Water Utility Management Company, LLC

Company's response below:Reply to Compliant [redacted] The water serving the resident is the [redacted] water system, in [redacted] ** This water system serves single family homes, as well as the complex where the customer lived In response to the customer’s complaint, we have been flushing the water system to ensure that the pipes are clean Plumbing internal to homes is also often a cause of discolored water, etcwhich is why we ask customers to flush their pipes through a bathtub, etcIn multifamily homes, this is even more necessary, as plumbing throughout the building is not always under direct control of the individual residentsAs to flushing credits, customers receive water at a rate of $per thousand gallons, once they have exhausted their base allowance of 8,gallons a month It is unlikely the customer flushed 1,gallons through their home, as several tens of gallons is more than adequate to draw water from the water main to the home A review of the customers’ billAs to notification, the customer is absolutely correct –we have a policy of notification for planned outages We conduct an automated telephone notification days prior to any scheduled service interruption, including planned maintenance In the event of an unplanned service interruption (emergency repairs, etc.)We update a [redacted] feed that is displayed on our website, giving live updates on our progress and forecasts for completion I apologize that service was interrupted so often to the customer, and I will investigate this further to ensure that such interruptions were unavoidable, and were not poor planning or operation on our part We will likewise adhere to our policy going forward, to ensure that customers are notified It is our goal to provide safe, reliable service, and to ensure our customers have a good experience with our company I invite the customer to call us if there are any more issues, and if they have any questions We are more than happy to help [redacted] [redacted] Water Utility Management [redacted] **

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me personally I do however have ethical issues with a company choosing to retain deposit money It doesn't make sense to me that a company can just choose to keep money that is not reimbursement for services provided with the explanation that it is more costly to issue a refund check for less than $10, especially when this policy isn't posted or made apparent ahead of time Water Utility Management,Forwarding address is as follows: [redacted] *** Regards, [redacted] ***

Complaint: I am rejecting this response because:I received a response letter to my complaint about this companyVery little of what they said was trueI had to call/email several times to get consistent instruction on setting up an accountHad I not stayed behind them, I still wouldn't have an accountThe first bill was over $300, and when I called they told me I could make payments, as long as it was paid in full by the due date (which was days away), this is not a payment plan! The second bill was only paid because I happened to log into their website and see a balance - I never got a bill, and still paid a $late feeThe third bill never came eitherThe first bills were so sporadic, I assumed the third bill would be for several months, like the first oneI didn't know there was a balance due until my water was shut offThis company stated they shut it off before p.m., however, I left my house at 4:(after brushing my teeth and my [redacted] teeth) and the water still workedIt wasn't until my mud-covered [redacted] got home from work at 5, ready for a shower, to find NO water! I still didn't know we had a bill due and I couldn't call to find out because the office closed at 5, they didn't even leave a notice on my door or ANYTHING telling me my water was off (some appliances need water to run and running them dry will burn the pump up)The next day I called to find out what was going onAfter a long conversation, the lady on the phone discovered my box number wasn't included on my address, and that's what caused all this confusionSo I immediately went to the office to talk to someone in personThe lady behind the counter kept telling me my address was correct and it was my fault for not knowing they sent a billAfter about minutes of arguing I mentioned that my address may have been updated just before I got to their officeand the lady sitting next to us the WHOLE time FINALLY admitted to updating my address just before I walked inI asked why no one called me to verify my information since it was a new account, and every bill had a late feeThe lady told me they didn't have time to call their customersSo what was the $application fee used for? I did all the work setting up the accountand there's no way I would have left my address incomplete (I've used that same billing address for over years)Also, if they could send someone across town to turn my water off and charge me $75, why not just call first? I called several times the following week to make sure they didn't make any more mistakesThen, I got a call from this company letting me know they were changing the format of the bill because "the [redacted] kept losing them because they looked like post cards"She verified my billing address at this timeToo bad they didn't do this sooner, I would have saved a lot of time and frustrationLastly, after I filed the complaint with Revdex.com, I got an email stating they would waive the $fee, to assure a good customer relationshipHowever, I waited several weeks, the credit was never appliedI had to call and tell this story yet again, and FINALLY got the creditLastly, there were no late fees for June like their response letter stated (in fact the bill isn't even due until 6/and I paid the bill on 6/13)The fees they waived were for MarchI understand mistakes are made, but this company should have waived these fees the moment they realized I was telling the truth about not getting a bill because of an incorrect address.This company is very disorganized, which is why I haven't set up automatic paymentsThey are very frustrating to deal with and that's why I never followed up about the leak at the meterTheir technician has looked in my meter box multiple times, and never once mentioned a leakI hired an irrigation company to install a new system, and as soon as he opened my meter box he told me I had a leak at the meterHe knew this because the box had standing water - which I thought was because it had been like that since we moved inThe fact that the technician from the water company didn't notice over inches of water in the box, speaks volumes about how much they care about their customers and wasting waterI am tired of dealing with this company and their constant unprofessional anticsI feel that it is pointless to bother my irrigation guy for an invoice and a statement about fixing the leak, because this company will just try to get out of paying for that too.Water is a necessity, and this company is my only choiceIf they are going to monopolize a necessity, they should hire professional people who know how to spot a leak, how to enter an address, and how to handle their mistakes - rather than passing the burden to the consumerThey are incredibly more expensive than the City of [redacted] , and I'm very disappointed in the City for selling their water contracts to this greedy unreliable company Regards, [redacted] ***

I can't help feeling that some of this response is hyperbole Water meters are typically covered in dirt, as it keeps them from freezing With the facts I have been given, I feel we have done our part correctly I am interested in making this customer happy and will be glad to discuss it, however I would ask that the customer call the office and please ask to speak with*** I find that it is much easier to come to an understanding over the phone than trading emails I will return to our office on Wednesday of next week and would be glad to address it I appreciate your patience

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me What it be possible to receive a call with information in regards to when we will see a credit for the overage that we paid last week? I also look forward to reestablishing a positive relationship with this business Regards, [redacted]

Revdex.com: who should I ask to speak to when I call? Thanks, [redacted] *** I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me Regards, [redacted] ***

I have reviewed the account and everything seems to be in order The address in question is serviced for both water and sewer, which means that the bills are roughly $for months These rates for water and sewer service are in-line with those charged in much of coastal [redacted] I cannot speak for water rates in [redacted] It is typical to charge the $establishment fee when a new family establishes (or re-establishes) service at a location This fee pays for our staff (truck, insurance, fuel, etc.) going back to the address to unlock the service and to get an initial meter reading for the account, and for the administrative work to establish or re-establish the account at any given address I am sorry for any inconvenience or any perception of unfairness- if there is anything I can do for the customer, please invite them to email me [redacted]

I apologize for the inconvenience We want to make it easy for real estate professionals, and for new customers to move in and out of homes We occasionally have trouble with various parties stetting up service and have become reliant on a lot of documentation to establish accounts In this case, we let the requirements overcome our desire to get service quickly and easily established so the customer could complete her inspection We had the water service reinstated prior to her deadline We are also crediting the account for a months' worth of water service, to so that the customer will not be paying for the time between March and April We are also crediting the account for all late fees and penalties We will endeavor to perform better in the future, and to make our process more customer-friendly

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me Regards, [redacted]

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to this complaint. Mr
*** moved into his home in *** lived there for over a year (August 2014) without paying a bill for water or for street lights. Admittedly, our meter readers or field staff should have
discovered that he occupied the house sooner. Upon discovering there was a resident living in the home (noticing water use on the meter, when we had the residence listed as 'vacant'), we left a door hanger at the home, asking the resident to contact us and establish an account. We did not shut the water off. Mr*** set up an account with us, and we waived the account sfee of $as a courtesy, since Mr*** was surprised that his home was on a community water system.We told Mr*** that he would be charged a base-rate fee for the months he had been in the home (based upon his home closing documents), and asked him to pay $up front when we set the account up. The total back-charges were $764.14, and this was presented to the customer along with his current bill of $88.00. The customer's $payment was applied to this amount, and the customer is left a balance of $652.14. We told the customer that he could make payments on this amount. The customer would not accept payment arrangments, and threatened to call his ***, etcand was adamant that he should not have to pay for his past water or street light service. My *** manager, out of an abundance of courtesy and consideration, offered to split the remaining balance with him, allowing the customer to pay only $326.00 The customer has likewise refused this offer, and has now lodged a complaint against us with the Revdex.com.I believe our company has treated the customer with fairness, and that we have attempted to negotiate a reduced payment for the customer in good faith. As this process has gone on, the customer has become more indignant and disagreeable. I understand the customer's frustration when presented with a large and unexpected bill, but we have offered the customer a means of paying the amount over time. Conversely, if we had assumed the customer had knowingly lived in the home, knowing he was not maintaining his own well, and knowing that he was not receiving a bill for water and street lights, even though his neighbors were, we could have assumed the customer intended on stealing services until found out. We would then have asked for all of the payments before further service was provided to the home.A review of the *** listing for this home, lists the water source as "Septic Tank". This is an obvious mistake. But given that mistake, and that the customer states he didn't understand the home was served by a community water system, we remain willing to make a reasonable accommodation to the customer and continue providing water and street light service to his home. We believe the offer of splitting the back usage is a fair one, and will even split the total of the original $764.14. In other words, we are willing to reduce his balance by a total of $383.07, leaving him with a remaining balance of only $270.07. As a condition of this, we would also ask that the customer remove this complaint, or otherwise report positively to the Revdex.comI hope this offer is seen as fair and accommodating and I look forward to working this out with the customer.Sincerely, *** ***

I am sorry that you have had a bad experience with the latest billing. I will try to explain our billing schedule and policies, as we try to be as fair as possible. We bill every other month, and a different segment of our customers are being billed each week. We spread the bills
around through an week cycle, because it is impossible for us to read all the meters at the same time. The billing dates also change from month to month, because the work weeks change, and we need staff to complete the meter reading and to process the bills. At the conclusion of a two month billing cycle, we read the meter and calculate a bill. The bill goes out with a DUE DATE that is days after the date we process the bills and send them to be mailed. The DUE DATE is listed on the bill. If a customer has not paid by the due date, (and we process all the mail payments, etcthat are in on the Due Date) the software applies the Late Fee of $15. At this point, we will have provided days of water service (+20). At the same time, we generate a letter to all Past Due accounts stating that the account is late, and that our next step to enforce payment will be to shut off water -but we specify another days until we suspend the account. By the time we suspend an account, we have provided over days of service without receiving payment.We think these polices are fair, but we are glad to receive suggestions for how we may improve this process, and we are always looking for ways to encourage on-time payments. Please call our office and ask for the *** *** ***, who will be able to help you with your account. If there are extenuating circumstances, or if you have not been late in the past, I am sure we can find a way to credit this late charge.Thank you for writing in, and I encourage you to call us in the future. Sincerely,
*** ***

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
*** ***

Dear Ms***, Thank you very much for your feedback regarding your water billing. Our management team will research this to determine why your bills were not being sent on-time. We are currently reviewing the billing software systems and investing in improvements to
assist with automation to ensure bills remain timely, and we are exploring improvements that will allow for better communication with customers. We will help our staff manage the billing process better by investing in the tools, and by analyzing the process itself, and ensure our staff is meeting standards. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, and please contact me if you have any further difficulties with your account.Sincerely, *** ***Water Utility Management

We certainly understand sensitivity to water rates. Most recently, we have sent a letter to customers explaining that we are reducing the base allowance from 20,gallons to 18,gallons for two months. This reduction in allowance will only affect those customers that use more water
than the average -most customers will not be affected. In response to this particular customer; we cannot set rates individually by home. The customer seems also to have a new account and has not yet received a bill from usAt this time, the customer has no meter and is charged a flat rate, so any consumption charges do not apply to him

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because: It still does not address our concerns. It's a shame also that it took a complaint to the Revdex.com to even get our account looked atWe do not have an irrigation system, a leak in our toilets (we checked all of them after the higher bill in July), or any other high water usage items The issue at hand is that we turned the valve on the road off and back on , and the meter "magically" stopped running at record speed. Our current reading as of this evening is 1189550, which based on the reading on 9/of 1184970, is consistent with our usage of about gallons a day. The usage from 7/to 9/had us using an average of a dayI have pulled bills for the past months of usage and they had us at a high of 15k gallonsWe have never had this issue in the past years of living at our residenceIf our usage returns to when we receive our next bill in November, it will confirm that there was an issue and at that time we expect to receive a credit of the difference between the amount of 80$ and this bill of 200$. I am keeping the journal of usage as requested and would like to know where it can be emailed to. Our usage supports our claim that we had an issue with the meter that has been fixed
Regards,
*** ***

This customer moved into the home on April 29, The customer submitted an application for service on June 30, 2016, and we created an account on July 1, using the address and customer information provided on her application We did not send an August bill, because of an outstanding
service order, which meant the customer's first bill was in October The October bill accounted for the customer's base charges for June to October, and the usage charges from April to October (we waived the base charges from April-June due to our delay in billing) The customer called our office on November 2nd, and had a discussion with our ***, wherein we agreed to a payment arrangement, explained our billing schedule (and our mistake), told the customer how to pay online and how to set up automatic payments via ACH to avoid the 3% credit card fee The mentioned that she might change her mailing address, but did not provide a new address during the call (recorded) The customer paid her bill, in-full, on November 10th The customer was late on her December bill, but paid before the account was suspendedThe Customer was late on her February bill We mailed the customer a letter, in accordance with our policy, to state that her account must be paid in days or would be suspended The customer did not reply or pay on the account, and her account was suspended in March We followed our procedures in suspending her account Her account was suspended at 3:PM on March 29th Following the March suspension, the customer paid in full and changed her mailing address The customer called several times (daily) over the next days to verify her mailing and email information In April, the customer called to state that she thought she had a leak, due to her high consumption We visited the address on April 13, and inspected the meter We called and informed the customer that she may have a leak, based upon the meter runningWe explained our leak policy, and stated that if she provided us with a receipt for repairing the leak, we would credit some of the usage The customer never applied for a leak credit, but did not pay her June bill After referring us to the Revdex.com, we waived all penalties on her June bill, in accordance with her request, and to improve our relationship with the customer The customer is currently paid-in-full, and has water service at the address Her next bill will come out in August We explained to the customer how to sign up for automatic payments, to avoid late payments in the future, but she is currently not signed up for automatic payments The customer currently receives both an e-bill and a paper bill We look forward to a fresh start with this customer, and we hope everything is currently satisfactory

There are obviously discrepancies between ourselves and the customer I believe here are some things I need to understand, and some items I would like to explain I invite the customer to give me a call so we can get things back on track

Company's response below:Water Utility Management provides a bill with a due date. When a customer misses the due date, we mail a letter via First Class Mail, explaining that they have more days to pay before we are forced to attempt to collection by interrupting service. Following
*** ***, we extended all due dates by over a week, to account for disruptions in mail service, evacuations, etc. We are currently unable to call every customer who had not yet paid their bill, but this is technology we are trying to develop. As an additional courtesy to the customer, my staff credited the account for the late fee After contacting the customer, the problem was resolved to her satisfaction. *** *** *** *** ***Water Utility Management

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because: How are you back billing us for something we never knew we were going to be charged with in the beginning The letters you sent to us never stated anything about Sewer charges and I can assure you ***s water bills never stated water and sewer As long as I have lived there years it has only been a water bill I am not happy with the back billing along with several other neighbors don't understand this Maybe the letters you send to your customers should have more detailed information on them We basically got a letter stating you all had bought out *** and we need to create an online account.
Regards,
*** ***

After speaking further with *** ***, an agreement was reached that I found to be acceptableDue to errors on both sides compromises had to be reachedYou have to give a little to get a littleAs far as the street light goes I own the light in front of my house and pay for it directly through my electric companyThere was no streetlight near my house that workedI agreed to pay the $and *** agreed the account would be considered paid in full and currentThanks ***I'm sorry that it had to come to a Revdex.com complaint for this to be taken care of properly