David Andersen said:

Customers of National Fuel beware! This may apply to other energy companies as well, but National Fuel (a natural gas supplier) wouldn't let me go onto a budget payment program until after I paid my bill! Here's the story:

A while ago, I received an exceedingly high gas bill. This was about 5 years ago, before I started this site . Anyways, I received a gas bill on a winter morning for over $350 in usage. Needless to say, I didn't exactly feel compelled to pay this amount right away. And then there was a blurb at the bottom:

Your payment could be $145 if you join the budget program, based on your past usage.

Of course, I jumped at the chance. Sure, budget payments never really appealed to me, but the idea of paying the $350 bill was too much to handle. So I called them.

They refused to put me on the budget program until I made the $350 payment.

"What sense does that make? Why would I be calling you if I could make the payment in the first place?"

"In order to enroll in the program, sir, your account needs to be current."

"How does that help homeowners at all? If you have to pay a high bill before enrolling in a standard payment program, doesn't that defeat the purpose of a budget payment program? Why bother telling me how much I could be paying on the bill if you have no intention of enrolling me?"

So much for helping those in time of need!

Needless to say, I paid the $350, but instead of budget payments I reduced my consumption and made several home improvements to bring down my natural gas costs.

So they made you pay before enrolling you in a program? I don't think thats the way most companies work. You're right, its kind of counter intuititive