Last week we had received a request (order) from the gas company, Kaztransgas, to appear Monday at their headquarters, because they claim to have found that our gas meter showed evidence of tampering. Kaztransgas has been relocating meters to areas more accessible to their meter readers and, although our old meter looked pristine when they removed it, a lab technician said someone had taken it apart and tampered with it so that it would under-register. Clearly nothing had happened to it since we've owned the apartment; it has always been safe and secure within our entryway. So if in fact it had been "adjusted", this was done long ago before we bought the place in early 2006.
Anyway, David appeared with Dato to face a young-woman lawyer. Her only question was why Dato's name appears on our account. To her satisfaction (I guess) Dato explained that over the past eight years that we've owned the place, he often paid the bills for us when we were away and somehow his name got attached to the account. That settled, she announced that the facts are clear: the meter has been tempered, and we bear the responsibility for it. Therefore we have two alternatives: 1) pay the cost of a new meter and a fine (probably totaling $150-200 USD), or 2) hire a lawyer and fight it out in court. There was no opportunity protest that we Thorntons are honorable people and friends of Georgia (and Kaztransgas), nor that David worked here from 2000 to 2006 precisely to prevent things like meter tampering in the electricity supply industry. As a matter of fact, this lawyer wouldn't directly speak to David and she wouldn't look either of us in the eye. Her job was simply to determine that we are the owners of the apartment with the "tampered" meter. Case closed.
We will pay the fee/fine and close the book on this. If we challenged it in court there would be no end of the issue. Still, this corporate larceny leaves a bitter taste in our mouths.
Anyway, David appeared with Dato to face a young-woman lawyer. Her only question was why Dato's name appears on our account. To her satisfaction (I guess) Dato explained that over the past eight years that we've owned the place, he often paid the bills for us when we were away and somehow his name got attached to the account. That settled, she announced that the facts are clear: the meter has been tempered, and we bear the responsibility for it. Therefore we have two alternatives: 1) pay the cost of a new meter and a fine (probably totaling $150-200 USD), or 2) hire a lawyer and fight it out in court. There was no opportunity protest that we Thorntons are honorable people and friends of Georgia (and Kaztransgas), nor that David worked here from 2000 to 2006 precisely to prevent things like meter tampering in the electricity supply industry. As a matter of fact, this lawyer wouldn't directly speak to David and she wouldn't look either of us in the eye. Her job was simply to determine that we are the owners of the apartment with the "tampered" meter. Case closed.
We will pay the fee/fine and close the book on this. If we challenged it in court there would be no end of the issue. Still, this corporate larceny leaves a bitter taste in our mouths.
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