Power Company Turns Off Power on Woman's Breathing Machine

Her and her families falure to pay the bills caused these actions. They had to know at some point if you don't pay your bill the power will get cut off. Actions have Consequence's be ready to accept them when they come. She also could have gone to the hospitle or next door to plug it in. She and her family didn't take any steps to save her either.

I wish she wouldn't have died as I am sure you do(and the power company). But you can't place 100% blame on the power company. I don't think lack of education was the problem if she is a teacher like you said.

Her families actions created a bill at the electric company.

The electric company then had a decision to make, they could either:
A) turn the power off
B) let the family build up a bigger bill
C) Get law enforcement involved after the knew about the medical condition.

Don't get confused about who initiated which action.

It's unfortunate that the serviceman decided to leave the power off after he was notified about the oxygen machine, and even more unfortunate he decided against notifiying the familiy before even doing so.

But even the electric company is saying the power should not have been cut.
 
Mercury Energy can go eff them selfs tenfold.
 
yes its sad, but at the same time she needed to pay the bill, you cant just sit there and expect to get free electricity, dont get me wrong it is fucked up but they would do it to any one else regardless companies are money hungry. it was 6-7 weeks, she coulda ask a family relative for money and prevented the power being shut off
 
Her monthly statement indicated that she had made two payments that month to try to pay it down.
 
Her monthly statement indicated that she had made two payments that month to try to pay it down.

In how loosely interpretted this whole story has been, a simple beliving this because it was said isn't going to hold up. Hell, even if it is true, as far behind as she was, she's lucky they even left it on for her as long as they did. I've had my power shut off before for being one day late. I didn't get a knock at the door, telephone call, or anything. I here the loud "BLEEEEEEEEEEP!" sound and run out to find the guy driving off.

The only thing I see going on with this thread is something I find quite pathetic in our world today. People wanting to not own up to their own responsibilities and blame others. From her family not takin' appropriate actions for her health with bills, healthcare, etc. to her being over-weight and allowing her kids to follow the same path. I don't give a good god damn what makes you a fatty but I do know for a 100% fact if you eat right and stay active you can offset most anything harmful derived by it. She killed herself a long time ago, it just took the bullet this long to finally catch up to her.
 
What I find pathetic, is the technician was invited inside the house, was shown a breathing machine and told that the woman would die if the power was turned off.

So what does he do? He does his job. He chose the $ over a person's life. Sure he's not going to know for sure if the woman is going to die, but at least he has enough evidence to call up his superior and bring it to their attention. He didn't bother to do that, and a person with morals would have. A person who had compassion might try to speak with their boss, and let them know that the situation is a little complicated, but it doesn't seem that was done at all.

When it comes down to it, NO ONE has a right to say who should and shouldn't die. NO ONE has the right to take another person's life. NO ONE has the right to take a mother from her children and that is what ended up happening.

I can't believe all the ignorance i'm hearing from people, saying that her family should of taken care of the bill. You guys should be GRATEFUL you can't comprehend what its like to possibly not have a family with the ability to pay off a simple electricity bill. I've spent my life since I was 16 supporting my family, and by the time I was 18 I was the one putting food on the table for my siblings because my parents were so far behind in bills even though they worked full time jobs, that we didn't have the money to pay for groceries if we wanted a roof over our head. It would of been nice to have grandparents, aunts or uncles help us out, but that wasn't an option for us. Not everyone is so lucky to grow up in a family where they can ask relatives for help, and while that might not be the case here, at least give the benefit of the doubt.

Having no sympathy for the loss of a life? The loss of a mother?

Go look at 3rd world war countries who have it worse than this story alone. Its too bad that we have more people who just don't care, or don't have a heart and would rather make excuses not to have compassion and try to justify why a person deserves death. The world today is so selfish that unless something happens to us directly, we show little sympathy to others because its just easier to be self absorbed about our own lives.

Consequences do happen when people do wrong, but saying her death was justified in this case is utter bs.

I really hope that the US makes some laws for all their electricity companies that would prevent things like this from happening. I'm pretty sure that the electricity company where I live, has rules that prevent the power from being turned off when it can seriously harm one's life (Ex: Power can't be turned off in the winter if the household has young children)
 
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The fact that she was making frequent payments on her debt is a testament that she was showing the "effort factor" that people are so quick to deny her. The fam was trying and came up short. She was trying and came up short. The power company stuck to protocol.

What you see in this thread would be pathetic if it were an American, but an American would have hooted and hollered like an entitled crazy fat lady and likely have gotten something for all the screamin.

Just because you're skinny doesn't mean you're healthy. Just because you're fat doesn't mean you're not healthy. The 20 year-old son probably has a BMI of 37, but he might very well exercise, and if he exercises and you don't, he's healthier than you are. It cannot be stressed enough how much more powerful these genes are than American fat genes.

This is not Texas, guys. This is Samoa.
 
This is not Texas, guys. This is Samoa.

Doesn't make a bit of difference. Payin' bills is the same no matter where you live. Sure currency is different and maybe some payment methods but all-in-all it's the same. A company provides a service. When you can no longer afford that service, it gets taken away. It really is a very simple concept. I'm sorry that I'm not a self-righteous liar, I don't play that bullshit, but thems the beans.
 
The entire culture is different. I've played with some pacific islanders before. They often consider everyone as brothers. They often respect authority and take fate as it comes. They are often laid back. It's a highly christian demographic, and that christianity isn't even the one you're familiar with. It's a different world with different mindsets, and as such the American position not only doesn't apply well, it applies abysmally.

Company-service-payment discussion has already been proposed in the topic. Power is owned by the community it supplies. Not the supplier. Even the United States obeys this, and it's common knowledge.
 
Company-service-payment discussion has already been proposed in the topic. Power is owned by the community it supplies. Not the supplier. Even the United States obeys this, and it's common knowledge.

I beg to disagree. If you actually paid your own bills, you would too. If you do, by slim chance, pay your own bills... wake the hell up and join the rest of us utility bill payers. Some law may state that that's how it's suppose to be but it's most definatly not how it is. Power is owned by the provider. It's no different than any other service provided to us paying customers.

Now, that is common knowledge.
 
Those inflamed ideas have been well-countered by this good poster:

You guys should be GRATEFUL you can't comprehend what its like to possibly not have a family with the ability to pay off a simple electricity bill. I've spent my life since I was 16 supporting my family, and by the time I was 18 I was the one putting food on the table for my siblings because my parents were so far behind in bills even though they worked full time jobs, that we didn't have the money to pay for groceries if we wanted a roof over our head. It would of been nice to have grandparents, aunts or uncles help us out, but that wasn't an option for us. Not everyone is so lucky to grow up in a family where they can ask relatives for help, and while that might not be the case here, at least give the benefit of the doubt.

Power companies can pretty easily tell the difference between someone like the above, or a 70 year-old on a fixed budget in the middle of summer, or this bedridden terminal COPD/Heart failure patient on oxygen...and someone probably much like you who could, just go back and live with mom and dad if they bomb taking care of their first apartment. The companies should simply do as good a job at keeping power to those who need it as they do removing services from those who really don't.
 
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Those inflamed ideas have been well-countered by this good poster:

A small piece of a life story is what that was, hardly even close to a "counter" of my post. The only thing there is left to say about my previous post is probably something you, unfortunatly, can't bring yourself to say without breaking down your entire argument. You don't even have to say it though, I already know.

My post was not and is not an idea. It's a simple piece of what you like to call "common knowledge" to anyone with utility bills. Like auto mechanics, you'd be hard pressed to find a utility company who even lubes it up before they shoved it in your hiney... much less take you out on a date and play nice at first.
 
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Unlike being unwilling to recognize culture and difficulty differences between yourself and someone in this position, your thoughts about vital resources is just incorrect. The Samoan government is investigating possible criminal actions as the family is probably investigating civil action. If this was the US, the state government would be investigating the company.

You claim that that's all just a written law and that it doesn't happen in the real world. That's false. As I said, the power company cuts power from people of your perspective because people of your perspective have alternatives that they can fall back on. You weren't old. You weren't debilitated. You had somewhere to go. Maybe they messed up if you really were just one day late on a payment. Maybe they didn't.

But they do not cut the power of people whose perspective you have consistently been unwilling to understand in this topic. First, because they wouldn't as human beings and leaders of their community. Second, because they are not allowed to by law. It is the company's lawful duty to find an alternative for people reliant on them if bills can't be paid. The power stays on. Coming back into the US world where you and I can more consistently comment on, the US government gives out rights to monopoly to any power company that supplies a community or parts of a community. They do this because competing power companies would be a nightmare. In return for rights to a monopoly, the companies give up the right to operate under the business model that you so incorrectly think applies. The resource is given not to the company, but to the community.

This is a fact, and it is not under dispute on the internet. I can look up information on it for you if there is still contention, but I didn't think it would be necessary. It really is common knowledge that communities own their water and electricity, and the companies themselves are bound by the vitality of their product.
 
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Instead of reiterating everything I've been arguing the last few days, much like you just did, I'll just go ahead and spell out what you've seem to have missed from my posts...


Things aren't always as they are suppose to be. In this instance, never is it as it should be.

If that's not enough for you, just go back a few days and re-read what I've already written.
 
What you've written is an insensitive argument that culture doesn't matter, backed by incorrect facts about how electricity is run as a business, and that power companies should be able to cut power off from people who don't pay regardless of any danger that puts them in because of the infallable point of "that's the way it is." You have consistently made arguments that only apply to your own perspective and that have little to nothing to do with others'. You act like you're arguing this position simply because this is the way it happened to you, and everyone should be held to what was held to you. You got your power cut, and no one cared. Did anyone need to care? Honestly. Probably not. You're fine. Again, were you 70 years old in the middle of summer? No. Did you have big health issues? No. Did you have an alternative other than to go without water and electricity? Yes. So you got cut. That's really the way "it is." You are not her. Clearly you're not even willing to imagine that you're her. You are only willing to apply your situation to others without even considering that it might be an inappropriate and flawed comparison.

This is not the way it is. Utility companies often do refrain from cutting power to those who need it, even if the bills have to be waived. They just don't do it to you, because you're not a candidate.
 
My whole point of argument isn't from the perspective of me getting my power cut off. I'm not butt-hurt about that. That was nothing, I made the comment just to say it had happened to me. Even if my power had not been cut, I'd still say everything to the "T" that I have been saying. You seem to be hung up on that and I can't figure out why. Like I said earlier, when you end up having to pay your own utility bill and deal with them, you'll see where I'm comming from, fully.

Utility companies don't waive bills. They wont stay afloat doing so. It's a business just like selling cars is a business. Instead, things like assisted living programs, medicare, medicaid, insurance, family, etc. kicks in. At the very best they'll delay them a few months if you go through the proper channels. Those channels do not have, "Oh Mr.Man come look at our Mommy and her air tank." when they're there to cut the power. They should have done more, sooner. You could argue they didn't have insurance, etc. and hardly no one there does. That's fine and dandy but you can bet your sweet ass anyone with two cents worth of a brain, that knows they need power to live, will find a way to keep it on. They fucked up, the family, not the company. I'd be willing to bet everything I own she isn't the only person over there on a breathing machine with troubles payin' bills. However, she's obviously one of very, very few that has died from it there. You wont change my mind, you will never be right and that's all that was left to say.
 
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Utility companies don't waive bills. They wont stay afloat doing so.

Actually yes they do. There are many programs that allow people to pay less than their actual utility bills all over this country at least.
 
Actually yes they do. There are many programs that allow people to pay less than their actual utility bills all over this country at least.

Waive isn't a temporary "scoot by"... The real meaning of waive is to clear, to get rid of something. That's why I put so much emphasis on the word. The correct word here would be postpone. While arguably the same, take the number one definition for both and you'll see the big difference. The only people who say they are going to waive something and charge for it later are tryin' to be sneaky and deserve to be killed. Ever had someone tell you they are going to waive a fee and charge you for it at the end of the meeting/conversation/etc.? Not likely.

I've also touched on their being assistance type programs. We all know they exist and that isn't the argument. Welcome to the conversation.
 
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They did waive her bill. She owed $304.40, which the power company discounted to $290.79. She paid $106.90 but they only asked her for $168.90.

Means they were only asking for $275.80 if I"m reading right.

Thats a pretty big "waive".

:biggrin:
 
They did waive her bill. She owed $304.40, which the power company discounted to $290.79. She paid $106.90 but they only asked her for $168.90.

Means they were only asking for $275.80 if I"m reading right.

Thats a pretty big "waive".

:biggrin:


I"ve heard of this before, it exists with most companies and they typically will try to do this before taking it to a collection agency just depending on the situation.
 
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