Truckee Meadows Water Authority

I had issues with their portal to make online payments. The agent just kept repeating what to do even though I told her I’ve done the required things and needed a tech supervisor. She put me on hold. I died there. Sending well wishes from Heaven.

Truckee Meadows shut off my water without informing me in anyway. They then charged me $50 to turn in back on in the same day because I had no choice.On 3/2/16 Truckee Meadows Water Authority came to my house at [redacted] and shut off my water. I called to find out why, to which they informed me that the bill had not been paid for several months. I inquired as to who was getting the bill and they informed me that it was going to a property management company and addressed to my landlord. I informed them that my landlord no longer uses that address and they told me that is not there fault. In order to get my water turned back on, I paid for the balance that they had on file. They also said that if I wanted the water turned on the same day it would cost $50, rather that $25 if I wanted it turned on tomorrow. I asked that they reduce the cost to $25 and they refused. I asked to speak to the supervisor named [redacted] and she refused as well. I then had [redacted] call me later that day and she refused and then hung up on me because she didn't like that I pointed out that this is a monopoly and unethical behavior for any business. The second issue I have is that there was an outstanding bill for my previous address at [redacted], that I wasn't aware of that Truckee Meadows sent to collections. I asked [redacted] if she had any record of them trying to call me to inform me of this bill, to which she did not answer the question. I informed her that it would make better business sense to call and try and reach the client to get payment rather than send it to collections where they only receive a portion of the payment, to which, she agreed, however had nothing else to say on the matter. Desired SettlementI would like the $50 refunded for turning my water back on and a personal apology from [redacted] for hanging up on me.I would also like Truckee Meadows Water to change their business practice to be that they actually try and call their client, prior to sending a bill to collections. This would give their client an opportunity to pay it and save Truckee Meadows Water a lot of money. I might also mention, this is a common practice for any business that doesn't have a monopoly. Business Response Contact Name and Title: [redacted]Contact Phone: 775-834-8007Contact Email: [redacted]As [redacted] really has two separate complaints, I will address the issues independently. On 3/2/6, we dispatched one of our Technicians to turn off the water at [redacted] due to non-payment of the bill. Because the Landlord never called us to take the water service out of his name and [redacted] never called us to put the water service in his name, we had no knowledge that the Landlord was no longer responsible for the water, nor did we have any knowledge that the Landlord had discontinued his relationship with the Property Management Company that was receiving his bills. Because there wasn't any communication with TMWA, of any kind, all we had to go on was that the water bill was not being paid and we had an order to turn it off. We had nearly 200 orders scheduled to be worked that day, with the order to turn the water off at [redacted] being one of them. We turned the water off at 8:36am on 3/2/2106. When [redacted] called, he was upset that we turned the water off. It was explained to him that we didn't know that he had moved in in October and that the previous customer had not paid the water bill. As all of our Technicians already had their work set for the day, [redacted] was told that if he could wait until 3/3/16, it would be the standard $25 activation fee to get water service restored, however, if he needed the water service restored on the same day (3/2/16), we would have to charge our expedited $50 fee and we would find someone that we could pull off of existing work to try and work him in. [redacted] opted for the expedited fee, but was very upset about having to pay it. We were able to get his water on by 1:09pm on 3/2/16. [redacted] later spoke with our Customer Services Supervisor, [redacted], regarding the fee. They went back and forth regarding the fee, with [redacted] explaining that the fee would stand because we had to pull someone off to ensure that his water was turned on, and [redacted] complaining that we were unethical and a monopoly. After quite a bit of this same back and forth discussion, [redacted] asked him if there was anything else that she could do for him. He stated "So you're not going to remove the charge", and when she said no and he said fine, she said "Good-bye" and ended the call. [redacted] strongly disagrees with the characterization that she hung up on him. I am sorry that I won't be able to help him regarding this complaint. Regarding [redacted]'s complaint that we don't call customers prior to sending them to collections, we do have a policy in place where we call customers that have satisfactory credit with TMWA (less than three late fees in the past year). In [redacted]'s case, he had (7) late fees in addition to (3) 10-day notices and (1) 48-hour notice being mailed. As this would not be considered a good credit rating with TMWA, he wouldn't have been eligible for the phone call. To this point, I see where it may be advantageous to both the customer as well as TMWA if we alter our policy to call more of the customers that are being sent to collections, and I will be reviewing that process to improve it. For that suggestion, I do thank [redacted].If there are any further questions, please feel free to contact me directly at 775-834-8007.Thank you.[redacted]Director Customer RelationsTruckee Meadows Water Authority

Product and Customer Service Issues On June 7th we had leaky pipe and sink issues I called Truckee Meadows Water my husband tried to turn water off it would not turn off it has a concrete piece in the way form Truckee meadows Water I called and the Dispatch said $50 if we come out and he said call Customer Service to waive fee ok [redacted] came out and it took him awhile to turn off valve and said something aint right then our meter was not turning or working [redacted] turned it off then we had to call back and they charged another $50 to turn it on. Now [redacted] said if my husband had kept turning that valve on meter it would had broke so when I try to get fees waive a bunch of lairs and I have asked them to come out and check this for free and they said nothing wrong that's a lie so I emailed the board and she said they will look into it. I have pictures and our meter has not been touched in years and we should be able to turn valve to meter off and on without calling them that is their property bot mine Customer Service RUDE!!! They keep saying it was operative well if that the case I would not had called the water department dummy we could not turn it off and what if my house is flooding really all cause they want $100 free money for nothing and not taking care of their propertyDesired SettlementJust the $100 waived like I was told I could do Business Response I reviewed this situation on Monday, June 9th, after the customer contacted us with her concerns. I responded to the customer with the following e-mail:"Hello- I have spoken with both technicians that went to your property. They told me that while the valve was stiff to move, they were able to operate it. As that is our valve, our primary concern is that it is operable. In this case, since the valve was operable and we had to call someone out to assist you in turning your water off, and again to turn it back on, the two $50 after hours charges will stand.If you wish to avoid these charges in the future, I would advise you to have your own shut off valve installed downstream of ours. You would then be able to turn off your water without our assistance.In answer to your meter reading question, we do read your meter every month. Your meter has a transmitter on it that sends the monthly read to our meter readers as they drive by your property. In this way, we don't have to get in the meter box unless there is an issue.If you have any further questions or concerns, please let me know.Thank you."I included my phone number and e-mail address. I never heard back from the customer.I have listened to the 5 phone calls she made on June 7th, and at no time was the customer promised the charges would be removed. She was told repeatedly that the dispatcher was not authorized to remove the charges, and that she would need to call Customer Service on Monday to see if they would be able to remove them. The customer is mistaken in her belief that we need to keep the valve operable for them. That is our valve, on our equipment, and it is only meant for our use. It is not meant for the customer to use. All homes are, or were, equipped with a private shut off valve that the customer can operate should they need to turn off their water. When those valves fall into disrepair, or customers are unable to locate them, they choose to use our valve. While we know this happens, we don't advocate it, we don't authorize it and the customer is liable for any damage that may occur when they operate our valve.The customer needed the water shut off, didn't use her own shut off valve and was unable to operate our valve. We had to call in a technician to operate our valve to shut off the water. It worked, and their water was shut off. Later in the day, we had to call in another technician to operate our valve to turn the water back on. Once again, the valve worked, and water service was restored. As such, the two $50 after hours charges will stand.Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 775-834-8007.Thank you.[redacted]Manager Customer ServicesTruckee Meadows Water Authority