Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Hydro One Bills Shocked Customers: Ombudsman

TORONTO - Ontario ombudsman Andre Marin issued a scathing report Monday on how poorly Hydro One reacted to billing problems created by a new computer system at the utility. His report included many examples of hydro customers getting shocked by huge electricity bills.

- A senior from Timmins noticed Hydro One stopped withdrawing automatic payments from his account in May 2013, and in September got a call from his bank saying the utility was trying to "grab" more than $10,000 from his account. The situation took 19 months to resolve, and the electricity bill was reduced to just $778.

- An Inglewood man sold his property in April 2013 and spent months waiting for his final Hydro One bill, which he figured would be about $100, but a collections agency called in October saying he owed $18,000. More than a year later, the bill was reduced to $56.35.

- An 84-year-old woman in King Township stopped receiving Hydro One bills, which averaged about $200 a month, in the fall of 2013 but then got three bills in the same month, for the same time period, for $9000 each. By February her bill was reduced to $640, but she was never told why she had been charged so much in one month.

- A Bolton man received no Hydro One bill from June to September 2013, but starting in October got a series of confusing bills for a total of $73,385 for a three-year period. It was later reduced by more than half to $34,476.

- A couple in Porcupine complained after they got a Hydro One bill in February for $11,638 which was eventually reduced to $2,238.

- After getting no bills between July 2013 and March 2014, a Waterloo man with terminal cancer was stunned to find he owed Hydro One more than $10,000. The company agreed to provide him with a discount, but began threatening to cut off his electricity at the same time. Hydro One is still reviewing his account.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.ca /
Author: Keith Leslie

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