feedtheartist

Not only have we been sweating like crazy in our own house, but we have the privilege of paying an astronomical power bill for it. So, with no expectations, I rattled the following off to Dominion:

Good Morning possibly helpful Dominion rep!

I have a question about whether a bill can be reduced/partially forgiven if the amount is due to faulty equipment (not on Dominion’s part). Perhaps “pity credit” would be a good term.

After a series of unfortunate events I won’t waste your time with, we landed in a downsized but comfortable rental condo. We found the air conditioner did not work properly last month, and have been in an ongoing battle with the landlord to have it fixed. He’s one of those guys that looks as if their mom dressed them at 35 years old, and talks loud but doesn’t think people will overhear them. LL to HVAC man: “The tenants last summer thought the AC unit was just undersized and just moved out. Har Har Har!” Ok, so I’m paraphrasing, but it went something like that.

We have to run the unit constantly to keep the structure between 80 and 85 degrees and hopefully keep mold at bay. The whole situation is not pleasant, especially with a baby. I swear I went all momma tiger on him, but he moves through life in a “I found this sweet brainwashing suicide cult” fog.

While we would be able to absorb an “AC unit is too small for the structure” bill at around $210, the current “faulty unit” bill puts us in a lurch at $310.

Is it possible a pity credit exists for this month and the next to bring the bills down to $210 each? I feel like we are trapped in an uncomfortable and expensive situation, so it would be awesome if Dominion would say, “It really sucks that your landlord has aspirations of being a slum lord, but we’re so cool that we will reach into our big-boy-corporation pants, sprinkle some magic pixie dust on your bill, and make $200 disappear. BAM! Just like that.”

Maybe it is all wishful thinking, but I hope you have a smooth day and don’t deal with too many angry-bear customers.