We moved from Denton, where we used Atmos Energy to a surrounding area where we chose a different electricity provider. We were notified right after the move that we had a $109 credit from Atmos that they would send us. Wonderful! We called in a spoke to a person who verified that, yes indeed we have a credit coming We gave them our new address and they told us they would send it out to us post haste.
Well, things got hectic moving in the new house what with the address changes and all the chaos, and we apparently forgot about the credit, which never came. Until today, when four years later, we receive a letter from Atmos at our current address (the same address we gave them for the refund), saying that our refund has been submitted for escheatment (which we found out means it has been forwarded to the state).
So we called to inquire, and the nice person on the phone told us it was confusing to her why the refund was never sent, because she can see there is a note on our account with our new address and that we had called to request the refund be sent to us. Yet it was never sent. Furthermore, when the time came for escheatment, there was not even a cursory review to ascertain whether the customer had requested the refund, or whether it could be delivered. Unfortunately for us, the nice person said, now that the state has the money we are unable to issue a refund, as it is out of our hands.
At that point, my wife told them that we understand the money is no longer under their control. However, since this error was not our fault, and that conceivably we did everything we were supposed to do and yet still did not receive our refund, we feel Atmos energy was at fault for not sending the refund as we requested, and that we would appreciate it if THEY simply paid us the money they mishandled. The nice person then said that was out of her hands and that she would have to get a supervisor.
That's when I got on the phone. The supervisor [whose name shall not be disclosed here due to the guidelines] reiterated that the money had been sent to the state. I told her I understood that, but that since we had done our part and Atmos Energy had dropped the ball, we would like THEM to make it right and refund our money.
The supervisor then told me that Atmos Energy was not to blame for this fiasco. "Sir", she told me, "if you had just once, called us or send us an e-mail asking for your refund, we would have sent it. But you waited FOUR YEARS (emphasis hers), and that is too long to wait to fix this. You are going to have to deal with the state." I was flabbergasted. I told her, "Wait -- you are telling me that it is MY fault that I didn't call to remind you to send the refund THAT I CALLED TO REMIND YOU TO SEND IN THE FIRST PLACE?" She said, "if you had notified us, we would have sent it. All I can do for you is tell you the address of the state website for unclaimed property."
I am currently trying to get my money from the state. But I teach business courses at the university level. I now have one of my best case studies for failures with 1) business process, 2) customer service 3) customer communication 4) company image 5) business philosophy.
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