National Grid mistakenly took more than $28,000 from woman's bank account for gas bill she didn't owe: "It was utter panic"

A Malden, Massachusetts woman said National Grid took more than $28,000 out of her bank account for a gas bill that she didn't owe. The utility company said it could take up to ten days to fix the mistake.

Madison Wise was flabbergasted. Her bank account was suddenly overdrawn and she couldn't buy groceries or put gas in her car. She reached out to the I-Team's Call for Action for help settling the National Grid gas bill she got for $28,260.60.

"It's a number so absurd that any person would understand that that must be an error," she told WBZ-TV.

Wise got the bill after putting the utility in her name for a new apartment in April. The bill was in her name for just three days. Before her family could move in, the property was condemned and the lease was terminated.

Thinking the bill was a mistake, Wise called National Grid. 

"That's your bill"

"They initially said 'Yup, that's your bill.' I just had to pause and say 'Are you sure? This is the cost of a nice new car, are you positive?' This is more money than I have ever seen in one place in my life," Wise said. 

The National Grid representative then did some checking and told Wise it was a bad meter reading, the bill was incorrect, and she owed zero dollars. 

Wise said she thought that was the end of it. But weeks later, she woke up to find National Grid had debited her checking account $28,260.60, leaving her with a negative balance. 

"I am now overdrawn and I'm panicking, I'm freaking out. I have a two-year-old at home, I'm pregnant. I have the family to feed, and I now can make no purchases," Wise said. "Any automated bill that comes out is going to bounce. Rent is due in a week. I have no idea what to do."

7 to 10 days to return money

Wise got back in touch with National Grid and was told it would take seven to 10 days to put the money back in her account. In the meantime, she had no money at all. 

"I was almost in tears on the phone with them at some point I'm like 'I don't think you understand this is not $100 I'm talking about,'" Wise said. "It was utter panic. I was very worried for my son, especially my two-year-old. And knowing I'm pregnant too, God forbid I have to have an appointment, right. God forbid I need to go check in with my doctor, right. Or need to fill the tank with gas or need to go get groceries, right. It was unbelievable."

Refusing to give up, Wise reached out to the I-Team's Call for Action. 

"Within what, two hours I'm getting a call from the president's office of National Grid personally ringing my line saying we're so sorry for all this trouble that has been caused and we'll do everything to make it right," Wise said. "We are going to go ahead and send you that money back now."

National Grid response

In a statement National Grid said:

"We recognize the impact this situation is having on the customer and sincerely apologize. We have refunded the charge and are working with the customer's bank to ensure the funds are returned as quickly as possible. We are reviewing the account to understand what led to the error and working directly with the customer to ensure it is fully resolved."

National Grid said the process to return the funds can take up to two to three days. 

"It's absolutely crazy if it could happen to me it could happen to anybody," Wise said. "It took the threat of massive sanctions and local news getting involved to receive an adequate response at all."

Wise told the I-Team National Grid said it would pay for any overdraft charges and bounced checks. The utility also offered to put some credits on her account.

If you have a consumer issue, reach out to the I-Team at wbzcallforaction@cbs.com.