I am retired from a gas utility. In my area and probably Toledo as well, people can't be turned off for non payment during the winter months for humane reasons. There is a large sub culture of renters that move yearly. Each year they don't pay their gas through the winter or their rent. Their gas can't be turned off so they are safe there and it takes 3-6 months to evict someone for not paying rent if they fight it. They move each year owing money and put the rent and utilities in someone else's name at the next place. Siblings in such families generally all have different surnames so this helps them to do this.This fiscal year there has been over $100,000,000 in unpaid gas bills in SE Michigan mostly from within the City of Detroit and service has been provided at a loss there (Detroit)for 30 years or more. This is the reason that all customers good and bad are treated as potential thieves. The people in customer service don't understand the work that is being performed at a house and this is another big problem. When you are dealing with customer service on the phone they don't understand what you are telling them and they don't know what they are talking about when they tell you something. There are more situations that employees face than can be covered by a rule book and they are instructed to leave a job any time they feel unsafe. They should have just sent you out somebody different but she probably put in her remarks when she executed her job that a giant snake was in the basement and conditions were unsafe. A customer service person that doesn't know how to think would just tell you that you have to get it out of the basement. I'm not trying to make excuses or justify anything, just trying to clarify why things are as they are. Also to save money most companies are only reading the meter no more than every other month and estimating the rest of the time. They estimate based on last years usage for the same time period. If your meter reader calls in sick on the day that your meter should be read, they will estimate again. That's where the high bills come from.