Man Signs Up For Prepaid Service and Left In The Dark, With No Forewarning
By: Marlisa Goldsmith
Updated: June 28, 2012
"I've been homeless for five, six years and HUD was gracious enough to give me a place to live but I couldn't find any place all bills paid," says David Silwa.
So his hunt for electricity began.
"I looked through the thrifty nickel and found this ad that said 'zero deposit,'" Silva explains. "They told me they would give me $75 credit."
Which sounds like a great deal for someone on a tight budget. Little did he know this was a prepaid service.
"They didn't say 'pay as you go.' I assumed there was going to be a bill in the mail," says Silwa.
But that bill never came.
Just nine days after signing up for the service, he returned home to find his electricity had been turned off.
"I walked up in there with groceries and it's hot in there. The air conditioning is off. I mean it's a hundred and something degrees outside, it's probably ten degrees on top of that in there," Silwa continues.
Silwa says when he called the company to figure out why his electricity had been turned off they informed him they sent a text message.
"Never received any bit of communication from these people."
The problem is he has a prepaid cellphone and when his minutes ran out, he never received the message the company claims they sent.
So now Silwa is stuck in the dark.
He says, "In an apartment I've got HUD paying for and I can't even live in it. It's sickening."
So his hunt for electricity began.
"I looked through the thrifty nickel and found this ad that said 'zero deposit,'" Silva explains. "They told me they would give me $75 credit."
Which sounds like a great deal for someone on a tight budget. Little did he know this was a prepaid service.
"They didn't say 'pay as you go.' I assumed there was going to be a bill in the mail," says Silwa.
But that bill never came.
Just nine days after signing up for the service, he returned home to find his electricity had been turned off.
"I walked up in there with groceries and it's hot in there. The air conditioning is off. I mean it's a hundred and something degrees outside, it's probably ten degrees on top of that in there," Silwa continues.
Silwa says when he called the company to figure out why his electricity had been turned off they informed him they sent a text message.
"Never received any bit of communication from these people."
The problem is he has a prepaid cellphone and when his minutes ran out, he never received the message the company claims they sent.
So now Silwa is stuck in the dark.
He says, "In an apartment I've got HUD paying for and I can't even live in it. It's sickening."
Comments
Marlisa, you have no business writing articles if you can't spell or use proper punctuation and grammar. And I'm sure if the guy read the fine print, he really WAS forewarned.
sheila s.
June 27, 2012 at 11:39 pm
