American Utility Management

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2014/03/07) */ March 7, American Utility Management (AUM) received the complaint submitted by [redacted] We would like to take this opportunity to respond and provide details to help in your investigation AUM is a third party billing providerWe are contracted with owners, landlords, and management companies throughout the United States to assist them with utility conservationPart of this assistance includes billing their residents for utilities In Ms [redacted] 's case AUM is contracted through her apartment complex and/or their management company to bill herAUM sends monthly statements and the monthly utility portion of the statement simply reflects each resident's portion of the overall bill for the propertySince each apartment does not have an individual meter to measure water and sewer usage, bills must be calculated on an allocation basis The Public Utility sets the rates, reads the property meters and charges the property accordinglyTherefore, if the property's utility bill increases, residents will see an increase in their bill as wellResidents are billed only for their share of the property's overall bill and the total charge allocated to residents does not exceed the total amount paid by the property plus an administrative feeThis is in accordance with the state statute Unfortunately, AUM is unable to grant her request of waiving the monthly administrative fee and discontinuing her AUM statements Sincerely, [redacted] Corporate Paralegal Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 7, 2014/03/16) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) This did not address the issue at allSeems to be a standard pre-written response that you just sent to everyoneYour bills are often for the incorrect amount, resulting in me having to pay my apartment complex twice every monthMain issue is you are charging $a month to provide incorrect informationIf you must charge me at least provide correct and accurate billsIf you can not do this I should not be required to pay Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 9, 2014/03/27) */ March 27, American Utility Management (AUM) received the additional information submitted by [redacted] We would like to take this opportunity to respond and provide details to help in your investigation AUM only generates and mails the resident statements and does not collect payment for these chargesOn each statement under the Message Center section it states "Your current lease agreement overrides any amounts billed on this statementThe amount due is reflective as of the 15th of last monthYou are responsible for potential activity that does not appear on this statement." This information has been noted in the Message Center beginning with her January 21, statement AUM's previous correspondence discussed the utility portion of her statement and addressed the monthly statement and administrative fee As previously stated, AUM is unable to grant her request of waiving the monthly administrative fee and discontinuing her AUM statements Sincerely, [redacted] Corporate Paralegal

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/03/13) */ March 13, American Utility Management (AUM) received the complaint submitted by [redacted] We would like to take this opportunity to respond and provide details to help in your investigation AUM is a third party billing providerWe are contracted with owners, landlords, and management companies throughout the United States to assist them with utility conservationPart of this assistance includes billing their residents for utilities on a monthly basis While AUM has verified the mailing address, occasionally statements may take longer than to reach Ms [redacted] when traveling by the [redacted] We have no control over this third party; however we do offer other options in order to receive statements and or make payments in a more timely and efficient mannerThose options include e-statements, direct debit or contacting our Customer Service Department When our invoices are mailed, residents typically have twenty-one (21) days in which to make full payment before a late fee is appliedThis information is clearly stated on each resident statementThis fee is only applied if a balance remains on the account after the indicated due dateThis may occur if the payment is not received and processed by the due date, or if the payment was a partial payment An available option is to manage the account onlineEvery statement lists our web address and that the account can be managed onlineThe online service allows access to account information, bill payment and to set up for e-statementsOne can view and print statements, but is only charged a convenience fee when payment is received online with an approved credit card transaction Another option available is to enroll in AUM's E-Statement ProgramIn order to enroll in this program, residents must visit the AUM website at www.aum-inc.com and click on the Resident TabAfter logging in and re-entering his/her email address, the e-statement option would have to be selectedOnce registering for the program he/she would receive an email with a link to confirm the registrationE-statements would begin once the resident has confirmed his or her registration AUM currently has three main bill payment options for our customer's conveniencePayments can be made online along with a convenience fee and the payment would post to the account on the day of the transactionIf she feels that the online convenience fee is too high, there is the option to set up automatic paymentsWith written consent, payments can be automatically debited from her checking accountThe auto debit requires residents to complete an application and can take up to two months to processAnother option is to mail payments to our lockbox via the United States Postal Service Ms [redacted] always has the option of contacting AUM's Customer Service for her balance, due date and remittance addressThey can be reached by calling XXX-XXX-XXXX, 8:00a.mto 7:00p.m(CST) Monday through Friday Ms [redacted] 's AUM account currently shows a balance of $due on March 31, A zero balance would show after a complete payment is made and before the next cycle is billedAn example of this is with the statement mailed on February 10, and due on March 3, She made full payment on February 11, 2015, so a zero balance would show until the next charges are generatedIn this case was March 10, Since full payment was received by the due date, no late fees were assessed In regards to the online convenience fee, it is for each approved credit card transactionThis fee is disclosed several times on the website and each user must check acknowledging that there is a fee and agrees to pay itAUM would like to thank Ms [redacted] for her suggestionHowever, AUM's current policies are not changing at this timeWe will continue to provide our services in the same manner in regards to online convenience fees All late fees and online convenience fees were properly assessed in this particular caseHowever AUM waived a late fee as a one-time courtesyWe hope the information stated above will assist Ms [redacted] with alternative ways of receiving her statements and making future payments Sincerely, [redacted] Corporate Paralegal

This company is the worstI used to have direct debit from my bank account to pay the bill, but they just debited my bank account day after I get the statementWow! Then I switched to a check paymentLast month, I sent the check business days before the due dateWhile my bank confirmed the delivery date was business days prior to due date, they applied the payment business days after the due dateSo they charged $late feesFunny! I sent an email and dispute the late fees showing all the proof and they credited the $Today, it happened againMy due date is 11/I sent the check on 10/and delivery confirmation was on 11/I called them and they said they have not received the checkShould I blame the [redacted] LOLAUM should have filed bankruptcy if they are so desperate on getting extra $LOL!!!

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2014/09/22) */ September 22, American Utility Management (AUM) received the complaint submitted by [redacted] ***We would like to take this opportunity to respond and provide details to help in your investigation AUM is a third party billing providerWe are contracted with owners, landlords, and management companies throughout the United States to assist them with utility conservationPart of this assistance includes billing their residents for utilities On September 5, 2014, AUM received notification from the property to begin the move out process for this residentAll charges were transferred to the property and her AUM account was closedWhen the property processed her move out, they collected the final charges or give any credits if warranted Unfortunately, AUM is unable to grant Ms***'s request for a refund Sincerely, [redacted] Corporate Paralegal Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 7, 2014/09/29) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) The response above says that they have my money and they cannot write me a check for the unjust late charges because the account is closedThis is not trueAny HR department has access to write checks with approval from authorityThey can absolutely cut me a check for these late charges from the bills I never receivedI am not asking for refund from the service provided, just the late charges due to the business' bill issuing mistake because I never received a bill during my entire time as a residentI want them to own up to their mistake and be an ethical company Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 9, 2014/10/10) */ October 10, American Utility Management (AUM) received the additional information submitted by [redacted] ***We would like to take this opportunity to respond and provide details to help in your investigation AUM is simply the billing provider and remits resident payments to the propertyAlso, as previously stated all final charges are handled at the property during the move out process Unfortunately, AUM is unable to grant Ms***'s request for a refund Sincerely, [redacted] Corporate Paralegal

I am very dissatisfied with this companyHere are my reasons - No explanation of any sorts of increase in utility ratesThe rates tend to jump randomly without any explanation - Late fees are outrageous - who charges a $late fee on a bill that is almost a 10% late fee - Company practices are not at all customer friendly..their policy is to first charge the customer for anything and then put the onus on the customer to call back and justify why they should not be chargedIt is very tough to discuss reasonably with their customer care - Expect any sort of random charge to appear on your bill - AUM Admin fee - what on earth is this fee for and why should it be charged to customers? This company needs to change its practices to be more transparent and customer friendlyThey seem to be taking advantage of the fact that the users do not really have an option to switch to another company and thus dont care about their customersRevdex.com should follow up with this company

AUM in Oak Brook, IL is a company facilitating fraud by overcharging residents for utilities and helping the property management companies cut their cost on operating the multi-dwelling apartment complexesThey will not provide reasoning for the constant rate hikes and refuse to provide the info on how the charges are calculatedIf questioned the reply that there was a "usage increase" without even specifying what forIn case of my community they said there was "usage increase" when bunch of people moved out and watering of lawns was decreased due to the seasonHow could there be an increase? Further more, non-potable water, used for landscaping should not be even commingled with potable water used by residents, but it isThey allocated only 5% for the property use when another property serviced by other company allocated 20%Splitting the cost based on number of residents and square footage they occupy is ridiculous, residents do not use water to water their apartments and usage of people will remain the same whether they are in a bedroom or bedroom apartmentCity of San Jose, CA where my community is located set sewer rate at $per unit, they make us pay morePlease stop this con game from continuing!

$Late Fee Unable to change ABP date Charged a fee to make a payment if not on ABP Anti consumer

Live in a complex with hundreds of tenants Most everyone's bills are wrong every month This business needs to be shut down

This company is the worst of the worstThere is absolutely no way that their charges are accurate for the utilities used each monthI'm fairly certain they make up bills at random and nobody can stop them from doing itThey need to be investigated and prosecuted for scamming their customers

It amazes me that AUM has an A+ rating considering 33% of that score is based on customer reviews of which 96% are negative To throw my hat in the ring it is unconscionable that this company is able to get away with the high fees they charge For those of us that live in an apartment where the property management company uses AUM to collect utilities such as water, sewage and waste we have no choice but to use this company to pay these bills AUM charges a "convenience" fee of $(about 10% of my average monthly bill) to pay your bill online, but nothing if you mail them a check Who is that convenient for? Arguably the cost of an online transaction is a lot less than hiring someone to open an envelope, process a check and manually entering a payment In this day and age of digital payments it is unconscionable for an organization to charge such a fee Additionally if you happen to pay late you will be charged a $late fee (about 25% of my average monthly bill) These fees are excessive and are tantamount to price gouging considering we as consumers have no choice but to use their services The Revdex.com should reduce the rating of this company and work with them to produce a fee structure that is fair and honest

I have been renting from apt complexes that use AUM for water/sewage for almost years nowTheir customer service is impossible to get through and their prices are outrageousWe were only in our apt for days of the whole month and our water/sewage was more expensive than if we had been using their utilities for the whole monthThey have hiked up our bill for unexplained reasonsOur "sewage and water" fee has been randomly changed and upped with no direct corralation to how often we actually use the utilitiesIn fact, the LESS we use our water and sewage the HIGHER our billThey mail you your statement and then charge over SEVEN dollars to make a payment onlineWe can pay all of our other utilities online for freeIn fact, we can pay all our bills for anything online for free except from this companythey PENALIZE you for paying your bill onlineYou have to either write out a check and snail mail it (and pray it doesn't get lost or you owe them another TEN dollars for late fees), of write a check to the management of the apt complex to avoid paying the extra dollarsThe dollar processing fee is almost 20% of our actual utility billThis company is scamming the customers and getting away with itDo NOT rent from an apt complex if you can help it if they use AUMThis company needs to be reported for scamming people

November 11, 2015American Utility Management (AUM) received the complaint submitted by [redacted] We would like to take this opportunity to respond and provide details to help in your investigationAUM is a third party billing provider We are contracted with owners, landlords, and management companies throughout the United States to assist them with utility conservation Part of this assistance includes billing their residents for utilities The notice on the statements indicating water and sewer charges will begin on the January statement is just that a notification The charges for water and sewer on the January statement will be based off the December bill period and not for the past few months AUM apologizes for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused.Sincerely, [redacted] Paralegal

Stay away fro any apartment complex that uses AUM billing They are a scam! I just got my second bill from AUM My first bill was questionable This second bill does it for me The total of my bill is $ Forced to pay for cable tv at $ Online convenience fee of $ Pest Control at $ Water/sewer at $ Trash at $ Total of $minus the $credit already on my account I know for an absolute fact I do not use that much for water/sewer I was living in a sq ft house that uses the same water and my highest bill was $and that was using a bit of water I know I use less water at my current sq ft townhouse and my water has been $for two months straight I also went to pay the $online and I get hit with another $"online convenience fee!" To pay this bill I have to pay the "online convenience fee" twice for a total of $15! That is on top of the AUM admin charge of $4.59! An extra $extra for nothing on top of an inflated water usage!!!! My total to pay this bill is $104.09! / = 18.8% 18.8% of my bill is AUM added on "fees!" It would be much higher if my water bill wasn't so inflated!!! AUM IS A SCAM!!!

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2014/09/12) */ September 12, American Utility Management (AUM) received the complaint submitted by [redacted] ***We would like to take this opportunity to respond and provide details to help in your investigation AUM is a third party billing providerWe are contracted with owners, landlords, and management companies throughout the United States to assist them with utility conservationPart of this assistance includes billing their residents for utilities on a monthly basis In Mr***'s case AUM is contracted through his apartment complex and/or their management company to bill him on a monthly basis for utilities such as water and sewerAs stated in previous correspondence sent to Mr***, while AUM is not privy to Mr***'s individual lease agreement, AUM recommends that he review his signed lease agreement as it determines his payment arraignment and consent for AUM to bill him Regarding late fees, when our invoices are mailed residents have twenty-one (21) days in which to make full payment before a late fee is appliedThis information is clearly stated on each resident statementThis fee is only applied if a balance remains on the account after the indicated due dateThis may occur if the payment is not received and processed by the due date, or if the payment was a partial payment An available option is to manage the account onlineEvery statement lists our web address and that the account can be managed onlineThe online service allows access to account information, bill payment and to set up for e-statementsOne can view and print statements, but is only charged a convenience fee when payment is received online with an approved credit card transaction Another option available is to enroll in AUM's E-Statement ProgramIn order to enroll in this program, residents must visit the AUM website at www.aum-inc.com and click on the Resident TabAfter logging in and re-entering his/her email address, the e-statement option would have to be selectedOnce registering for the program he/she would receive an email with a link to confirm the registrationE-statements would begin once the resident has confirmed his or her registration AUM currently has three main bill payment options for our customer's conveniencePayments can be made online along with a convenience fee and the payment would post to the account on the day of the transactionIf she feels that the online convenience fee is too high, there is the option to set up automatic paymentsWith written consent, payments can be automatically debited from his checking accountThe auto debit requires residents to complete an application and can take up to two months to processAnother option is to mail payments to our lockbox via the United States Postal Service Resident payments are not mailed to AUM nor are they processed directly by AUMAUM contracts with a reputable lockbox service to collect and process all paymentsThe lockbox service typically processes payments within hours of receiptHowever, a delay in processing can occur if directions included on each statement are not followedEach statement notes to allow 5-business days when mailing payment, to not enclose written correspondence with payment, to return the payment coupon with payment and not to staple the payment coupon to the payment In this particular case all fees were properly assessed, therefore no credits are warranted Sincerely, [redacted] Corporate Paralegal Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 7, 2014/09/15) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Miss [redacted] is lying "Resident payments are not mailed to AUM nor are they processed directly by AUM." - [redacted] As you will see in the attached photograph, the threatening letter from my apartment complex that triggered AUM's concession to finally address my endless contact attempts with them to verify their identity, the billing address is AUM's address I've found that the exact complaints that I've made to you (the Revdex.com) about AUM are not an anomalySearching google has not only turned up countless complaints that match mine, but there are websites dedicated to the eradication of this scam company AUM verified that they were a scam company when they began mailing bills to me for a service which I never signed up for, nor agreed to pay forI had never even heard of this phantom company until receiving their unsolicited bills for a service that I never contacted them about, requested, or agreed toIt took them until June 30th of (following countless repeated contact attempts on my part via email and phone, none of which were acknowledged or returned) to admit who they were, or even respond to meThis company has no business doing business the way they do, no business charging a 147% late fee ($late fee on $17), no business charging late fees on a bill for a service that was never requested, no business billing someone for a service not requested or agreed to, and certainly no business behaving like a shell scam company, as they have been doing They will drop all of these fees immediately, or be brought to court for full legal remedies Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 9, 2014/09/26) */ September 26, American Utility Management (AUM) received the further additional information submitted by [redacted] *** AUM is unable to grant his requestWe recommend as with all prior correspondence to review his signed lease agreement Sincerely, [redacted] Corporate Paralegal Final Consumer Response / [redacted] (4200, 11, 2014/09/29) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) They've just been proven to be lying, and their only response is "We won't approve his request"I'll give them until October 7th, one week from tomorrow, to make the adjustmentsIf they don't, I'll be talking to my attorney about whether to join an existing class action lawsuit against them, or to file our ownTheir choiceIf they choose not to admit their misdeeds and removing the bogus charges, I will be suing them via one of the two lawsuits mentioned above

I moved into Waterford Cove Apartments, Sacramento, CA on March AUM charged me for the monthly admin charge for processing the Sewer/Trash/Water bill The following year when I renewed my lease AUM increased the monthly admin charge to 3.50, which is a huge increase I called customer service for them to justify the increase, and they could not break down the cost They said it was the ADMIN CHARGE

They charge $7.50 to pay my bill online and call it a convenience fee. That is RIDICULOUS! I didn't receive my first bill until a few days before it was due. I didn't have enough time to mail it in (which still costs money for postage and the hassle to run to the post office and wait in line) and the only way to pay by avoiding the late fee is to pay online, costing more than what the late fee would cost (I know because the late fee is $7.00). That makes no sense to me. I tried to enroll in auto pay but it takes 3 or more weeks for this to be set up! When I did set this up, there was an error and I wasn't notified, causing my next payment to be late since I was expecting the payment to come out of my bank account on its own. Needless to say I am beyond frustrated with this "service" company. Overpriced and customer service is terrible and unwilling to help. Terrible company that nickle and dimes people. They make their money by unfairly charging fees.

Last month, I paid my bill online, and somehow got registered for direct payment from my checking account After the payment was authorized on 6/10, I received a letter notifying me that I was registered for direct payments (something I never do)on 6/ I called the company and asked if the payment was authorized I was told by the representative there (she was extremely rude, as are with all their representatives) that if I cancelled the direct payment online, the money WOULD NOT be withdrawn from the account on 6/ Despite all the precautions I took, the money was withdrawn from my account on 6/(unlike I was told), and I had to pay my bank an overdraft fee for AUM's misleading information and their mistake When I called customer service (yet, they are completely incompetent and give answers that do not answer your question or solve your problem at all), they told me three different times that the manager was on the phone Once they hung up on me

American Utility Management (AUM) received the complaint and we would like to take this opportunity to respond and provide details to help resolve this matter class="apple-converted-space">We have revised the account and determined that according to our records, the Los Angeles Deptof Water and Power account was not transferred into the residents name until 2/17/ For all prior periods the property was charged for the utility while the tenant was residing in the apartment These charges are what are shown on the resident statementsWhen an LADWP invoice is charged to the property for a period which it should have been in the residents name, the charges are added on the next AUM statement as “Electric Recovery” This occurred on of the residents AUM statements Each one included instructions to establish the utility in the resident’s name As these charges are not generated by AUM, we are unable to explain why they might have been higher In previous calls to our customer service agents we attempted to explain these charges If Ms [redacted] had LADWP service in her name covering the dates during her tenancy prior to when service was placed in her name (5/17/through 2/17/16), she may forward a copy of the actual utility bill(s) for AUM to reviewIf the Revdex.com process allows, they may be attached to this complaint Her account will be reviewed and updated based on information receivedIt takes approximately 2-business days for the account to be updated from the date the information is received We hope the information listed above will assist with future payments

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/03/26) */ March 26, American Utility Management (AUM) received the complaint submitted by [redacted] We would like to take this opportunity to respond and provide details to help in your investigation AUM is a third party billing providerWe are contracted with owners, landlords, and management companies throughout the United States to assist them with utility conservationPart of this assistance includes billing their residents for utilities on a monthly basis When our invoices are mailed, residents typically have twenty-one (21) days in which to make full payment before a late fee is appliedThis information is clearly stated on each resident statementThis fee is only applied if a balance remains on the account after the indicated due dateThis may occur if the payment is not received and processed by the due date, or if the payment was a partial payment An available option is to manage the account onlineEvery statement lists our web address and that the account can be managed onlineThe online service allows access to account information, bill payment and to set up for e-statementsOne can view and print statements, but is only charged a convenience fee when payment is received online with an approved credit card transaction Another option available is to enroll in AUM's E-Statement ProgramIn order to enroll in this program, residents must visit the AUM website at www.aum-inc.com and click on the Resident TabAfter logging in and re-entering his/her email address, the e-statement option would have to be selectedOnce registering for the program he/she would receive an email with a link to confirm the registrationE-statements would begin once the resident has confirmed his or her registration AUM currently has three main bill payment options for our customer's conveniencePayments can be made online along with a convenience fee and the payment would post to the account on the day of the transactionIf he feels that the online convenience fee is too high, there is the option to set up automatic paymentsWith written consent, payments can be automatically debited from his checking accountThe auto debit requires residents to complete an application and can take up to two months to processAnother option is to mail payments to our lockbox via the United States Postal Service Mr [redacted] always has the option of contacting AUM's Customer Service for his balance, due date and remittance addressThey can be reached by calling XXX-XXX-XXXX, 8:00a.mto 7:00p.m(CST) Monday through Friday Resident payments are not mailed to AUM nor are they processed directly by AUMAUM contracts with a reputable lockbox service to collect and process all paymentsThe lockbox service typically processes payments within hours of receiptHowever, a delay in processing can occur if directions included on each statement are not followedEach statement notes to allow 5-business days when mailing payment, to not enclose written correspondence with payment, to return the payment coupon with payment and not to staple the payment coupon to the payment Occasionally mail may take longer than to reach its destination when traveling by the U.SPostal ServiceWe have no control over this third party; however we do offer other options in order to receive statements and or make payments in a more timely and efficient mannerThose options as noted above include e-statements, direct debit or contacting our Customer Service Department In this particular case, AUM waived the late fee as a one-time courtesyWe noticed that Mr [redacted] has been receiving his statements via our e-statement program and hope that the other information will assist Mr [redacted] when making future payments as well Sincerely, [redacted] Corporate Paralegal

AUM is nickel and dime all their customers, and the landlords and taking their cut in this some of the tenants at the [redacted] apartments run their water 24/and the rest of the residents have to pay the billSince AUM my water bill has double if not tripled and the landlords have been told about the water waste and do not do anything about correcting the matter, why their cut in the AUM will be less Where does one go to when it comes to conserving the natural resources when landlords as [redacted] and [redacted] apartments do not care