Columbia Gas of Ohio

Yep. Everyone hates the gas company, along with cable and electric. So, I called today to start new service and expected a long drawn out call with hoops to jump through, especially since I just moved in from out of state.
But much to my surprise I got my service started and sorted out in about 5 minutes! The agent was polite and helpful and even cracked a few jokes!
Go figure

They’re liars, thieves and whores.

Columbia Gas is absolutely the worst scum bags on the earth. Talked with the customer service representative and they didn’t know their information and fed me false-​information. Called back because I got extra surcharged on my bill and spoke with a manager. The manager lied to my face and said that he reviewed the recording of the conversation and the parts where the customer representative lied he didn’t hear anything about them.

Terrible Customer Service… the worst. They came out with a back-​hoe and dug a 7′ x 7′ hole in our front yard and broke the underground sprinkler system 20 days ago. They never left a note and haven’t come back to fix sprinkler or repair the lawn or dirt heap after several calls and emails. Their technician also relit our gas water heater and left the pilot light on too high and it burned the coils around the valve/​gauge. They told us they will not fix and we have been waiting 10 days for a plumber (at our expense) with the hot water tank off!

Horrible customer service! I cancelled my gas at my last apartment, then was billed three months later and the three months I wasn’t living there. When I spoke with the customer service they were rude and barely listened. My old apartment complex said they were in charge of the payment but Columbia Gas wouldn’t take their money. Instead they called my three times a day. Each time I spoke with them they said they’d look into their phone records to see when I cancelled and then I’d receive an email. I NEVER received emails then started getting calls from debt collectors. I finally paid it to get them to leave me alone. I’m disgusted with their customer service,

The only point to these reviews is to set a realistic expectation for the unwitting captive victims of this appallingly incompetent public utility. If you have gas appliances, you have no other choice. I am writing this from the perspective of a small private landlord (20 units for 20 years). I have had a great deal of experience with Columbia Gas. I pay my bills on time and do what I am supposed to do. I don’t expect them to care about me, I just expect them to do their jobs.
In my dealings with them, there have been a few rare instances of competence where everything worked out fine and employees/​contractors were pleasant, but most interactions are horrendous. Getting through to someone on the phone is a feat. Most are rude. There is no consistency of policy from one phone rep to the next. What they do and how/​when they do it varies based on who you get and maybe the phase of the moon. The stories I could tell you… here are the last two:
Just last week… A tenant moved without notice on a Saturday. Not wanting to risk getting the gas shut-​off, I immediately sent an email with all info necessary to transfer the service into my name first thing on Monday morning — as I have done many times before. No response. I was working on the unit next door and checked every day to make sure the gas was still on (since I hadn’t gotten a response to my email). On Thursday, it was off when I arrived. The date on the service tag was Monday (3 days before it was actually turned off). As the property owner, they are supposed to notify me if the gas is scheduled to be turned off for any reason. They did not. The CSR I got was very nice. He said they’d be out to turn it on yet that day. This is good news when you’re trying to scrub down a unit in mid-​December with no heat and no warm water! Then I got a call from a woman who said they couldn’t come out until Monday and that the CSR shouldn’t have told me it would be today. I argued my case that it should never have been turned off — I had sent the email and they hadn’t notified me of the impending shut-​off. She said they don’t transfer service by email (news to me) and that I didn’t have shut-​off notification set up. If they weren’t going to transfer it via email, they should have responded to my email telling me that. Further, I absolutely did have notification set up. Did all my properties at the same time on the same form. Once she looked further into it, she realized they were wrong and agreed to turn the service on the next day (Friday). Thankfully, all went well on Friday. The service tech was delightful and tried to save the situation. When I arrived home that evening, I had an email from CG saying they don’t transfer service via email — time stamped an hour after I had asked the female service rep why I hadn’t received a response telling me that. Looks a lot like CG covering their tracks. That’s what I like about email — you can prove your case with it. They try to steer you to the phone nightmare for just that reason. They don’t want you to be able to prove them wrong and they rarely take responsibility for their incompetence.
In October all the pilots on a two-​unit building mysteriously went out. I had to go relight them. CG was putting in new service lines on the street behind, and there had been stakes in my yard for several weeks, so I assumed it was related. CG, of course, says no. All the pilots in the building just happened to go out at the same time. A few days later, they were all out again and would not relight. There was no gas flowing to the building. Turns out they had completely disconnected and capped the service line to the building, not realizing it was on the same line with the houses on the street behind. The contractor responsible said it is often the case that corner houses are on the service line of the street behind, yet didn’t bother to double-​check this one. He said they didn’t know it, yet the yard stakes clearly told the story — someone in the chain of command knew it! Finally, they had to admit it. But, as is often the case at CG, the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing, and guess who is left holding the proverbial bag??? That’s right… the customer a.k.a «victim». At the time the problem was identified, there was still time to correct it, but it was beggar’s night and they had to be off the street before it started, so… guess these folks who had paid their bill and done nothing to contribute to the problem just won’t have heat or hot water until late tomorrow. Too bad, so sad… bye, bye!
I could go on and on and on. In this business I’ve had lots dealings with utilities and government agencies. Columbia Gas is by far the worst. I have a friend in the business who got so fed up that he changed all his fully-​functioning water heaters and furnaces to electric (far less efficient than gas) — cost him $ 4,000 per unit to do it. Unbelievable.

WOW! This post is as sarcastic as it gets. Not sure if there is much of an option, but this place sucks. I wouldn’t even have the «energy» (#dadjokes) to write this if their customer service professionals would have any kind of empathy. Not to mention, the whole staff seems like the huge personality of a Raisinet. I hope the C.E.O. and/​or his elves never have to suffer.

Too bad Columbia Gas is the only game in town. No wonder I almost run out of battery power by the time I get to talk with a real live person. Not that the conversation is ever very productive since it is always «service at their convenience anywhere between 8:00am to 5:00pm your guess is as good as mine. The fees they charge up front are ridiculous (it’s not like they aren’t already getting heftily paid for their monthly service) but their Representatives on the phone have to cop an attitude. My husband is retired military and I just recently retired so making ends meet is a chore. We pay our bills monthly but God forbid the payment should reach them a few days late. You guessed it! Now they want a security deposit! It’s a sad way to run a business. What a way to treat a customer of 34 years not to mention a Retired military veteran. It’s enough to make you want to go all electric!

If I could give ZERO stars, I would! The thing that is the most upsetting, is that we have to use this company. Its the only one and we have no choice.
I am a teacher. It has been rough the last couple years with levies not passing and the housing bubble burst. I got laid off several times. Money has been tight. So when our gas was shut off, we had to pay hundreds to have it reconnected, along with a $ 52 connection fee. When I spoke with the lady on the phone, she informed me we have to pay an additional $ 175 security deposit! Which we will never get back. Isn’t that the point of security deposits??? CROOKS!!!

This company is almost like the mob of utility companies. They know you have to deal with them and they don’t care. I have just taken possession of a property. Due to several situations in the past with Columbia Gas and their poor customer service issues, we waited until we actually signed the paperwork and owned the property before we called them to set up the account. Unfortunately for us, they are not open on weekends but apparently the people in the field still work for they showed up on Sunday and shut the gas off. We called the emergency line and they stated that this was not an emergency and they could not help. So there was one day with the extreme cold. In contacting them this Monday morning, they have set up the account but will not come out for 7 more days before turning it back on and furthermore want someone to literally wait all day for them to just show up! They called it an all day appointment. No supervisor would be any more helpful. This is completely unacceptable, leaving children with no heat for 7 days and not caring at all about it. There is no payment issue here, it’s not like I owe them any money and I have been a customer with multiple accounts on numerous homes for around 18 years. It’s a shame that there is not another option or someone else to be able to deal with. They act like the mob and don’t care. We have done nothing wrong and they could care less about no heat in sub-​freezing temperatures. I was not even provided with a new account number over the phone, the supervisor was more in a hurry to get off the phone with me as she just didn’t care.

This is the worst gas company in the entire country. My bills are so high, I don’t even know where to start. I rarely turn my thermostat above 60 degrees and I still get $ 275 bills from these crooks. When i call to complain, they give me zero help on the matter. In fact, they don’t even pretend to be concerned. They are soulless crooks. You’re better off heating your house with farts. Seriously, THE. WORST. UTILITY. COMPANY.

My gas has now been shut off for about two weeks (due to non-​payment), after paying the bill (which took three individual payments as I wasn’t given the complete total to pay the first time), putting the bill under my name (it was previously under my mothers name, she never paid my bill like she was supposed to, and I never got any notices because of it), finally getting a time someone could come out (a WEEK after I made the call), and jumping through hoops just to get somebody out (the automated system kept saying I owed them, even though I already paid, going in person to get somebody out, they just said to call, which I already did, then when I finally get somebody, they said they couldn’t get anybody out till a week later), I FINALLY get a call saying they should be over in 20~30 mins…
So I rush home, wait for the guy, and in the process my phone shuts off (my cell phone gets battery issues in the cold), and the guy never shows, it has now been over an hour and a half and nobody has shown up, after I finally get my phone back up and running, I have not received any calls from them since
So now I wait in a freezing house for a guy that may never show up… UNPROFESSIONAL, if only I could convert to all electric and forget about this company altogether

Terrible company. I’ve had gas before when I lived in San Diego and never have I seen the level of unprofessionalism of this company. When the guy came to do my initial start of service he talked to his girlfriend the whole time he was messing with my gas. I’m sure that’s completely safe.

First thing I did since moving in was to call them, and the earliest they could come to set the system up was 2 weeks later. And on the day of the appointment, they said they «knocked», but they never did. I’ve been waiting all morning and I decided to call them to find out and that’s what they told me. So now, I have to wait another entire week and they told me they could come anytime between 8 am to 11:30 pm and that I should be ready to receive them at any time’s notice. These people think that people don’t have jobs or responsibilities!

This has literally been one of the worst utilities experiences I have ever had. I am going on week 6 of cold showers because Columbia Gas has been terrible with their service. They have come out to my house 4 times already, with the most recent time being the kicker. I had my landlord make the repairs to the apartment that they requested, and the sent a guy out the next day after I called and said the repairs had been made. The next day I was sitting on my couch, waiting for them to show up, and saw the Columbia Gas van pull up. The man sat in his van for about 10 minutes playing on his iPad, made a phone call, then drove off. Never once did he step out of his van.
Giving him the benefit of the doubt I waited to see if he would return. When I didnt have gas on yet, I called the company and was informed that my gas wasnt on because the «door was locked on the premise». I laughed out loud at the lady and told her he lied because A) there are no locks on the door to get to the gas and B) I watched him sit in his van and then drive off.
The best she could do was have another guy come out to turn on my gas over a WEEK later. Awesome job Columbia Gas, I have really enjoyed these cold showers for over a month. Just some absolute terrible customer service and inability to fix problems they have caused.

Not quite sure what to say about a gas company. When I moved into my new apartment, I was so confused on how to set up the Gas. Maybe it is common sense but I thought this company came out and read the meters every month and it’s all set.
What I did not know is that they don’t provide the Gas themselves they have many gas companies that they use. Maybe it’s just me, but I am still confused on how this whole process work.
What I am getting at here, is that they did not explain this top me from the start AT ALL. Basically left me in the dark and I just like to be informed. Now it could be my fault, I just didn’t know the right questions to ask.
But I will say this. The customer service is AWFUL. I have called a few times and have not spoken to one person who see remotely nice., and is even rude at times.
The only thing I cannot complain about is the bills, they arn’t too high actually.
They do have a 24.00? something like that, monthy minimum which makes sense.
So if you don’t mind speaking to a rude sales lady, but having somewhat reasonable bills. I’d say your set.

Turned the gas off to my house on «accident». Then made me fix my gas lines, then told me they would be back Monday, never showed, then Tuesday they said they would arrive between 8am and Midnight. They never showed, I even called to confirm they would still show at 3PM and was told they would be there.
Company lies.
Company turns off the wrong gas, then it costs me 250 bucks and they can’t come turn it back on.