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ALBANY, GA -- “I asked the lady if I could pay $200 on the bill and get an extension. She said that would be no problem but we only give a week's extension,” said David Smith.

For David and his wife Joyce that one week just wasn't enough time. They went to Water, Gas & Light and offered up $200 to pay down their $250 bill.

But they were told the only way to keep the lights on was to pay the bill in full. They got desperate to pay their bill.

“We had to take the $50 from my insulin and finish paying the bill,” said Joyce.

“Being a business we have to be run like a business and on every bill it has a cutoff date. You have until 5 p.m. 20 days after you've received your bill,” said Lori Farkas of Water, Gas & Light.

For people that have hit hard times Water, Gas & Light say they go above and beyond to accommodate unexpected life changes.

“If you're having any difficulty and you've started a new job, you're ill, a lot of different reasons. You can come to our special services department and we do get extensions,” said Farkas.

"If you can't pay it all at once when you go in there, how in the hell are you going to get the balance in a week when you don't get paid for three weeks,” said Joyce.

The Smiths say the policy needs to be changed.

“Especially for the elderly or the indigent. When you ask for an extension and you're guaranteeing that they are going to get their money, that's what upsets me,” said David.

They are even more upset because they feel pushed aside because they are seniors.

“It gets to the point where you just want to blow your brains out completely. Because you don't know where to go or who to turn to,” said Joyce.