OK, so here’s some consumer advice …
Back in July, I started getting notifications from Enbridge Gas that my on-line bill was ready … just a bit of spam, I thought. No problem, I’ll ignore it and when my real bill comes by snail mail, I’ll throw it in the pile and pay it during my monthly bill-paying frenzy. No problem.
But the bill didn’t come. And it didn’t come again and it didn’t come again.
So in October I figured there was a definite problem and asked their social media team on Facebook how to switch it back. They told me:
Thanks for the question. Go into My Account, and then go to your Bill Delivery preferences and switch there. That should do it.
… and I subsequently told them:
There does not appear to be any such option.
I attempted to update my billing preferences via [screenshot 1].
This screen claims I am enrolled in eBill – I have no recollection of enrolling in this and it was certainly never intended. However, I clicked “Update Billing Preferences” and arrived at [screenshot 2, below].
Ha-ha! So much for easy on-line account management! I have to call a number. After guessing my way through a very poorly designed menu, I eventually spoke to somebody who identified herself only as “Deb”. She claimed not to have a rep ID number or anything along the lines of what was expected.
“Deb” claims that paper billing is no longer an option. She disclaims any knowledge of what Enbridge has told me on its own website and on Facebook.
What is going on?
Click for Big
Click for Big
They asked me to contact them privately and I refused. Why should I? Why was the answer such a big secret?
Eventually, after I made it clear to them that I was going to make a public nuisance of myself, they gave me the real answer:
James, if you are in an area formerly served by Union Gas, please call 1-877-362-7434. If you are in an Enbridge Gas area, please call 416-495-6155.
So I called the number … and it turned out to be the number of their internal ombudsman! I left a message … and nothing happened. So about ten days later, I left another message.
Today, a very pleasant and weary-sounding woman from Enbridge told me that my account had been reset to snail-mail delivery, past bills would be re-printed and sent to me and all late-fees would be cancelled. She apologized for the delay – apparently they have been getting a lot of calls.
So it seems to me that Enbridge was trying to pull a fast one. Change everybody’s billing option to electronic without notification and make everybody who liked things just fine as they were go through an arduous and incomprehensible process (ending up with the ombudsman!) to get it reset.
Pretty sleazy move, Enbridge.
| HIMIPref™ Preferred Indices These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref™ Indices Values are provisional and are finalized monthly |
|||||||
| Index | Mean Current Yield (at bid) |
Median YTW |
Median Average Trading Value |
Median Mod Dur (YTW) |
Issues | Day’s Perf. | Index Value |
| Ratchet | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.2885 % | 1,975.0 |
| FixedFloater | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.2885 % | 3,624.0 |
| Floater | 6.12 % | 6.30 % | 43,725 | 13.38 | 4 | 0.2885 % | 2,088.5 |
| OpRet | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0958 % | 3,420.8 |
| SplitShare | 4.65 % | 4.44 % | 48,029 | 3.88 | 7 | 0.0958 % | 4,085.2 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0958 % | 3,187.4 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.54 % | -18.42 % | 49,130 | 0.09 | 10 | 0.1173 % | 3,046.7 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 5.29 % | 5.41 % | 68,600 | 14.77 | 25 | 0.1934 % | 3,263.6 |
| FixedReset Disc | 5.56 % | 5.64 % | 182,243 | 14.38 | 66 | 0.1177 % | 2,113.4 |
| Deemed-Retractible | 5.14 % | 5.28 % | 67,575 | 14.81 | 27 | 0.1744 % | 3,212.7 |
| FloatingReset | 6.25 % | 6.79 % | 116,594 | 12.72 | 2 | -0.8550 % | 2,438.0 |
| FixedReset Prem | 5.11 % | 3.63 % | 127,828 | 1.58 | 20 | 0.0936 % | 2,627.6 |
| FixedReset Bank Non | 1.96 % | 4.07 % | 71,423 | 2.12 | 3 | 0.1791 % | 2,702.3 |
| FixedReset Ins Non | 5.41 % | 5.61 % | 119,526 | 14.41 | 22 | 0.1015 % | 2,156.7 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| TRP.PR.F | FloatingReset | -1.46 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2049-11-25 Maturity Price : 13.47 Evaluated at bid price : 13.47 Bid-YTW : 6.79 % |
| MFC.PR.J | FixedReset Ins Non | -1.44 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2049-11-25 Maturity Price : 18.50 Evaluated at bid price : 18.50 Bid-YTW : 5.74 % |
| IFC.PR.A | FixedReset Ins Non | -1.32 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2049-11-25 Maturity Price : 14.15 Evaluated at bid price : 14.15 Bid-YTW : 5.87 % |
| PWF.PR.P | FixedReset Disc | -1.15 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2049-11-25 Maturity Price : 12.85 Evaluated at bid price : 12.85 Bid-YTW : 6.01 % |
| RY.PR.S | FixedReset Disc | -1.15 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2049-11-25 Maturity Price : 18.98 Evaluated at bid price : 18.98 Bid-YTW : 5.45 % |
| IFC.PR.C | FixedReset Ins Non | 1.08 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2049-11-25 Maturity Price : 17.80 Evaluated at bid price : 17.80 Bid-YTW : 5.82 % |
| TD.PF.C | FixedReset Disc | 1.18 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2049-11-25 Maturity Price : 17.11 Evaluated at bid price : 17.11 Bid-YTW : 5.56 % |
| BAM.PR.R | FixedReset Disc | 1.24 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2049-11-25 Maturity Price : 15.48 Evaluated at bid price : 15.48 Bid-YTW : 6.13 % |
| MFC.PR.M | FixedReset Ins Non | 1.46 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2049-11-25 Maturity Price : 17.32 Evaluated at bid price : 17.32 Bid-YTW : 5.60 % |
| BAM.PF.B | FixedReset Disc | 1.67 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2049-11-25 Maturity Price : 18.30 Evaluated at bid price : 18.30 Bid-YTW : 5.87 % |
| BIP.PR.F | FixedReset Disc | 2.18 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2049-11-25 Maturity Price : 22.03 Evaluated at bid price : 22.50 Bid-YTW : 5.74 % |
| TRP.PR.B | FixedReset Disc | 2.86 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2049-11-25 Maturity Price : 11.52 Evaluated at bid price : 11.52 Bid-YTW : 6.11 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| BMO.PR.D | FixedReset Disc | 84,675 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2049-11-25 Maturity Price : 21.23 Evaluated at bid price : 21.23 Bid-YTW : 5.49 % |
| BMO.PR.B | FixedReset Prem | 57,227 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2022-02-25 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.42 Bid-YTW : 4.08 % |
| BAM.PF.E | FixedReset Disc | 55,100 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2049-11-25 Maturity Price : 16.50 Evaluated at bid price : 16.50 Bid-YTW : 6.29 % |
| IAF.PR.G | FixedReset Ins Non | 37,700 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2049-11-25 Maturity Price : 19.44 Evaluated at bid price : 19.44 Bid-YTW : 5.58 % |
| TRP.PR.A | FixedReset Disc | 33,700 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2049-11-25 Maturity Price : 13.71 Evaluated at bid price : 13.71 Bid-YTW : 6.37 % |
| CM.PR.R | FixedReset Disc | 29,195 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2049-11-25 Maturity Price : 21.45 Evaluated at bid price : 21.45 Bid-YTW : 5.67 % |
| There were 39 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||
| Wide Spread Highlights | ||
| Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
| TRP.PR.F | FloatingReset | Quote: 13.47 – 13.94 Spot Rate : 0.4700 Average : 0.3631 YTW SCENARIO |
| BAM.PF.E | FixedReset Disc | Quote: 16.50 – 16.75 Spot Rate : 0.2500 Average : 0.1604 YTW SCENARIO |
| RY.PR.S | FixedReset Disc | Quote: 18.98 – 19.20 Spot Rate : 0.2200 Average : 0.1409 YTW SCENARIO |
| MFC.PR.Q | FixedReset Ins Non | Quote: 18.63 – 18.85 Spot Rate : 0.2200 Average : 0.1487 YTW SCENARIO |
| BAM.PF.B | FixedReset Disc | Quote: 18.30 – 18.57 Spot Rate : 0.2700 Average : 0.2050 YTW SCENARIO |
| TRP.PR.D | FixedReset Disc | Quote: 16.05 – 16.38 Spot Rate : 0.3300 Average : 0.2668 YTW SCENARIO |
I hope you can also see the humour in this. If I was to select the traits of a manager for my money, I would choose someone who would spend hours calling around about paper versus electronic billing and then post about it on his blog.
if you really want your blood to boil, Enbridge switched my 82 year old mother to this email billing scam. she is completely electronically illiterate, does not have email or a computer. somehow, they associated the account with my email address. nice.
And if you are looking for an even brighter side, it seems Enbridge is learning from our nickle-and-diming experts-the banks and insurance companies- and proving that they are worthy of receiving our investment dollars.
If they continue doing this, expect DBRS to restore the much loved P2(L) rating soon. 🙂
I would choose someone who would spend hours calling around about paper versus electronic billing
After I (i) found out I had to call a number and (ii) was told that paper billing was not an option, it was clear that Enbridge was pulling some kind of fast one and were lying to me to do it. That pissed me off. It didn’t really take all that long.
Remember, if you see three portfolio managers together, the bond guy is the one who’s crawling around trying to find the nickel he thinks someone dropped two weeks ago. The FX guy is the one who’s yelling that there might be a penny there somewhere!
Enbridge switched my 82 year old mother to this email billing scam
Call the number! I just left a message with my name and account number … they did all the rest, albeit in longer than the advertised two days.
Enbridge is learning from our nickle-and-diming experts-the banks and insurance companies
I’m still a little puzzled about why they’re doing all this. The banks would have just said ‘You can’t get paper any more because fuck you’. My guess right now is that the regulator has told them they have to offer paper bills (for free!), in a nod to us old fossils. Perhaps I’ll learn more once I file my formal complaint to the regulator …
Meanwhile it looks like the insurance issues were switched from their deemed maturity to a 30 year maturity over the weekend. Even though it was expected, surprised it wasn’t addressed. Perhaps still a work in progress?