Our family moved to a new town in June. It's a small country town that we thought would be a great place for our kids to grow up. Their utility company is completely owned by the town. The first few months we lived here, they charged us an outrageous amount of money for our water bill. When we asked about it, and asked why our bill after that was a normal amount, their response was, "you must have had a leak and had it fixed and now you are just lying about it". Because of the small amount my husband gets for Worker's Comp., we could not pay the outrageous bill at one time and we fell behind. A few days ago, they called and told us that we had to pay over $300 by the next day. They would not wait 2 more days until my husband got paid. They said if we didn't pay it the next day, we would have a disconnect notice and would need to pay over $700 by the 29th or everything would be shut off. By everything, I mean gas, electric, and water. They control it all. My husband tried to reason with the woman, explaining our situation, that we had 3 young children and he was only receiving worker's comp. Her response was, "OH WELL" and she hung up on him. We have contacted the PUCO and HEAP (energy assistance). They said there is nothing they can do because Deshler Utilities is not mandated by the state and do not have to follow the state laws. There is no assistance program available for them. The town makes the laws. The woman was very rude and uncaring. It's not as if we are lazy pieces of crap that don't want to work or pay our bills. We have fallen on hard times and they will not even work with us at all. They have no programs for low income families; nothing. We need help quick or everything is going to be shut off by the end of the month. We can't live with no electricity, water, or heat! It's almost winter. We are desperate for help!!! I went back to college at the age of 32 in the hopes of bettering my life and family. I graduated last month with a degree in Medical Assisting and have been job hunting for a couple of months with no luck yet. My husband has been off of work for over a year due to an injury. His worker's comp. only pays $394 every 2 weeks (less than $800 a month for a family of 5). The Utility Company doesn't care. We are the type of people that will put our last few dollars in a donation bucket or give our last $10 to the homeless man on the corner so that he can eat while everyone else drives by in their luxury cars completely ignoring him. We have big hearts and always help others when we can, but now we are the ones needing the help.
