Gulf Utility Service, Inc.

In regards to the "low pressure" complaint from the customer at *** *** ***, our records do not indicate a history of calls for this address pertaining to Low pressure, water quality or bill amountsThis is the first time we have heard from this customer since her account opened in Aug To
respond to the low pressure issue, we are aware that customers will experience little to no pressure occasionallyWhen possible we have done excavating of the line to locate the issue and made some adjustments, however this is not an easy fix as the previous owners left us with little details of the systems We continue to work diligently as possible to resolve the problemWe have heard from other customers that regularly call about this issue, that the pressure has improved since we started working to resolve itRegarding the meter reading, we are confident that our employees are getting good reads on a monthly basis and this customer has only been billed twice since her account was created 1st time for the minimum and 2nd time for $more than the minimum therefore we believe she is only being charged for water she is usingI hope this information will resolve this complaintIf you have any questions or need more information please let us know

Ms*** After reviewing your account it shows that on 07/26/a late notice was sent to your address on file which states your past due amount of $was due before disconnection date 08/10/If the $past due balance was not paid before that date a $delinquent processing
fee would be added to your accountThis fee of $is added to any account that goes into delinquent modeAs of 08/10/your account balance was $266.53, which included your past due bill of $90.98, the $delinquent processing fee since no payment had been made on the account, and your new August billing statementA payment was made through Payclix on 08/13/for $which left you with a balance of $This $was due on 08/25/per your August billing statementOn 08/26/a $late fee was applied to your account due to this balance not being paid making your balance $The remaining balance of $is from your August billing statement which only includes water charges, no delinquent charges since the delinquent charges were paid on 08/13/As a one time courtesy I will remove the $late fee, but the remaining $would need to be paid no later than 09/12/to avoid a possible interruption in services and additional fees added to your accountPlease understand, these guidelines that Gulf Utility Service must follow come from an official tariff that is filed with *** ** *** Thank you,Billing Department

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  
In the response, Gulf Utility makes three important statements, including 1) our prorated water usage from 8/28 - 9/22 is 22,000 gallons, 2) one possible problem could be a leak in our irrigation system, and 3) another reason for a high bill could be GRP fees.  The following are the reasons that the response does not resolve my concern:1) 22,000 gallons of water used during the first 25 days of the September billing cycle extrapolates out to a projected 27,780 gallons for September.  This is about half of the 54,800 gallons Gulf Utility alleges that we used in August, for a month that is still a hot summer month and still requires irrigation.  So while it's true that our usage for September (which will be billed in October) will be more than 22,000, it will not be anywhere near 54,800.2) If there were a leak in our irrigation system, we would not be seeing a September usage in the 27,000 gallon range, since the leak would have continued into September.  Instead, our usage this month would again be very high.3) The GRP fees are unrelated to the issue of whether we used 54,800 gallons of water, which is the amount of water we have been charged for in August.  A reduction in the amount of water used would logically lead to a reduction in the bill, separate and apart from the GRP fees.Finally, as Gulf Utility is aware, our irrigation system was turned off for part of the month of August as we did some landscaping work, so that the amount of water used should have been even lower than it otherwise would have been.My complaint will be resolved when Gulf Utility reduces the bill to a reasonable rate.  I will be satisfied with a $50 credit. 
Regards,
[redacted]

On October 19, 2017, a new meter was installed. A final read from the previous meter was provided that indicated a usage of 1,000 gallons since the previous read. On November 11, 2018, when the meters were read, the new read was 3.7851 indicating a total usage of 4,7851 gallons (combined with the...

final read from the old meter and the new read) during the billing period of 10/11/17-11/11/17. This bill was mailed on 11/28/17. On December 11, 2017, the read was 13.5736 indicating a usage of 10,000 gallons since the last read. On January 12, 2018, the read was 26.2764 indicating a usage of 12,000 gallons since the last read. On January 30, 2018, Mr. [redacted] contacted our office inquiring the usage. He was explained that it was a new meter and the read should be accurate. He said he understood and the bill was paid. On February 14, 2018, the read was 42.3990 indicating a usage of 16,000 gallons. On February 28, 2018, Mr. [redacted] called the office regarding his usage. He was explained that the meter was new and older meters tend to read slower and that may have been the reason for the increase in the usage. On March 2, 2018, while reviewing the flow on residential accounts through the EyeOnWater site, we noticed that a leak was detected beginning February 28, 2018. The same day, we hung a door tag to notify the customer of the leak that was detected. Mr. [redacted] called us on March 12, 2018 and stated that the leak was a result of the meter replacement. He was explained that the leak that was detected began on February 28, 2018, which was four months after the meter was installed. He insisted that this was a result to improper installation of the meter and asked that we send someone to investigate. A technician was sent to investigate the leak and he determined that the leak was coming from the PVC further back from the meter. The technician verified that the meter was installed correctly and there were no issues when the new meter was installed. The technician made customer contact and customer was made aware that the issue was on his end. Mr. [redacted] still did not agree with the results and wanted to dispute the issue further. He was advised that he can state his concerns in writing and it can be forwarded to the Board of Directors. He forwarded his dispute to Customer Service and on March 27, 2018, it was presented at the monthly meeting. The Board of Directors denied Mr. [redacted]’s request to have an adjustment on his account since the leak did not begin until four months after the meter was installed. He was advised that his request was denied.

To Whom it May Concern,Gulf Utility Service has certain guidelines they most follow by the state of Texas. These guidelines state there must be a $25.00 reconnection fee charged to a customer who goes into delinquent mode. As of 04/07/2016, your account was set to be disconnected due to non payment...

before this date. A pink notice was sent to your mailing address with this information, along with how much was to be paid if your account was set to be disconnected. Gulf Utility Service can not control the postal service or when you receive your billing statement. We do have other options available for you to receive your bill electronically and also to make payments electronically.  Looking at the notes on your account, you were also told about the disconnection amount multiple times after you had called our office and asked for you water not be shut off. Due to the space we have in our office, multiple customers may be in the building when your billing is discussed. If you would like to have a private conversation with one of our customer service representatives, you may wait for the other customers to leave or have a phone conversation. We also do not allow our customer service representatives to be spoken to in a disrespectful way. If a customer does decided to use certain language with our employees, our employees do have the option to no longer assist that customer. If any further complaint would like to be discussed you may write a letter to [redacted] or you may take this complaint up with the PUC of Texas.Thank you,MaeganBilling Manager

Dear Mrs [redacted],Looking at your account I do see that your usage is higher than it has been in the past. During the summer, usage is at its highest for everybody. Due to the lack of rain we have received in the past few months more water is used. On August 28th your meter was replaced due to the...

meter being over a million gallons used. Once meters get over the million gallon usage mark, there could be inconsistency with the meter. When the meter was changed out no inconsistencies were found and the last reading from that meter lined up with the last reading we have on file for your monthly read. On September 22nd we have record of you calling asking for a recheck of you meter. In that call you did state you have an irrigation system that you had to stop running during the time period of your 54,800 gallon bill. On that same day your meter was re-read by one of our technicians to investigate for leaks and to do an accuracy test on this meter. Since your meter was changed on August 28th, the new meter reading came back as 220, which shows usage from 08/28-09/22 as 22,000 gallons of usage. The billing period has not yet ended, which means your bill for October billing will be more than 22,000 gallons. Running an irrigation system for 1 hour 3-4 times a week can estimate up to 12,000 gallons of water per month plus your regular usage. Your meter was checked for leaks on our end and no leaks were found. The other option would be to check for leaks on your end by calling a plumber and having them check for any leaks internally. Irrigation system leaks are very common and can result in a major lose of water. Another issue you may look at is your GRP fee. For every 1000 gallons used your district charges $2.35 which in this case resulted in a charge of $128.78 by itself. This does not include the water and sewer charge the district charges. Unfortunately this is a state mandated pumpage fee that the district has to go by each month and can fluctuate due to the cost of water. Since we only manage the district and do not set the rates for MUD 94 and the other option you have is to write the Board of Directors a letter explaining your frustrations and our MUD manager will address this with them. Thank you,Billing Department

On October 19, 2017, a new meter was installed. A final read from the previous meter was provided that indicated a usage of 1,000 gallons since the previous read. On November 11, 2018, when the meters were read, the new read was 3.7851 indicating a total usage of 4,7851 gallons (combined with the final read from the old meter and the new read) during the billing period of 10/11/17-11/11/17. This bill was mailed on 11/28/17. On December 11, 2017, the read was 13.5736 indicating a usage of 10,000 gallons since the last read. On January 12, 2018, the read was 26.2764 indicating a usage of 12,000 gallons since the last read. On January 30, 2018, Mr. [redacted] contacted our office inquiring the usage. He was explained that it was a new meter and the read should be accurate. He said he understood and the bill was paid. On February 14, 2018, the read was 42.3990 indicating a usage of 16,000 gallons. On February 28, 2018, Mr. [redacted] called the office regarding his usage. He was explained that the meter was new and older meters tend to read slower and that may have been the reason for the increase in the usage. On March 2, 2018, while reviewing the flow on residential accounts through the EyeOnWater site, we noticed that a leak was detected beginning February 28, 2018. The same day, we hung a door tag to notify the customer of the leak that was detected. Mr. [redacted] called us on March 12, 2018 and stated that the leak was a result of the meter replacement. He was explained that the leak that was detected began on February 28, 2018, which was four months after the meter was installed. He insisted that this was a result to improper installation of the meter and asked that we send someone to investigate. A technician was sent to investigate the leak and he determined that the leak was coming from the PVC further back from the meter. The technician verified that the meter was installed correctly and there were no issues when the new meter was installed. The technician made customer contact and customer was made aware that the issue was on his end. Mr. [redacted] still did not agree with the results and wanted to dispute the issue further. He was advised that he can state his concerns in writing and it can be forwarded to the Board of Directors. He forwarded his dispute to Customer Service and on March 27, 2018, it was presented at the monthly meeting. The Board of Directors denied Mr. [redacted]’s request to have an adjustment on his account since the leak did not begin until four months after the meter was installed. He was advised that his request was denied.

All of our water systems residents experienced higher water bills during
the same time frame as the period in question in your complaintOur water
pumped from the districts (MC 94) water well for that particular time frame had
increased as wellOur water well pumped jumped from million gallons for the
previous billing period to million gallons pumped for that - day
period in questionIt seems that for the following billing period, where we anticipate
your usage to be 27,000, the water pumped from the water well is going to end
up back down around the mid-twentiesThe time period in question also had the
only days of the year that the area experienced the temperatures
reaching + degrees (usclimatedata.com)Many more days in "feel Like"
+ degree temperatures
As I truly apologize for your troubles please understand that we are
hired by your MUD district to follow the districts governing document called
the "Rate Order"Rates, cost, fees and rules are not set by Gulf Utility but
by the district itselfWe are not authorized to make adjustments on water
bills that we cannot find issue withWe can make adjustments to water bills if we discover problems with meter reads,
transposing numbers, computer errors or mathematical issuesAll disputes
without resolution can try to be resolved by addressing the Board for your districtThe
Rate Order directs unresolved disputes to the Board by either attending the meeting
or addressing a letter to the Board (The letter can be sent to our office)The Board of Directors for the MUD meet
once a monthFor additional information concerning either of those methods of
communication please contact the office
We hope this helps to
resolve your issueIt is always Gulf Utility's intent to provide industry
leading customer service as we know that the end user is our #customer

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. They contend that I only complained 4 months after the new meter was installed. This is categorically untrue. I have attached both statement that cover the last 21 days of the pay period when the new meter was installed where it is showing that I had a negative use of water of 1,000 gallons the prior period and I am attaching the statement of the first period after new meter was installed which ran from November 10, 2018 through December 11, 2017 and which came out in January of 2018. They admit that I called in January, but at the same time accused me of lying and saying that the leak started 4 months after they installed the new meter. They also mentioned that the leak was further back on the PVC pipe, I have attached photos of where the leak was as they show what their technician broke. The plumber who fixed the leak said it was due to overtightening. I stand by my original claim. 
Regards,