Washington Gas - Springfield, Virginia

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Last month I had an unusual bill and called them. They said they would look into it and call me back shortly. But now it's been overdue for over 2 weeks, and they're charging me a late fee. This company has terrible customer service and doesn't care about the suffering of ordinary people who pay $550 for gas.

Hibiki F.

Washington Gas has serious billing accuracy issues. I was overcharged for gas even when I wasn’t home, with bills based on estimates instead of actual meter readings. Despite multiple disputes and ticket numbers, the issue kept repeating, and customer service was unhelpful. Emails were ignored, and Facebook chat provided no real assistance. This pattern of overcharging and poor service is unacceptable. Customers should double-check their bills to avoid paying for gas they never used.

H P.

No idea which location services my area, but, here’s my complaint. Got a notice on my door in the evening of 11/5 from my property management that my gas was being shut off on 11/6. I called immediately to find out why at around 5:20pm. The rep put me on hold to “look into it” only for me to be rerouted to the main menu after 30 minutes total call time. I called back, they had closed at 6pm. No one called me back to follow up. I sent an email. Next day at around 10am they were there to disconnect me. I had not yet received a response from the email nor a call back from the day before (mind you, I have a 7 month old I have to get to daycare in the morning, AND I work from home). So i call again and go through the whole speech, by the time the rep asks me to have the tech wait he was already gone.They tell me to send my lease for proof of where i live. Send it same day and get a response back on 11/7 at 3pm and after a back and forth they finally call me FRIDAY at 5:25pm and of course, what do you think they tell me? “Unfortunately we can’t get a tech out to you until tuesday”. I tell them I have a 7 month old so my place needs to be a priority since it was their error. It is now 4:59pm on Tuesday and no one has shown up to turn my gas on. My son had to be picked up by his grandmother so i don’t miss the tech…that still isn’t here. It’s currently freezing and I have been calling all day to ask for urgency. How am ai supposed to have my infant sleep with it being way below comfortable….that’s 5 days without gas, an essential utility. Needless to say, I will NOT be paying a single penny until I feel satisfied with a solution.

Christine V. L.

I have lived in DC for 13 years and never had a gas bill that exceeded $30. This months bill is $245, with $228 in fees. I have spoken to five different people at Washington Gas and no one cares or seems concerned. No one is helpful and have all just said, “yep that’s correct.”

Wren H.

Washington Gas is trying to charge us for our entire apartment building’s gas. My apartment building and I have reached out several times to try to remedy this yet Washington gas continues to try to charge. My unit does not have gas and this has been explained countless times by us and our building. We are in the process of escalating it with other options at my husbands job since they continue to try to exploit us.

Shaunice B.

UPDATE:
I called Saturday morning to confirm a technician was coming out that day so I wouldn’t have to spend the entire weekend without heat. They told me yes, with the same all day time window and said my case had been ‘escalated.’ I asked what that meant and if they could give me a more specific time frame, since I spent the whole previous day waiting for a no show. They said they couldn’t but would have someone call me when they were on their way. I got a call around 1:40pm from a tech telling me they were on the way and would be here in about 25mins. That was almost an hour and a half ago. At the 1hour mark I called the techs number and got no response, so I left a voicemail. I then called Washington gas main line explaining the situation and they said the tech was in route- over half an hour from when they were supposed to arrive. They said the only thing I could do is continue to wait. I was still waiting a half hour later. If they did not have a monopoly on city gas, I would have stopped dealing with them the first time they didn’t follow up. Right now, it seems the only recourse is to connect with the public service commission and my ANC commissioner. I’ve already done the former and will be doing the latter first thing this coming week.
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By far the worst gas company I’ve used. They don’t care about their customers having no heat in during freezing temperatures. I just moved to the area and started the process for setting up my gas two weeks ago. Their website said I could email them to turn on my gas, so I started there. I never got a response, even though I followed up via my email. When I didn’t get a response, I called to set up my service. I was told someone would have to come out to turn on my gas line and an adult would need to be home. They give a time window of 7am thru 5pm. It’s just me and I work full time mostly from the office, so I wouldn’t be able to meet them most of the week. They told me that they’d try to come to me first thing in the morning, before I leave for work- but that didn’t happen. I arranged my schedule to be home all day on a Friday and scheduled for my service to happen then. No one showed up and towards the end of the window I called to see what’s going on. They said they were super backed up and someone would try to get out there at my scheduled day, but no guarantee. The weekend was predicting freezing temperatures and with my heat being gas, I was about to go into a freezing weekend with no heat. They said if no one came out on Friday, then I’d be on the schedule for Saturday. Unsurprisingly I’m not too confident in that, given my experience so far with them. I’d leave zero stars if it was possible.

Masha M.

If I could I would give -100 starts. Absolutely ridiculous lack of service!! Stuck in Fairfax during winter weather with no heat, no hot water, no ability to use the stove with 2 little children and pets. Technicians are unprofessional, they do not follow directions to call when asked. Customer service seems like people from another continent, heavy accents, constantly calling confirmimg something which leads to nowhere, and always stating that technician will be there but he has to assist the gas leak somewhere else. Ridiculous conversations. I had been receiving..... And even now it's 30 minutes until 5:00 p.m. I'm calling in to see if the person is coming in and they just keep telling you that there is someone possibly might be coming out tonight. Tonight as of what time?! I wish upon this company to go buncrup

Sarah L.

I've never had issues with Washington gas but this year their customer service has really left me in disbelief. I discovered through a hefty bill of mine that I had a gas leak that started three months ago - going from $30 average a month to $113! My valve is outside (apartment complex) so I couldn't smell anything but either way, I called Washington gas and filed a case for a gas leak. The rep I spoke to told me the technician would call me before arriving and since I had to leave from work, I thought I had time to make it home. When I got home, I got an ear full from the technician who was already waiting at my door saying he was going to call the fire department because no one was answering the door. I told him I was informed that he'd give me a call before arriving and he said the reps were ill informed and needed to stop telling customers that they'd called prior to arriving. I understood the Techs frustration and he was actually very professional and of course confirmed the gas leak. The real issue is that when I called the company that same day, asking about getting credit for the gas leak that went back three months, the rep told me that I would get credit and a statement would be sent out the following week once the tech was done submitting his report - fair enough. Towards the end of the month though, weeks later (my bill is approaching) and I get a statement in the mail but it still reflected the same bill amount! I called the company again and the rep told me that because no one put in the notes from the day the gas leak was discovered that I wanted credit for the gas leak, they now needed to start "an investigation," which would take anywhere from 7-14 days. This was the first time I heard anything about an investigation and it made no sense to me since the leak was already confirmed. Again, my bill was around the corner and when I asked the rep what she expected me to do with that bill, she told me to go ahead and pay it until the investigation cleared - WHAT?! After demanding better, she finally told me she would extend my bill due date which was the most she could do until the investigation results came through. When I asked to speak with someone higher up, she refused to transfer me to anyone that could give me a second opinion. I no longer feel comfortable speaking to Washington gas because they will literally tell you one thing over another. I still haven't received any updates on this "investigation," but the fact that Washington Gas does a poor job informing not only their customers but also their reps, is wild. What's worse, is that they will burden the customer for the companies lack of accountability. Do better!

UPDATE: Had to call the company for an update on the “investigation” and was told the company won’t credit me for the gas leak despite this being my first year in this apartment. I was told the reading on my meter was “actual” despite the leak being confirmed by their tech. I work two jobs and I’m barely home - none of this make sense! I now have to have another tech come to my home to confirm the billing is right but the valves have already been fixed now!

Update: No one returned my calls and I was forced to pay the bills. BEWARE this company gives you estimate readings from previous tenants who may have live in your apartment/house. So even if you dont use much gas after you move in, you will be billed the same amount the previous tenants used. This is what a technician told me! So unless you know how to read your own meters, BEWARE! This company is a POS.