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Teaos wrote:They did play by societies rules, hell they played above them since this comapany was giving him a certain amount of free power.... which seems to be a lot more than ANYONE else did for him, including his neighbours, the state, family...

What other people did is not the issue at hand it's what they did that is being discussed. I mean I could blame the Pope also as he clearly did nothing.

Teaos wrote:What would you have them do Ian, give free power? To who? People who can't afford it? People to old? To young? Crippled?

Yes, if that's the only available form of heat or cooking in that house then yes, and I've said it a number of times now. Those with young children and the elderly. They should also report it to the authorities, ie the government.

Teaos wrote:Who do you give it to? How do you judge who needs it? Any solution to that problem is going to be insanely expencive and is not the responcibility of a private business.

Works here and the power companies make record profits despite these rules. So either they can afford it or they need to go out of business as their cr*p at it.

Teaos wrote:Should a show store have to give free shows to homeless people? They need them, there feet will get cut up and cold with out them.

No, I'll repeat it as you seem to either be ignoring it or just don't get it. if that's the only available form of heat or cooking in that house then yes, and I've said it a number of times now. Those with young children and the elderly.

Teaos wrote:You keep on insisting this guy had no other options, BS. He had plenty. Call for help, go to a neighbour (The story leads one to believe he had some sort of relationship with them), go to social services, light a fire.

He could but it it was Reliant he's get no help there. People are ashamed of such things and don't want to be a bother, especially people of that age. Is there social services where he is. The only answer I got was I think there may be something. As for lighting a fire see below.

Teaos wrote:Hell people are pretending electricity is the only form of heat, I do believe man harnessed this force call "fire" a few thousand years ago...

So what your telling me is that he could have set fire to himself or his house. Well sure he could, but it's not a wise move. Not all properties are suitable for an open fire, you need a proper fire place with a decent flu and adequate ventilation otherwise you'll be dead pretty soon. So, one more time for the hard of hearing: "if that's the only available form of heat or cooking in that house".

IanKennedy wrote:They should also report it to the authorities, ie the government.

Thats what should happen. Its the governments job to help people. I said at the start this shouldnt have happened and he shoudl get help, I just disagree that its the companies fault.

Works here and the power companies make record profits despite these rules. So either they can afford it or they need to go out of business as their cr*p at it.

They give out free power to all those sub groups of people? With no compensation from the government or anything? And they are privatly owned businesses... that doesnt sound right.

No, I'll repeat it as you seem to either be ignoring it or just don't get it. if that's the only available form of heat or cooking in that house then yes, and I've said it a number of times now. Those with young children and the elderly.

And you are ignoring my point. It was not, is not, and never will be the only option. Period. There is always more than one solution to a problem, always.

He could but it it was Reliant he's get no help there. People are ashamed of such things and don't want to be a bother, especially people of that age. Is there social services where he is. The only answer I got was I think there may be something. As for lighting a fire see below.

Well we arent talking about Reliant, we're talking about a guy who's neighbours apartently check up on him.

And if people would rather die than sacrifice their pride... well excuse me if I dont shed a tear. And how exactly is getting free power when the rest of us pay any less shameful than asking for help when about to freeze to death?

So what your telling me is that he could have set fire to himself or his house. Well sure he could, but it's not a wise move. Not all properties are suitable for an open fire, you need a proper fire place with a decent flu and adequate ventilation otherwise you'll be dead pretty soon. So, one more time for the hard of hearing: "if that's the only available form of heat or cooking in that house".

Yes Ian that is exactly what I meant, he should light himself on fire.

Or, OR, I could mean he could light a fire. Most everyone has a backyard and shit to burn. Its a one off choice of dying or lighting a fire. Or the many other options I mentioned such as calling for help or neighbours (and in this senario he does have nice neighbours)

And you keep ignoring the fact that he was being given free power, it had a limiter on it which is hardly unfair, you cant honestly expect them to give away unlimited free power to people. That system would be abused to hell.

You claim we should give free power to those people with out other options... exept there were other options, several of them. I would doubt there are many situations out there were there is only 1 option.

As I said: I don't knwo about British Gas, but MANY power companies Stateside offer all kinds of assistance for folks in hardship, including but not limited to the assistance that this guy had already been given. You're assuming that such further assistance wouldn't have been forthcoming. But how can we make that assumption if the company was never asked for such assistance?

uh-oh, we've moved into the seperating of quotes debates...

May god have mercy on us all....

You can relax, I don't think we're ever going to agree on this, so there's no real point in carrying on...

Turns out this guy was pretty rich.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... AD965FUJ80

SteveK wrote:Turns out this guy was pretty rich.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... AD965FUJ80

Well, that clinches it. He committed suicide.

Certainly looks like it.

I've read that here in Massachusetts, it's against the law to turn off people's power in the winter. They could put a lien against your house or something, but they can't leave you in the cold.

IanKennedy wrote:You can relax, I don't think we're ever going to agree on this, so there's no real point in carrying on...

Good call

Well that's all very odd. He had the money, so you have to worry about his mental state. If he had the money why did the company not simply sue him for it. That's what they would do here, they would get what's called a county court judgement against him. It costs £15 to get and you as the victim get the chance to argue your case in court. If they succeed in getting the order then the court will suspend your debt, as in stop any interest you may be accumulating, and agree a payment schedule between you and the company. Ultimately it's the court that decides the payment schedule. If you fail to pay to that schedule then you are in contempt of court and you can go to jail. They can garnish your wages to ensure you pay and they can order you to pay the lot right away, as they would have done in this case.

Interestingly the state seems to have just put a law in place to stop this happening again, as a result of this case.