Bradenton man stuck paying neighbor’s electric bill after lines crisscross
Donald Stephens called Better Call Behnken with an unusual problem. Donald Stephens of Bradenton, Florida was stuck paying his neighbor's electric bill for months when his bill spiked. He called an electrician who discovered a discrepancy in the voltage being used, and they determined that the problem occurred after workers for the management company switched the line in error. After calls from Better Call Behnken, Florida Power & Light came out and verified this, but failed to come back to fix the mess. Stephens was given a credit for the electricity he paid in error and an FPL spokeswoman says no one should mess with their equipment unless they work or FPL.
Opublikowany : 11 miesięcy temu za pomocą Shannon Behnken w
BRADENTON, Fla. (WFLA) — Donald Stephens called Better Call Behnken with an unusual problem.
Somehow, work in his mobile home park in Bradenton led to his neighbor’s electric line becoming connected to his meter box. For months, he was stuck paying the other man’s electric bill.
He first discovered the problems months ago when his electric bill spiked. He called an electrician.
“They found that there was a discrepancy about the voltage being used,” Stephens recalled. “So in my house, I was using half a kilowatt, but at my meter it showed I was using 250 kilowatts.”
Then he shut off his power and guess what happened?
“My neighbor came out and said he’d lost power,” Stephens explained. “He didn’t have any electricity. And we all walked over to my panel and it was determined that his line was connected to my line.”
Stephens said it was determined that the problem occurred after workers for the management company switched the line in error.
Then, he says an electrician hired by his mobile home park switched the meters and wrote new numbers on the box, switching lot 88 with 89. All that did, Stephens says, is stick his neighbor with his bill.
Stephens says Florida Power & Light came out and verified this, but failed to come back to fix this mess.
“I just lost all confidence because I talked to nine people and eight people dropped the ball,” he said.
After calls from Better Call Behnken, FPL came out and switched everything back the way it is supposed to be. An FPL spokeswoman says no one should mess with their equipment unless they work or FPL.
Stephens says he was told his management company is giving him a credit for the electricity he paid in error.