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Kokua Line
Question: My mom is 83 and my dad is 88. It's never happened before, but she forgot to pay the electricity bill, so Hawaiian Electric turned off the electricity. My mom went down right away and paid the bill. They told her when she got home to turn off all the switches in the house and wait one hour to see if the power goes on. If not, they told her to do it again. If the power still didn't come on, they said she shouldn't expect to get power for 24 hours! They said there was a blackout, so they had to restore power first to those people whose power went off. Power hassle over
missed bill paymentMy parents are scared of being in the dark, so my mom lit candles, which was very dangerous in the high winds. They also went without dinner and had a hard time finding their medication. Why didn't they turn on the power immediately after she paid?
Answer: Records show power was disconnected about 3 p.m. Feb. 14; payment was made later that day; and service was restored about 12:40 p.m. the next day.
Hawaiian Electric spokesman Fred Kobashikawa apologized for the inconvenience caused your parents, but said although every "reasonable effort" is made to reconnect customers as soon as payment is made, same-day reconnection is not always possible, especially if the payment is made late in the day.
Crews also were busy on Feb. 14 because of the bad weather.
Regarding the elderly, he pointed to the policy printed on the back of bill statements: "We will try to give special consideration to customers who are elderly or handicapped, and have shown proof of age or handicapped condition."
He said the general policy is to allow elderly, handicapped and life-support customers "to make reasonable credit arrangements (payment extensions) for overdue bills." Customers also are asked to call 548-7311 if they cannot pay by the due date, he said.
Asked what Heco's policy is on delinquent bills, Kobashikawa said service is disconnected only after "reasonable attempts" to collect a bill have been made and after the customer receives a written notice of disconnection.
"Our experience shows that it is in the best interests of the customer to disconnect service before a delinquent bill gets too high and even more difficult for the customer to manage," he said.
After an Urgent Disconnection Notice is sent, all outstanding bills must be paid immediately to avoid disconnection, he said. Once service is disconnected for nonpayment, the customer must pay all bills and deposit amounts in full, plus a reconnection fee. Service is then "normally" reconnected within 24 hours, he said.
Q: What are we supposed to do if we want to continue getting the Star-Bulletin after March 14? Are we required to contact the new owner or will they be informing us about what to do? 'New' Star-Bulletin subscriptions
A: If you are a current subscriber, your subscription will continue uninterrupted, said Mark Lewis, circulation manager for Oahu Publications, which will take over publication of the Star-Bulletin on March 15.
However, you will be rebilled at some point to reflect the new ownership. If you have any questions, call 529-4848.
You can also call that number and, with a prepayment of $96, get the Star-Bulletin seven days a week for one year, Lewis said.
The Star-Bulletin will begin publishing a Sunday edition on April 1. Star-Bulletin subscribers will receive complimentary copies of the Sunday paper for three months, Lewis said.
Bulletin shutdown archive
Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Email to kokualine@starbulletin.com
