“I’m hoping to get some advice on a pretty awful issue I’m having with Washington Gas.”

“Dear PoPville,

I’m hoping to get some advice on a pretty awful issue I’m having with Washington Gas. My service was disconnected yesterday [Thursday] – with no notice – due to an ongoing construction project next door and Washington Gas needing to run a new service line to their property. Again – I received no formal notice of this disconnection and only realized the service had been disconnected when I woke up in the morning and the temperature had dropped to 60 degrees (these have been some of the coldest days of the year so far mind you – below freezing outside).

I called Washington Gas and they essentially told me my service could not be restored for at least three business days. After some back and forth they finally agreed to come out tomorrow, but gave no time and refused to offer any immediate accommodations. As the temperature in my house continued to drop – now at 55 degrees and with me not being able to use my gas stove top or oven to cook I decided to get a hotel room. Getting a hotel may seem extreme to some, but I have family visiting this weekend – including my young niece and did not want them to have to endure this ordeal. So – we’ve now come out of pocket to get a hotel for the weekend and will likely be eating out most of the weekend as well as I can’t use my gas stove and oven.

My question is – has anyone dealt with a Washington Gas situation like this before? I feel like I should be reimbursed for the cost of our hotel room and food considering we couldn’t use my home of no fault of my own. I plan to submit these costs to Washington Gas for reimbursement, but given their level of customer service so far I’m already preparing for a drawn out ordeal. Does anyone have suggestions on what I should do or who I should contact? Can I or will I need to sue them? Thanks in advance for any advice on resolving this huge inconvenience.