City of Shasta Lake Municipal Utility

Date Event 3/19/Original bill was mailed to the customer4/11/A reminder notice was mailed4/26/A late charge was assessed to the customer for failure to pay, days from the original bill that was mailedA shut off notice, which states payment must be received otherwise utilities will be disconnected in days, was also mailed5/2/Auto attendant phone call was made5/4/A meter reader was sent to the customer’s address to perform the shut off for nonpaymentThe meter reader was given a paper check for payment by the customer to avoid shut off and a $field collection charge was assessed5/18/Check was rejected by bank for non-sufficient funds on May 13thA $NSF fee was charged to the customer account on May 18th5/18/A door tag was placed on the front door of the customer’s residence stating shut off would occur on May 23rd if no payment was received prior to that date5/19/Customer came into our office and made a cash payment to avoid shut offWe are sincerely regretful that the customer incurred fees and chargesThe City has many convenient options available to avoid these fees and charges in the futureThe customer can pay online with a debit or credit card, set up an automatic ACH debit, or pay over the phoneIf the customer decides to continue mailing checks, we recommend allowing additional time (days) when using bill payments with their bank

Customer Service is rude and condescending. Refuses to wait one day for payment. Claims a 15 day notice was sent even though we never received one. Claims a payment arrangement was made even though we never set one up.

Utility company refuses to wait one day for payment. Claims a 15 day notice was mailed but was not received. Claims that a payment arrangement was made but that's not true. I can provide a letter from my doctor of life threatening illness and they say that will only give me one day, which is fine since that's all I need before my wife gets paid. Customer Service is rude and condescending.

Date Event 3/19/16 Original bill was mailed to the customer. 4/11/16 A reminder notice was mailed. 4/26/16 A late charge was assessed to the customer for failure to pay, 38 days from the original bill that was...

mailed. A shut off notice, which states payment must be received otherwise utilities will be disconnected in 7 days, was also mailed. 5/2/16 Auto attendant phone call was made. 5/4/16 A meter reader was sent to the customer’s address to perform the shut off for nonpayment. The meter reader was given a paper check for payment by the customer to avoid shut off and a $15 field collection charge was assessed. 5/18/16 Check was rejected by bank for non-sufficient funds on May 13th. A $15 NSF fee was charged to the customer account on May 18th. 5/18/16 A door tag was placed on the front door of the customer’s residence stating shut off would occur on May 23rd if no payment was received prior to that date. 5/19/16 Customer came into our office and made a cash payment to avoid shut off. We are sincerely regretful that the customer incurred fees and charges. The City has many convenient options available to avoid these fees and charges in the future. The customer can pay online with a debit or credit card, set up an automatic ACH debit, or pay over the phone. If the customer decides to continue mailing checks, we recommend allowing additional time (5 days) when using bill payments with their bank.

Review: On May 4, 2016 a representative of this company came to my door requesting payment. I informed the rep that payment had been made via my bill pay service through my bank. I opened my bank account information on my laptop and showed my rep that the payment was processed and mailed. The rep swore that no payment had been received. I requested that he return after mail service delivered. He returned two hours later demanding payment stating they had not received my payment. I did not wish to write a physical check at that time due to the fact that I have previously had similar circumstances where my bill pay and my physical check were withdrawn. The rep stated that if the bill pay came through, my physical check would not be cashed.

Today May 18 2016 at 3:40pm the same rep came back to my door and handed me a shut off notice stating that my physical check had been returned. After walking back into my house, I brought my bank information up online. My banking statements showed that my payment had cleared the bank on May 3 2016. I immediately called the business and was told that they had not received payment from me and that the bank had returned my physical check to them.

I immediately drove to my banking facility to speak with customer service. They brought up my payment that posted on May 3rd. It clearly shows that the payment was received by Shasta Lake Utility. I then requested confirmation of how many times they attempted to process the physical check in addition to the already processed payment. This check was processed on may 9th, 12th, and also via ACH on the 17th resulting in $78 of Overdraft fees.

When I returned to Shasta Lake Utility, their office had closed at 4pm. The shut off notice that I received on May 18 includes an additional $15 fee. This comes to a total of $93.

This is the second time that this has occurred with this business. The part that I feel is discriminatory is the fact payment was received on May 3rd and additional payment was demanded the following day.Desired Settlement: I would like a refund of all incurred overdraft fees and the shutoff notice charge. For a total of $93.00. I will accept this being credited to my utility account.

Also I would strongly suggest proper book keeping techniques be provided to all staff to prevent this from happening in the future.

Business

Response:

Date Event 3/19/16 Original bill was mailed to the customer. 4/11/16 A reminder notice was mailed. 4/26/16 A late charge was assessed to the customer for failure to pay, 38 days from the original bill that was mailed. A shut off notice, which states payment must be received otherwise utilities will be disconnected in 7 days, was also mailed. 5/2/16 Auto attendant phone call was made. 5/4/16 A meter reader was sent to the customer’s address to perform the shut off for nonpayment. The meter reader was given a paper check for payment by the customer to avoid shut off and a $15 field collection charge was assessed. 5/18/16 Check was rejected by bank for non-sufficient funds on May 13th. A $15 NSF fee was charged to the customer account on May 18th. 5/18/16 A door tag was placed on the front door of the customer’s residence stating shut off would occur on May 23rd if no payment was received prior to that date. 5/19/16 Customer came into our office and made a cash payment to avoid shut off. We are sincerely regretful that the customer incurred fees and charges. The City has many convenient options available to avoid these fees and charges in the future. The customer can pay online with a debit or credit card, set up an automatic ACH debit, or pay over the phone. If the customer decides to continue mailing checks, we recommend allowing additional time (5 days) when using bill payments with their bank.