Questions to ask the provider when you register

Once you are on the phone with a local utility, you are doing the step we cannot do for you. The notes got you to the right gas, water, trash, or regulated electric company. These questions keep that enrollment from surprising you. Ask them before you agree, and write the answers next to the confirmation number.

This list is not for the services set up on the Utility Connect call. Internet, TV, deregulated electricity, security, insurance, home warranty, and movers are walked through with you then. You should still listen for the same facts, the rate, the term, the fee, and the appointment, while we set those up. You do not need this checklist to finish them alone afterward.

Does this exact address qualify?

Read the service address, including the unit, and ask them to read it back. Ask whether they see a meter or a service location. If they do not, stop before you pay a deposit. Compare their version of the address to the notes, and call us if the two do not match. We will correct the research. You still enroll with the company that confirms the premise.

What day will service start?

Tell them the possession date. Ask what time that day service is expected, and what you should do if you arrive and it is not on. Get the after-hours number before you need it. If they cannot start until after move-in, you will know while there is still time to ask about an earlier window. For water, trash, gas, and regulated electric there may not be a second company. The answer is then a plan for the gap, not a different brand.

What are you agreeing to?

Is there a deposit, and is it paid to them on this call?
When is the deposit returned or credited?
Are you billed for the day even if you get keys in the afternoon?
What confirmation will they send, and where?
If someone has to enter the home, what appointment times exist?

Pay the deposit only on their payment line. We never collect local-utility deposits.

Keep the two confirmations apart

Your local enrollment confirmation is proof you spoke to them. The confirmations from our call are proof internet, a deregulated plan, or security was set up with you. A spouse packing the house needs both. "Utility Connect handled it" is true for the services on the call and false for gas, water, trash, and regulated electric until your own confirmation exists.

Common questions

What if they will not say whether there is a deposit?

Do not hang up without the amount or a clear statement that there is none. A surprise deposit at the counter on move-in day is an avoidable problem.

Can I call you afterward and read you the confirmation?

Yes. We will tell you whether the start date matches what the notes were aiming at. If it does not, you call them back. We will not call them for you.

Should I ask these same questions about internet?

Ask them on our call, before we complete the setup. You should hear the fee, the term, and the install window then. You should not be discovering them from a brochure later.

The overview of which list a service belongs on is local utilities we research, and everything else we set up on the call.