Middlesex Water Company

On November 2, 2016 my house was shaking from the subcontractor that Middlesex Water hired to put in new water lines on the main road down below. It felt like an earthquake. They cracked my foundation. Twice they were supposed to send someone to look at my house & both times stood me up. My house is damaged & they are not taking responsibility for the damage they caused. Phone lines were cut in the whole neighborhood by another accident & they hit a gas line down the way causing a gas leak & evacuations. My foundation has several cracks & fractures now & I am absolutely in shock they got away with damaging my investment!

Review: Our account number with this company is [redacted].

When we purchased our home the sellers instructed us that besides for transferring the electric all other utility companies would be notified by them. From what I understand the water company uses the 911 address and not the mailing address for billing. Our first year we were not contacted or ever received notice from them. Our water was turned off and I was told we were on the "we do not know who you are list". Immediately upon realizing there was a problem I contacted them. The entire bill was paid and the required deposit.

June 2013 I requested release of the deposit and was initially told the deposit can not be released until account is up to date. I immediately paid our current bill. When I called them again they then told me that the deposit would never be refunded in "cash" only credited to account and that this was not going to happen because we had a turnoff (May 2012) and that we had been late on payments.

June 2014 - today I called and requested release of our deposit and was told no that is not going to happen. They now say that if you are late on any payments that the two year hold on your deposit starts a new two year cycle. I feel this is unfair to their customers and I know I was not told this when paying the initial deposit or when I spoke with them in 2013.

I only want our deposit credited to our account, but feel the situation should be looked into to see how long they keep deposits or how much they never give back. Unfortunately, their customers do not have the option of choosing another water company.

The dates on the next screen are approximate for 6/2013.Desired Settlement: Credit of our deposit to our account.

Business

Response:

We are in receipt of your inquiry from Mrs. [redacted] A [redacted] concerning her deposit for the account referenced above. 'The company offers the following information for your review.

The customer‘s primary concern is the refund of her deposit in the amount of $250.00 Mrs. [redacted] did contact our office when her water was turnoff for non-payment on March 29‘ 2012.

On March 29, 2012 Mrs. [redacted] made payment of $393.84 to water restored. The turnoff and turn on fees were all waived due to Mrs. [redacted] stating she never received any bills.

On October 17, 2013 Mrs. [redacted] contacted our office requiring about her deposit being returned to her. At this time Mrs. [redacted] had an account balance of $504.50. The customer was offered a payment arrangement but she chose to pay the balance in full.

It was explained to Mrs. [redacted] that the deposit is returned within the two years if the account is in good standing for eight consecutive quarters. Payments must be made on—time within the thirty day graco period of the bill date. The account cannot have any late penalty fees.

Mrs. [redacted] has received a credit to her account for the interest on hcr deposit totaling $15.00. As stated above Mrs. [redacted]’s deposit will be returned (credited) to her account when bills are paid on a timely fashion for eight consecutive quarters or when the account is finaled out, whichever comes first.

Review: The Middlesex water company send me a third quarter bill for $425.00 dollars this is more money then I have ever payed before. It is more then I pay on a yearly basis. When I contacted customer service to resolve the issue the agent told me their is nothing I can do but pay it. They completely ignored that this is an outrages bill, and asked me if I wanted a payment plan. I asked to speak to a supervisor at the company. This took three days and I had to call the supervisor myself. The company sent out someone to see if I had a leak the person who came out stated that all seams fine except that my meter is very old and needs to be replaced. I stated there has to be a reading error because my water consumption went from 7000 the previous quarter to 77,000 this quarter. The supervisor stated that's not his problem the water passed through the meter and you have to pay for it. Then he said do you want a payment plan I stated no I am not paying something 400% more then I pay on average. He said to bad someone has to pay. When I stated I was going to file a formal complaint he stated do you want the address and gave me my bill due date. He stated I will be responsible regardless.Desired Settlement: Middlesex water needs to adjust the bill my average bill per quarter is $88 dollars not $400 dollars this is a robbery and they don't care that this is clearly and error they won't even look into it. Just offer a payment plan.

Business

Response:

It is the policy of the Company to not share confidential account information with any third party. If the customer wishes to have a third party representing them in dealing with the Company, the customer needs to specifically write to the Co. instructing the Co. that they have provided authorization. In the handling of any customer inquiries, it is always the Company’s policy to only deal directly with the customer. If a customer remains not satisfied with an inquiry/ response provided by the Company, the proper venue for utility service complaints and inquiries is the NJ Board of Public Utilities.

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:This shows the answer of the monopoly utility companies have. It is outrages that they feel they can do what they please because their is no completion to turn to. It's a sad day for the free market economy when you have businesses like this having no respect for clients because they know their is no where to turn.

Regards,

Review: I made a payment for 82.12 in June 2014 on line with my debit card. I must have miss the decimals. instead it came out 8,212. I called the office and they told me they would not reimbursement me for the 20 they charged me for return check. I ask them " what return check". it was a simple mistake with a decimal. I have been with this company for 5 year plus, and they do not have the decency to acknowledge that it was a simple mistake. First, they should not accept the payment, and wrote a letter for me to do another; such dishonest in a company.Desired Settlement: to adjust my bill

Business

Response:

I spoke w/[redacted] and her complaint has been resolved. I have removed the $20 fee