Gas Meter Mix-up

So back in October I came home to find a note on my front door telling me that there was a gas leak and my gas was turned off. It was almost 11pm so I thought I would’ve needed to wait till tomorrow before they could send someone over. Anyway, I called the 800 # and it turns out that 800 # is only available for Washington residents. Since my cell phone is still in the 626 area code, it didn’t let me call through. A search on Puget Sound Energy’s website revealed their non toll-free number.

I called and apparently PSE has available technicians till 12am and the customer service rep said she’d be more than happy to send someone over. Meanwhile, I put on a sweater to keep myself warm.

30-45 minutes later, I get a knock on my door. He asks me where my gas meter was and honestly I have no idea. He went around my place and found it on the other side I never go to. He comes back and tells me my gas is actually on and he would just need to re-ignite all my appliances that use gas.

I pointed to him my furnace, water heater, and my fireplace. He knew more about my appliances than I did! With a quick few twists and button pushes, he ignited everything back.

Before he left, he told me there was a mix up between meters and the one I was being charged for was actually my neighbors. He said PSE would probably send me a notice/bill later alerting me of this and that I would either get credited back for extra energy I had paid for or I would billed for extra energy I used.

Anyway, everything was fine and dandy. I had expected a credit since I do live on my own and I don’t think I use that much gas. I got my bill today and there appears to be a credit of $200.93. Woot! Ungsunghero says that I should’ve gotten more for my “inconvenience”. Plus the fact someone probably made interest on that $200+, however that person would be my neighbor.