric space heaters to heat my building.

On January 17th, 2012 the inspector passed the inspection and the City of Pilot Point issued the permit.On that day I also made arrangement to have gas service connected the 20th of January. Shortly after making the arrangements for the gas I was informed via email that I now had a $250.00 deposit plus the$65.00 fee.

When the installation tech. arrived on Friday to connect my service he informed me that the line going tothe meter needed repair and that all available crews were on emergency calls and that they would be thereon Monday at 8:00 am to fix the line. I confirmed with the installation tech. that someone would be herearound 8:00 am on Monday the 23rd, and he assured me that someone would be there. I called your

customer service department to attempt to resolve the issues. After speaking with a customer servicerepresentative and no resolution was found I asked to speak with a supervisor. I was transferred to Mrs.Angel Kelly who made an effort to resolve the issue with the deposit by crediting $100.00 to the depositand combining my old account and my new account into one. She stated that there should be some balancefrom the Winchester address that would be transferred to the Washington account. Mrs. Kelly also assuredme that someone would be at my place on Monday first thing and that my gas would be on by around11:30 am.

On Monday the 23rd around 11:30am after not r eceiving a phone call or a crew show up I attempted tocontact Mrs. Kelly with the number she had given me. I spoke with several other customer service


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supervisors and was informed that all crews were tied up with emergencies and that my account was not a priority. They also told me that there was nothing that they could do. I again requested to be transferredto one of their supervisors. I was told that no supervisors were available and that they would email anoperations manager to call me. Within a reasonable time Operations Manager Gail contacted me. By thistime I had already left for work because I was unable to take another day off work for the gas. Gailassured me that a crew would be there first thing in the morning. Gail also gave me her direct number andtold me to call her at around 9:15 am if a crew had not showed up.

True to word a her work a crew showed up around 8:30 am on Tuesday the 24th. The work crew workedto repair the gas line and 11:45am when they believed that the line was fixed they installed the undergroundmeter box and attempted to purge the gas lines. After opening the gas valve there was no gas. The crewworked for several more hours until they discovered that the gas main had been incorrectly replaced in2001 by placing poly line inside of the older cast iron one. They also stated that whoever replaced theline did not place a tap for my address. The crew then stated that they would have to talk to their supervisor and get permission to crack the old line to add a tap. They also stated that they might have toremove the old line completely to properly return service.

I spoke with Gail again that evening and updated her on the status of my account. She told me that she wasnot able to tell me much, but would have a work crew supervisor contact me the next morning that he wasout of the office on personal family business.

The next morning (Wednesday the 25th) at around 9:00 am the work crew supervisor called me andinformed me that they would not install the gas meter in the gas meter hole and that the only two optionsthey were willing and able to do would be to either place an above ground meter in the sidewalk near thefront of the building or the would have to run a new gas line to the back of the house and I would have tore-run the gas lines in the building to the back at my expense. He also stated that another employee would

be there sometime today to look at the building and he would confirm to see if they would be able torestore gas service and contact me sometime today. When I asked him why they would not be able toinstall the underground meter he stated that they do have them anymore. I informed him that they had oneyesterday and I have a pictures of it installed. He then stated that since the service to the building had beenretired by the owner that the building was no longer grandfathered in. The techs the previous day statedthat the account had not been retired that the crew that replaced the main line was supposed to be a tap onthe mail line for my building in 2001 but did not. I also confirmed with the owner of the building, MikeDavis that he had not Retired service to the building and did not wish it to be retired. He confirmed thatthe service was not connected in 2001. The supervisor also stated that weather or not that they could putthe meter up front was up to the town and the state.

After hanging up with the Supervisor I contacted the City of Pilot Point Town Planner Mr. Ingalls. Mr.Ingalls told me that there was no reason that they should not be able to place the meter back in the meter hole and that they dont require permits for the gas company to repair or replace gas lines in the city. Mr.Ingalls gave me his contact information and asked me to pass it on to the supervisor so we could get thisissue taken care of.

As if the writing of this letter at 5:30 pm. on Wednesday the 25th, I have not received a call back from thesupervisor. I my intent is to seek a reasonable solution the issue of the lack of gas at my home. I am notseeking finical restitution but simply to resolve the issue following:

Have gas service at my home, in a reasonable time, without further expense, and in the place thatit was designed for.

Retuning the gas meter to the place it was originally would require less work than digging up the sidewalk placing a meter then repairing the sidewalk, does not require any special permits consideration for the ADAor other similar issues and it would keep the historic aesthetics of the building. It may be more expensiveon your part to repair the main in front of my building than running another to back of the building but thatwould require me at my expense (estimated $1000+) to get additional permits and rerun the gas lines in myentire building.


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Thank You

Todd M. Henderson

Email: [email protected]


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Documents

Leter to Atmos Energy