It\u2019s shockingly bad customer service.<\/p>\n
Con Edison left some Brooklynites without power for days during a recent deadly cold snap \u2014 and now some residents say the company is leaving them out in the cold on their reimbursement claims.<\/p>\n
Some locals said Con Edison has prematurely denied some of their refund requests, while others said they still don\u2019t know if they\u2019ll get paid or if their claims have even been received.<\/p>\n
Brooklyn residents are fuming after electric provider Con Edison is reportedly stiffing reimbursement claims en masse over a \u201cdangerous\u201d days-long power outage. Gregory P. Mango for The New York Post<\/p>\n
\u201cTrying to rectify this with Con Ed, I was on hold for two days \u2026 and they were just so disrespectful,\u201d said Park Slope resident James Kilmeade, who spent two nights in a hotel so that his pet bearded dragon wouldn\u2019t freeze to death.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people wouldn\u2019t give me their last names or any employee ID \u2026 and they never called me back,\u201d Kilmeade added, saying he put in a $200 reimbursement claim for spoiled food.<\/p>\n
He hasn\u2019t heard back.<\/p>\n
Kilmeade said he hasn\u2019t even asked to be reimbursed for the hundreds he spent at the hotel, which he booked because there was no power for his 9-year-old pet\u2019s heat lamp.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to smuggle her into a hotel, basically, in a blanket,\u201d the 30-year-old said.<\/p>\n
The blowback comes after Con Ed got the green light to hike electric bills<\/a> by 10.4% and inflate gas bills 15.8% over the next three years \u2013 a move which is set to cost the average Big Apple resident<\/a> an eye-watering $600 more per year by 2028.<\/p>\n A Con Edison representative said the company is in the process of paying \u201cvalidated claims\u201d for the hundreds of residential customers in Brooklyn who were without power for more than 48 hours during a massive outage that began on Jan. 31 \u2014 smack in the middle of an extended Arctic deep freeze in the city.<\/p>\n The three-day blackout was sparked by a manhole fire started due to melting snow and salt on the road, which can corrode wires and underground equipment, according to the utility provider. Gregory P. Mango for The New York Post<\/p>\n Con Edison offers up to $655 in reimbursements for customers facing spoiled food and prescription medication<\/a> after some power outages that last over 12 hours, according to its website.<\/p>\n