Ameren

[superhotelworker]

Dear Ameren,
When a customer calls and asks very nicely if it's been brought to your attention that three streets are out, do not say, 'it's nothing to worry about young child, go to bed."

1. I'm 23 you dipshits, and I explained that nicely when you called me a child. 2. I wasn't calling because I cared (yes, i was annoyed you cut short my call with the boyfriend, but hey, I'll talk to him tonight, so that's fine.) I was actually calling cause my grandmother, also my neighbor, needs her fan at night to keep her cool enough to sleep and not pass out. I was hoping in calling you and being nice about it, as opposed to "FIx this now." you would take the time to consider helping.

Instead, I'm told it's not the top priority. Which both astounded me and pissed me off all at once. There's a carehome on one of the streets, a lady takes care of her mother who NEEDS the oxygen ON and the monitor ON but of course, that doesn't take priority either.

Awesome job at staying on top of your LOCAL power. Love how the "top" priority was the bar, with the backup generator that can run for 2 days, but screw the residents with medical needs. BARS survive, people with MEDICAL needs need the electricity ya shits!

With no love, and a brick waiting for you,
One very annoyed YOUNG customer

[ZedOmega]

*hands some whiskey and a few Molotov cocktails to you* Give 'em a few good ones for me, also.

[Soulstealer]

Oh Ameren how I don't miss you. Remember a few years ago when the power was out for a few days during a heatwave?

[Aethian]

When I was a infant and on a heart monitor, Mom and the thing lost power. My monitor stayed on with backup power for a short time while they tried to get ahold of the power company.

While on the phone with the power company the thing was trying to get the woman to understand that we really needed power. Until the alarm went off and Mom screamed at the thing to get off the phone and call 911, the baby was turning blue.

On the rush to the local er they passed several power company trucks heading out to fix the few downed lines that had 6 sq miles out.



Sometimes you just have to tell them that it is imperitive that power gets back on or they will have a death suit on their hands.

[fma_fanatic]

Laclede Gas is pretty bad too. I hate them. They've fucked with my gas quite a few times.

When I first moved here, they didn't bother to come to "inspect" the meter. I spent six months paying for a bill that ended up not even being in my name because of it. Their inspection? Looking at my thermostat.

When we moved into the house we bought, they didn't bother putting the bill in my name like I'd set it up to be.

They were doing some work and left a note about needing to get into the house. I called the number and told them when would be a good time (when DDD was off) and they didn't. Their response? Shut off the gas.

Then they decided that they couldn't read our meter and told us to do it. We live in a townhouse complex and both DDD and I wandered around our building looking for the damned meter.

I wish I could choose my gas company like I can my phone and internet.

Oh Ameren how I don't miss you. Remember a few years ago when the power was out for a few days during a heatwave?

After the storm that passed through? Oh yeah. I remember that. We had just moved into our new house when it came through that night. There was a second one a couple of days later. Both due to a derecho.

[Soulstealer]

After the storm that passed through? Oh yeah. I remember that. We had just moved into our new house when it came through that night. There was a second one a couple of days later. Both due to a derecho.

Yeah that one. My brothers had just come to town to visit and my dad doesn't deal well with the heat and has health problems. Hate you Ameren.

[Sliceanddice]

When I was a infant and on a heart monitor, Mom and the thing lost power. My monitor stayed on with backup power for a short time while they tried to get ahold of the power company.

While on the phone with the power company the thing was trying to get the woman to understand that we really needed power. Until the alarm went off and Mom screamed at the thing to get off the phone and call 911, the baby was turning blue.

On the rush to the local er they passed several power company trucks heading out to fix the few downed lines that had 6 sq miles out.



Sometimes you just have to tell them that it is imperitive that power gets back on or they will have a death suit on their hands.

* off topic*

there was thing like that on peoples court (i cant help the judge is hot and the people are stupid) where the lady had a baby that needed a heart monitor connected to direct electricity but also had a battery.
The power kept being fritzy in her apartment and she had it run the baby to the hospital multiple times. She was section 8 so the government came out and did an inspection, declared the wiring insufficient for a multi-tenant residence with necessary medical equipment use., told him to repair by a set time, he did the bare minimum that didn't cover their order.

The told the lady they wouldn't pay for the apartment anymore and notified the landlord since he was unwilling to comply with the state mandated upgrades the lease was null and void, found her a new apartment and she moved.

He didnt understand why he couldn't keep her security if his house was deem unsuitable for residency by the state (though the week she moved out he did the wire repairs a little better not enough to be suitable for her needs but enough to get another tenant legally even if she would/he could only get 200 dollars less a month) since she from the first month she lived stated she didn't want to live there since the street violence was to much for her. He had no good explanation for the electricity.

The judge handed his ass to him on a platter and said he not only had to give it back but double since it was a you have to say why with x amount of days or you owe double states minus about 250 dollars for minor damage she admit was cased by one of her older daughters and her part of the rent payment's which she hadn't paid yet. so instead of just given her back 750 dollars since her deposit was 1000 and sending her a letter stating that the 250 was for repairs and back rent, he had to pay 1750 to her and be humiliated on TV.

now that was a fun case.

[AccountingDrone]

Yeah that one. My brothers had just come to town to visit and my dad doesn't deal well with the heat and has health problems. Hate you Ameren.

Did you ever think of getting a generator? If like us you are in an area notorious for power outages with jackass electric companies it is easier tightening the belt for a couple months and getting a gen set that can run a fridge and a piece or two of emergency equipment [we run the fridge and the water pump so we can flush the toilet] You can run anything though I would not run expensive computers on a gen set without a power conditioner/UPS however.

They do not have to be expensive built in units, nor do they have to automatically turn on and switch the power over but that is an expensive option [a generac, the install and the electrician can run about $5000 US] and that type of generator can run for about 8 - 10 hours on a tank of gas.

Oh, and for those with medical equipment, in a power outage, quickly call the fire department NOT 911 line, and see if they have a loaner genset, they might have several available in the disaster preparedness supplies.

[Soulstealer]

Did you ever think of getting a generator?

You'd have to ask my parents about that since it's their house. They've mentioned getting one a few times but never actually have.

[smileyeagle1021]

Oh, and for those with medical equipment, in a power outage, quickly call the fire department NOT 911 line, and see if they have a loaner genset, they might have several available in the disaster preparedness supplies.

I was going to suggest the same thing, my grandma had a friend who had to do that several times... well, that was until one day they were at a good friend's house, they had been friend's with this man since they were in college, and they mentioned the problems they were having with taking so long to get power back on and problems with medical equipment. Well, this man happened to be the governor of the state... needless to say, next time power went out theirs was the first to come back on... hmm, I wonder why that may be

[evillebee]

The first mile of my road has Ameren and the last mile has a local cooperative. Guess who had power during that almost two week long power outage? ME a very happy customer of the local coop.

A couple years ago, I came home from out of town and the garage door wouldn't open. I then noticed it was awfully dark out because there were no lights on anywhere. I called my coop thinking they would have a message stating what was going on and was very suprised when a person answered the phone and said the power would be fixed in a couple hours. It was!

I think if people had a choice, Ameren's customers would leave in droves. There was no excuse for the way she talked to you.

[tollbaby]

Dear Ameren,
There's a carehome on one of the streets, a lady takes care of her mother who NEEDS the oxygen ON and the monitor ON but of course, that doesn't take priority either.

Electric utilities have a form that can be filled out by a doctor to indicate that a patient is on oxygen or compulsory monitoring equipment. Those people get contacted and usually transported to a location that has electricity, at the utility's expense, when the power is out. If they're on oxygen, the onus is on them to ensure that the utility company is aware of it BEFORE an emergency happens.

Just sayin'

(worked for our local utility for two years fielding calls like this)

[superhotelworker]

My mom and I actually went and got the folks. We took the one lady who just need oxygen to be hooked up (She had a small travel tank) Here to the hotel, free of charge so she could sleep in piece.

the other lady, her daughter had called my towns fire dept. and they took her a backup.

[Dips]

Yup. My son had medical equipment. An enteral feeding pump and, during his final months, he was on oxygen. Oxygen concentrators need electricity.

While we notified the power company of this, there were times they couldn't fix things instantly. The worst one went on for several days during winter (meaning no heat). They fixed it as fast as they could, but they can't bend the laws of time and space even if they have customers on medical equipment.

Luckily the authorities and power company set up emergency shelters with generators.

We also had our own contingency plans in place for power outages and other emergencies. Most importantly an emergency tank that was always kept full to tide us over in case we needed to leave the house in a hurry.

And having nice neighbors like yourself looking out for them is one of the most important safety nets medically fragile folks can have.

You did a good thing getting your grandmother to someplace cool. Kudos.