Southwest Gas review: Gas leak ( 1 comment)

LOCATION: 1081 S Dutch John SPring Court, Green Valley, AZ. 85614

I received a high gas bill for June 2021 and called southwest gas. After an hour wait, the representative said I must have used more gas. I questioned this as things were similar as they have been and I had never had a bill this high in summer. I then received a very high bill in July 2021. I again called and waited on hold at least 45 minutes, and this time the representative agreed that the bill was excessive given my usage history. She suggested someone come out and test for a leak. This suggestion was NOT made on my previous call a month earlier.

Gas company came out and found a leak outside in the ground far out in the backyard. I never smelled gas or would have called. The likelihood of smelling gas in a remote outside area is small. The gas tech never smelled gas either. They turned off the gas to the house and told me to have the line capped off and to let them know when it was done and would turn gas back on.
After the repair, I had to wait another hour to speak to someone to turn the gas back on. I was told no one could come out for 3 more days! after speaking to two more supervisors, I was at least able to schedule them to come out and turn the gas back on.

My complaint is the $180 bill for gas which resulted from the leak because the gas company did not check for a leak the FIRST time I called and allowed gas to leak around my home for over a month. After turning off the gas, they had to spend 1/2 hour releasing the gas from below ground to make it safe and asking that I leave the house for safety. Clearly the tech's were concerned.

I want to negotiated this bill. I should not be responsible for $180 due to negligence on the part of Southwest gas. If I had not called a second time and questioned them, this could have been a very serious problem.