COMPLAINTS. 141 



pipes of the proper size; and the example thus afforded 

 has been of great general benefit. If the gas company 

 are at fault, the defect should be promptly admitted, 

 and some understanding arrived at as to when it will 

 be remedied. 



In dealing with the consumers, a strong point should be 

 made of a strict adherence to promises. A great deal of 

 unnecessary annoyance and ill-feeling against the company 

 may be traced to negligence or forgetfulness in this respect. 

 A gas fitter, or other workman, who receives a message in 

 the street would possibly be abused as a churl if he replied 

 that it was not his business to take messages, but that they 

 must be sent to the office. But he is preferable to the 

 man who courteously and attentively listens to a customer 

 and then forgets all about him. In small towns, people 

 have a loose and easy way of doing things. They do not 

 send and complain about an escape, but when the meter 

 inspector calls he is told there has been an awful smell in 

 the house for three weeks. Great annoyance is always 

 caused by negligence in respect to a promise. If a job is 

 promised to be done at 9 o'clock on Wednesday morning, 

 the fitter should be there to do it by 8.59. If events make 

 it necessary to alter the arrangement, the earliest notice 

 should be given, or if the fitter is stopped on his way, and 

 told off to attend to a broken lamp-post or fractured main, 

 he should not fail to explain the facts at the earliest 

 opportunity. 



Gas managers of the older school will remember that 

 every quarter there would be two or three disputed 

 accounts. The consumer was sure that he had not used 

 half the quantity of gas charged for. But with the great 

 improvements in cookers and fires, and the introduction of 

 the incandescent burner, together with a more intelligent 



