Staci Beaver sent a message to Thomas A. Fanning - Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of the Southern Company - Email Address that said:
I am hoping this message actually reaches Mr. Fanning or at least the top senior level management for Gulf Power, Southern Company. I am a military member who recently moved to the area, in fact I have only been here for a tad of 30 days. When I set up to have the power turned on to my new home in Gulf Breeze, FL, I was informed that I would need to drive to Pensacola to show a picture ID. I had no issues with this as I agree with the intent but I truly do not believe I was given a specific timeframe, nor was I informed that if I did not make it there within 30 days, they would just cut my power off. Thats exactly what happened today. Now I realize there are policies , etc but those policies should be told to the customers in advance. Within the last 30 days, I have had to close on a home, un pack a house hold to be livable, get my kids enrolled in school, figure out where I work and my schedule AND as a military member, have had to attend several mandatory appointments for in-processing. Things can be busy and difficult but I find it incredibly rude to shut off the power to my home without even so much as a courtesy phone call, email, text, NOTHING! I work 30 miles away from your company AND I needed to get my IDs updated before I drive that far to go show a picture ID. It was 84 degrees today and I had 2 babies in my home being cared for by my sister when I got the call from her while I was at work that I had no power. ALL BECAUSE I HADNT MADE IT TO PENSACOLA YET TO SHOW MY ID. When I called Gulf Power to see what was going on, it seemed to be so normal that power would be shut off because Maam, you havent proven who you are so yes, your power is off until we can verify who will be paying the bill . The thing is.....I dont even owe a bill yet according to the online account and the lady I spoke to at customer service when I dropped everything and drove 30 miles to show the ID. Now, I find it interesting that when I walk into the building, the first thing I see is a sign that says we love our military ....really, you just cut off my power in 80 degree weather, ruined my crockpot dinner meal and risked the welfare of both of my children because I was military and havent been able to get down there within those 30 days, that oh by the way, I was never told I needed to do to begin with. I had leave scheduled this week to make that trip. A courtesy call would have been greatly appreciated. A grace period would have been even better. But a rude thats how we do business means its time to ask the CEO, is this how we treat our customers? I would never treat anyone that way. With the technology we have today, even an automated text or call warning in advance wouldve got the job done. Did we really need to cut everything off without warning? Both my husband and I are active duty and combined, have now lived in 8 states and in all 8 states, we have not had to prove our identity to pay a light bill. As long as the bill is paid, no problem. I havent even gotten my first bill and my power was cut off. Thats crazy!! Of course, Im kinda stuck using your service but I sure wouldnt if I didnt have to.
