Call Kurtis: I Moved, Stop Billing Me!

When you move cross country, you've got a long list of people and businesses to inform. But when a utility bill followed an Illinois woman after her move to California she called Kurtis.

New Rocklin resident, Beth Morgan, says she called to cancel her Illinois electric bill well ahead of time but the company kept billing her for a month after she moved to California.

Morgan loves the California weather. "I didn't want to scrape ice off my windshield anymore."

Tired of Chicago-area winters, she packed up and moved to Rocklin this summer. Weeks before the move she says she called electric utility ComEd, asking to stop service on June 25th. So she was confused when a bill arrived at her new home for the month of July.

Morgan says, "I had called them to say that there had been an error and they said the error was mine and that I didn't move and that if I did move I didn't tell them that I was going."

ComEd told her they have no record of her call to cancel service so they asked her to fax over proof she moved on June 25th, which she did. Then she received another bill issued the same day she called ComEd about the confusion. It added four more days of service.

"Actually I laughed. I mean it was ludicrous. It just struck me funny that obviously they don't know what they're doing," says Morgan.

Next came the calls from collections. "Oh I was angry. I was really really angry," says Morgan.

She then faxed over her proof of moving again and she filed a complaint with the Illinois Commerce Commission but she missed the response call from ComEd.

Morgan relays the message they left, "'We understand you filed a claim and Daisy would call you at her convenience.' And that was the whole message."

Morgan didn't hear back until we got involved. ComEd told us they were in the process of fixing the miscommunication but our call sped up the process. ComEd called her just hours after we got in touch with them. They told her she didn't owe a dime.

"I'd hug and kiss you, thank you," Morgan tells us.

If you cancel a service over the phone, it's always a good idea to ask for verification in writing. You can also send a certified letter to the company in addition to calling and canceling. That way you have a record of your request.

ComEd's Statement:

Our records indicate that our first contact from Beth Morgan was on July 28. At this time, her account had already been cancelled due to a new tenant taking over her former place of residence.

A search of our records did not find any forwarding address for this customer. We received her change of address via "IMOVE", which is based on forwarding address information provided by the U.S. Postal Service.

Due to the billing issue, ComEd requested that the customer fax documentation showing the dates she was responsible for her previous place of residence.

Last week, ComEd discovered that this customer's account was still pending final processing and as a result she was still showing an outstanding balance.

On Sept. 24, Ms. Morgan was notified by ComEd that she will not be charged for a billing period between June 23 through July 27 totaling $45.18, including late charges of $1.22.