People's Gas (apartments, lease, house) - Chicago - Illinois (IL) - City-Data Forum

southkakkatlantan · 08-07-2014, 02:20 PM

Please tell me there is 1 person out there that has had at least a mediocre experience with this company.

I just moved into a new place and am supposed to have gas connected with this company tomorrow. I just looked them up and all of their reviews on Yelp are 1 stars. Horrible reviews, most of which are recent. I wish I would have known about this; when I signed my lease they said I could go with either People's Gas or Nicor, but Nicor actually doesn't serve my area.

So who here has them? What has your experience been? What was your highest bill amount with them within the past year? I haven't paid for gas in yearssss...I have gas for my stove and dryer. So I was hoping gas bills with them would be minimal (700-sq ft 2 bedroom). But I fear by these Yelp reviews that I'll be getting $600 bills come winter...

Freefall18 · 08-07-2014, 02:29 PM

I haven't dealt with them, but I wouldn't freak out too much based on Yelp reviews. If you look up reviews of any of these big service providers they're going to be terrible. If they do their job properly, people won't really notice or be compelled to write a review. If the company does something bad however, they will get upset and write a negative review. As a result you get reviews that are almost all negative. It doesn't mean the negative reviews are inaccurate, but they don't necessarily paint an accurate picture of what happens to the average customer.

pidgeon92 · 08-07-2014, 02:36 PM

I've had multiple Peoples Gas accounts for more than 20 years. Never had an issue with service. The only time they've ever irritated me is on the rare occasion that they show up unannounced to inspect the gas meter. This has happened perhaps 4 times in 20 years?

OP, are you paying for the heat, or is the landlord? I pay the heat for the apartments in my building, my tenants only pay for cooking gas. I believe their bills are about $20 per month.

My house is about 1700 sq feet on the main floor, plus a full basement. I recently installed a high-efficiency furnace. My gas bills were about $200-$250 per month last winter. In the summer I pay about $60 per month.

southkakkatlantan · 08-07-2014, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

I've had multiple Peoples Gas accounts for more than 20 years. Never had an issue with service. The only time they've ever irritated me is on the rare occasion that they show up unannounced to inspect the gas meter. This has happened perhaps 4 times in 20 years?

OP, are you paying for the heat, or is the landlord? I pay the heat for the apartments in my building, my tenants only pay for cooking gas. I believe their bills are about $20 per month.

My house is about 1700 sq feet on the main floor, plus a full basement. I recently installed a high-efficiency furnace. My gas bills were about $200-$250 per month last winter. In the summer I pay about $60 per month.

I'm responsible for the heat.

pidgeon92 · 08-07-2014, 03:24 PM

I would think that Peoples Gas would be able to provide you with some past data for your address. If there are other tenants in the building, ask them what their bills looked like last winter.

Freefall18 · 08-07-2014, 03:31 PM

Actually if you ask your landlord, they have to give you an estimate for what the electric and gas will be each month

Carson9 · 08-07-2014, 03:46 PM

Correct, you're entitled to a heating disclosure from your landlord. Peoples Gas can provide this as well.

southkakkatlantan · 08-08-2014, 01:15 PM

So they came out today and upon arrival said they needed access to the lines in a locked door of the basement of the building and asked if *I* had a key to it

Then said to contact the building personnel to see who could let them in to that room and when, and that they'd have to reschedule my appointment in the meantime.

So an entire day taken off from work waiting on them to come to tell me that. And I have to stay home again the next time for when it's rescheduled. In the meantime, no cooking gas or heat for my dryer. This place is definitely already living up to its expectations.

pidgeon92 · 08-08-2014, 02:43 PM

Well, yes, the gas meters are generally in locked basements. All of my basements are keyed the same as the vestibules and gates so that the tenants can access all common areas with one key. You might wish to check if that basement's lock will open with one of your keys.

southkakkatlantan · 08-08-2014, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

Well, yes, the gas meters are generally in locked basements. All of my basements are keyed the same as the vestibules and gates so that the tenants can access all common areas with one key. You might wish to check if that basement's lock will open with one of your keys.

We did; none of my keys worked.