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Old 11-05-2013, 12:57 PM
 
Location: Chicago
8 posts, read 14,827 times
Reputation: 11

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Hi all,

So I am fairly new to Chicago. I've been here a little over two months now and am finally settled in and feeling comfortable in my new routine. My job is figured out, my cable, transportation, school, etc. All but for ComEd.

I have googled reviews, searched this website and looked up blogs alone on "ComEd" to see just what hell people were going through. Coworkers have said good luck. Online has said go into hiding. When we moved in at the end of August, our electric was on. I contacted ComEd and all they literally had to say was, "is your electric on? You're fine then." Okay, whatever that means. Around September 25, I realized we still never received a bill from them and went online to find their number. Their website was down and "under construction", and their phone lines were impossible to get through. I considered setting up an account via the automated service and that was a big fail because it wasn't offered in the end. Their site didn't go back up for days and their phone lines never cleared when I called. I waited again. Now, on October 20, we finally received a typed up letter stating, "New Resident: our records indicate electric is being used here, but no one has applied for our service. If you or your landlord have not contacted us already, and are living here, please do so immediately via www.ComEd.com to keep the service on." I went right online and tried setting it up again, still no luck and the website wasn't working. I called. Although the woman was very nice, she was also very clueless. She asked how long ago we moved in and I told her the end of summer. She put in the specific date, took all of my information and then told me if I wanted to view a bill or pay on to go online at a later time and asked if there was anything else she could help me with.

I tried logging on for 2 days. Both days it told me I still wasn't an account holder even though I was holding the account number I had gotten over the phone in my hand. I called and it told me the request for an operator at this time was invalid. Waited a day, logged back online. It is showing my meter will be read on November 22, and as of today my account balance is $0.00.

So.. this woman either put we just moved in on our account, my landlord has been dealing with it just through the building's name or their system is an overall mess. Has anyone else had this, or a similar to this problem with ComEd?

Best,
amandarporter
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Old 11-05-2013, 01:29 PM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,379,084 times
Reputation: 18729
While ComEd (or the outsourced provider of its website...) may look like the "bad guy" here it is impossible to know what is real deal w/o more information about the OP's situation -- have they been in contact with the landlord? Many times a competent landlord will have the authority to get service started and provide the tenant info to ComEd so that everything "is on" for the move in.

If the previous tenant had any changes in service (due to non-payment / cut off) the landlord may have had to resolve these charges before service to the same unit could be activated.

If the billing address is not set up properly as an address for multiunit service it is possible that the landlord will need to contact ComEd to rectify the situation...
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Old 11-07-2013, 03:17 PM
 
Location: Chicago, IL
255 posts, read 583,725 times
Reputation: 244
I've had a few ComEd accounts, never had a problem starting/stopping/moving service.

I'm going to guess that the account number you were given is incorrect. I'd try setting up a new online account.
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Old 11-07-2013, 03:18 PM
 
14,798 posts, read 17,685,669 times
Reputation: 9251
I've never had a problem.
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Old 11-08-2013, 07:13 AM
 
Location: Skokiewood
732 posts, read 2,981,525 times
Reputation: 664
ComEd is a mess. My condo building was new construction in 2007 and has four units. Of the four, two units have meters and receive bills, one has a meter but the owners have never received a bill, and one unit doesn't have a meter and doesn't receive a bill. The common area electric also has a meter but the association has never received a bill. (And we've experimented to make sure that the two units getting bills are not being billed for the usage of the other two units).

A couple of ComEd readers have come out and said they would report the situation (which I assume would involve getting billed for prior use) but in 6 years, nothing has ever happened.
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Old 11-08-2013, 07:33 AM
 
11,975 posts, read 31,792,528 times
Reputation: 4645
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thepreacherswife View Post
ComEd is a mess. My condo building was new construction in 2007 and has four units. Of the four, two units have meters and receive bills, one has a meter but the owners have never received a bill, and one unit doesn't have a meter and doesn't receive a bill. The common area electric also has a meter but the association has never received a bill. (And we've experimented to make sure that the two units getting bills are not being billed for the usage of the other two units).

A couple of ComEd readers have come out and said they would report the situation (which I assume would involve getting billed for prior use) but in 6 years, nothing has ever happened.
In this case, the developer/builder set it up incorrectly when the project was constructed. It sounds like they didn't split the service correctly, and that would make me wary of ALL of the electrical in the building. I'm sure ComEd could fix it if they dedicated the resources, but the builder is really the culpable party here.
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Old 11-08-2013, 08:27 AM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,379,084 times
Reputation: 18729
Default Lots of messy building issues like this...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lookout Kid View Post
In this case, the developer/builder set it up incorrectly when the project was constructed. It sounds like they didn't split the service correctly, and that would make me wary of ALL of the electrical in the building. I'm sure ComEd could fix it if they dedicated the resources, but the builder is really the culpable party here.
When the city was experiencing a massive boom in small / midsized condo developments there were many places "approved" with horribly flawed utility layouts -- I personally know several folks in such situations where vital parts of the utility infrastructure are located in inaccessible parts of the building. You cannot blame ComEd for these screw ups! Electric meters, gas, or water service cutoffs that are inside closets or ground level retail space are often a sign that the builder was "doing somebody a favor" -- the folks that should have disallowed such monkey business were in the City's permit offices. If they were over worked / incompetent / on the take I suppose someone in the water department /Peoples' Gas / ComEd could have asked to have things made right but that assumes that the installation crews, who almost certainly know such efforts are futile with a real "clouted up winner" , would have wasted their time...

Ah the joys of letting corrupt elected officials run things!
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Old 11-08-2013, 03:00 PM
 
Location: Skokiewood
732 posts, read 2,981,525 times
Reputation: 664
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lookout Kid View Post
In this case, the developer/builder set it up incorrectly when the project was constructed. It sounds like they didn't split the service correctly, and that would make me wary of ALL of the electrical in the building. I'm sure ComEd could fix it if they dedicated the resources, but the builder is really the culpable party here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post
When the city was experiencing a massive boom in small / midsized condo developments there were many places "approved" with horribly flawed utility layouts -- I personally know several folks in such situations where vital parts of the utility infrastructure are located in inaccessible parts of the building. You cannot blame ComEd for these screw ups! Electric meters, gas, or water service cutoffs that are inside closets or ground level retail space are often a sign that the builder was "doing somebody a favor" -- the folks that should have disallowed such monkey business were in the City's permit offices. If they were over worked / incompetent / on the take I suppose someone in the water department /Peoples' Gas / ComEd could have asked to have things made right but that assumes that the installation crews, who almost certainly know such efforts are futile with a real "clouted up winner" , would have wasted their time...

Ah the joys of letting corrupt elected officials run things!
For sure, the developer massively screwed things up and skated by with minimal interference from an overwhelmed department of buildings - I'm not sure the building ever got a certificate of occupancy. Hell, we still what have what looks like a pigtail coming off the line in the alley and spliced into the main service going into the building. I'm amazed that during the summer we can all run our A/C at the same time. And yes, the meters are in a locked closet in the basement of the building. The meter reader only gets to see them if someone is around to let him in.

But at the same time, if ComEd is made aware of an issue (several times) that in this case is costing them money (i.e., people getting free electricity), you would think they would at least make an effort to try to figure out how to start collecting revenue from the other residents of the building. I'm sure it takes a Herculean effort to push something like that through ComEd's bureaucracy.
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