Our friends at The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space passed along this photo from today outside Matilda ... The Tuscan-Mexican restaurant on East 11th Street at Avenue C was one of the many businesses in the neighborhood to suffer extensive damage from the Sandy surge... (Find a video reminder here of 11th and C from Oct. 29.)
The Con Ed form letter points out that they are "not responsible for property damage or other losses," etc.
To which the folks at Matilda respond, "Shame on you Con Edison, after what you charge us small businesses!!!"
Does ConEd charge a different rate for small businesses vs. private residences? Are businesses being charged for the period of time they were out of power? If so, can you appeal to FEMA for that?
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot missing from this story - could someone please elaborate? Thank you.
I'd be ashamed to work for Con Edison. "On it" - yeah, right, if "on it" means rate hikes every other month.
ReplyDeleteCan someone please explain to me how Con Ed is getting away with charging the entire neighborhood, businesses and residents, as if the storm never even happened?
ReplyDeleteWhy has there been absolutely zero adjustment to billing WHEN WE DID NOT RECEIVE POWER FROM THEM FOR EXTENDED PERIODS?
WTF is going on?
We should all be writing in to Rosie and Nydia on this one....
Yeah I dont get this? Con Ed wouldnt pay for property damage right? That sounds like something your insurance co should be (probably isnt) paying. Im sure con ed is doing something shady, I just dont know what it is?
ReplyDeleteaccording to con edison they did NOT charge for the time service was out, only some $3 fee that they are refunding.
ReplyDeletethey explained to me that because they read the meter they only charged for the actual use. if they estimated the bill they say they gave a credit for it. i did get a credit on my bill but i still don't understand it.
this goes for business AND residential accounts.
businesses have a lower rate but they use much much more electric and or gas.
i too filed a claim for spoiled food and they sent pretty much the same letter back - that because they were not responsible for the outage they are not responsible for the spoiled food.
however, WE ALL ARE ARE RESPONSIBLE for the cost of their repair and their attempt at preventing the same problems next time there is something they are not responsible for. and they will probably get another huge rate increase very soon.
and if they are going back now to fix whatever they can so it won't happen again, why didn't they prepare for that event BEFORE the storm, like after hurricane irene.
talk about having their cake and eating it too!
we received an abatement for the time the power was out. Honestly, i coan understand if the power outage was Con Ed's fault, but a 100 year storm and massive flood knockin gout power stations is not exactly what I'd call their fault. Frankly, it's a business owner's fault for not having the intelligence to have business interruption insurance.
ReplyDeleteConEd didn't charge me for the days that I did not have power. My bill for the month was $11 compared to well over $100 that it usually is. I'm sure there was an estimation in there somewhere but I definitely noticed the difference. Also, for my spoiled food and damages, I filed a claim with my tenant insurance and they paid no problem. I don't expect ConEd to pay for something that was beyond their control--the storm blew their shit up.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand Matilda's issue. Were they charged for electricity the days that the electricity was out in their building? Is that what happened?
ReplyDeleteAgreed with the commenter directly above - there is a lot of holes in the information here, and I'm wondering if Matilda is simply venting at ConEd for issues which were Matilda's responsibility. They got back up and running in a surprising short period of time after Sandy, so I'd love to know exactly what their grievances are with ConEd. (The Japanese restaurant directly next to them was not so lucky unfortunately...)
ReplyDeleteI also don't get people complaining about the price of electricity here. It's laughably-low compared to other countries, and perhaps if it wasn't so cheap we would think twice about wasting so much of it...
ah I see, spoiled food etc, that doesnt seem quite fair. But I also agree w Blue Glass' point, It seems con ed wins on both sides of the coin, but only time will tell I suppose. Anyway, hang in there Matilda, I still havent tried your food yet, and I am looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteIt is unfortunate that they lost a lot of food but the storm was much different than just a blackout so I can't really blame them for not reimbursing everyone for food.
ReplyDeleteBut they do have some racket going. They literally work on the same manhole on my block once a month for the past ten years. Same freaking hole with steam that comes out every few weeks. I guess if you get paid by the hour (plus overtime) you don;t really have to worry if you get it right the first time.
I agree with the previous poster about how cheap our electricity is. I have friends overseas who pay way more than we do and don't even always have consistent access. I am sorry any of our local businesses suffered during Sandy but they don't make themselves look any better when they get whiny and want ConEd, the city and local residents to subsidize them.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of someone owes me something.
ReplyDeleteCrap happens and sometimes its no ones fault and you have to endure the costs.
Everyone is always looking for something for nothing and its why the country is in the state its in.
Con Ed is a highly regulated monopoly. These utilities monopolies exist because many years back, do gooders thought it would be better for consumers to not allow competition in certain industries deemed vital for working families, i.e. utilities. Con Ed is your result.
ReplyDeleteHuh. I did not get any rebate.
ReplyDelete