There’s nothing worse than paying for something and then not receiving it as promised.

So, what would you do if a service you paid for was suddenly canceled at the last minute without any attempt to fix it?

Would you accept the inconvenience?

Or would you make sure they learned a valuable lesson in customer service?

In the following story, one customer finds himself in this exact situation with his gas company.

Here’s what happened.

Tell me the service I payed for won’t happen?

I moved to a new place and had to get the gas hooked up.

I scheduled an appointment with the gas company technician. 10:00 AM.

Paid the deposit, too.

At 09:30, I was at the gym (near my house) when I got a phone call that the technician was sick and couldn’t make it.

The conversation was frustrating, to say the least.

Me: “Can’t you send someone else?”

Rep: “Impossible. We have no one else.”

Me: “But you are literally canceling 30 minutes before-”

Rep: “Haven’t you ever been sick? These things happen. We have to reschedule.”

Me: “I had to free my schedule for this meeting. I’m not mad that the technician is sick; I’m mad that you don’t have a backup.”

Rep: “Then free another day. Today will be impossible.”

Apparently, they’re not allowed to do that, so he called back.

I Googled laws in my country about customer rights, and it turns out they owe me the equivalent of 200 bucks for bailing on the meeting.

I called the call center back and asked if they were sure they couldn’t send someone. The now very angry lady repeated that it was impossible.

Me: “So, how would you like to send me the 200$?”

The representative changed their demeanor real quick.

Rep: “Come again?”

I sent her the link to the law on the government website.

Rep: “We will send someone over as scheduled.”

This is where I went petty.

Me: “Are you sure? You said your guy was sick and wouldn’t want you to get him out of bed…”

Rep: “Sir, the technician will arrive at the scheduled time.”

Just to be sure…

Me: “It’s just that you said it was impossible. I wouldn’t want you to break a law of physics.”

Rep: “Sir, the technician will arrive at the scheduled time.”

Me: “Yes, but what changed (other than you not wanting to pay out compensation)?”

Rep: “Sir, the technician will arrive at the scheduled time.”

Me: “Because it would seem to me, as a layman, that maybe it was possible, but you just didn’t feel like doing your job until you found out it would cost you?”

Now, he’s trying to get the gas company fired.

Rep: “Sir, the technician will arrive at the scheduled time.”

I kept it up for another ten minutes and went home in time to get my gas connected.

Now, I’m moving the entire three apartment buildings (39 apartments) to switch gas companies. It’s going well.

Sheesh! That call must’ve been frustrating for both sides.

Let’s see what the people over at Reddit have to say about this story.

This person would’ve taken it up a notch.

Interesting policy.

Here’s someone who dealt with a similar situation first-hand.

Good point.

It’s a wonder she didn’t hang up.

Most people would not have sat on the phone and took that for more than 10 minutes.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.