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JeffRVA t1_j9mqi7z wrote

If it’s anything like what I went through with my old house when I sold it, the city never closed out the previous owner’s account and is still billing them for the new owner’s usage. Meanwhile they’re going through multiple layers of hell trying to get Richmond Gas Works to close the account out and stop billing them. But since the new owner set up an account the bills have to go somewhere.

Your friend needs to call them and try to get it straight or like someone else mentioned on another recent post go in-person to their local customer service center. Be prepare her to want to scream and be more frustrated than she’s ever been at their utter incompetence.

All that being said, it sounds like there was some major miscommunication when she closed on the house about utilities. Is she actually in Henrico or Richmond? If it’s the former that might be part of the misunderstanding as all Henrico natural gas users are serviced by Richmond Gas Works.

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ChillOutMetzy OP t1_j9oi8qy wrote

This is a helpful perspective, thanks. She is in henrico by less than a half mile.

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lemonartichoke t1_j9osnic wrote

Realtors will go “oh that’s a heat pump” a lot, when it actually isn’t.

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Typical_Hyena t1_j9pk557 wrote

I'm going on nearly 2 years to sort out our water/trash bill with the city after we moved- they confirmed in writing multiple times that we had requested shutoff on X date and that we shouldn't have been billed for the next 4 months when we didn't live there, but the bill wasn't adjusted. They tried to take my tax refund last year, I contested it, they gave me my refund but are STILL sending me bills. I'm gearing up for the fight again this year now that I have filed. If it was less than $100 I would just let them take my money so I could move on...

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JeffRVA t1_j9poin0 wrote

In my case I finally reached out to the city councilman's office for the district I work in (I lived in Henrico) and he put my in contact with the mayor's office. I ended up exchanging emails with what appeared to be some fairly high up folks and then the head of DPU herself. And that's when it finally got resolved. Had it not been I was about to go to the news media and had I found it sooner I also would have filed a complaint with the SCC:

https://scc.virginia.gov/pages/Utility-Complaints

Might be something to consider in your case.

By comparison, when I called Henrico DPU to close out my trash/water/sewer I made one phone call. They sent me a final bill, I paid said final bill, and never heard another word from them.

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Typical_Hyena t1_j9pqg4u wrote

Thanks for the tip! I will definitely consider this option going forward.

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