No rest for the wicked weary! Hick got a call Friday night from a new resident of the senior apartments. He went out on the porch to talk to her. I tell him all the time how his phone doesn't work in the house. Everything he says is garbled, and there's a lag of about five seconds. He refuses to get up and move when I call, but he did for this lady. I guess she was having none of it, unlike Hick's cronies who struggle through with him repeating himself.
"What was that about?"
"The new lady who just moved in. She doesn't have electricity."
"I didn't think electricity was provided."
"It's NOT. I tell them that when they call about renting an apartment. It's in the papers they sign. THEY are responsible for the electric. She said the electric company wants $240 to turn it on."
"That seems like more than the usual deposit. I wonder if she owes them from a previous bill."
"Maybe. She said the lady across from her said she could run an electric cord for her, but I said no, don't do that!"
"Could it start a fire?"
"No. She was gonna use it for the air conditioner, but it won't plug in. That's 220 instead of 110. So it wouldn't work for that anyway."
"At least the weather has cooled off. Supposed to be a low in the 50s tomorrow. Highs in the 70s. You'd think that if her new friend across the hall really wants to help her, she could let her sleep on the couch or something."
"I don't know. But the electricity is HER responsibility, not ours. I can't help that."
Hick can't save the world. No matter how much he likes to help people.
I thought everybody knew that renters are responsible for their electricity. Perhaps this lady has never rented before and doesn't know that she needs to contact the company. I don't remember how much it is here to connect but we don't have to pay upfront, it gets added to the first bill.
ReplyDeleteSome apartments have utilities included. Depends on the owner of the property if they want to offer that option. They can include all utilities, or just some. Electric, gas, water, trash. It's usually in their advertising, as well as their contract.
DeleteSome utilities have a fee up front. A deposit, like the $125 per residence that the city wanted for turning on water service. In our experience, the electric company doesn't ask for a deposit, but any previous delinquent bills must be paid before hook-up. Some sketchy people put subsequent accounts in different names, like their children or pets (!) to get around this. Not saying this old lady owed money, but it would be an explanation. Maybe a relative had used her name on an old account.
Makes me think of the lady who was going into the laundry room with her laundry and asked where the detergent was. When I showed her the small bottles I stocked in the store, she realized I expected HER to pay for it and she was indignant, telling me that all laundromats included free laundry detergent.
ReplyDeleteI hope you directed her to a different laundromat!
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