Wednesday, August 27, 2008

No they weren't

A meter reader from the other company got caught estimating:
"They were essentially stealing from us," said customer Steve Kulawik. "To find out that the water we're being charged for may not be what we're actually using. There's no trust in that anymore."
No one was stealing from anyone. One person got caught fudging the numbers, and he was fired. The next guy will read all the meters, you get an accurate bill, and everything evens out. You had a bigger bill this time but you'll have a smaller bill next time, so get a grip, Steve.

The other company has bigger problems than this, believe me, but they took immediate and corrective action, so get your knickers out of that knot.

"It must have been a hot day or something..." You have no idea, Mike.

P.S. I don't work for this company. And my language is intentionally vague so this post will be difficult to g00gl3.

3 comments:

  1. A while back we got a water bill that was three times normal. Usually about $45 a month, we got a bill for almost $150.

    I didn't find any leaks inside the house and found no wet spots or sinkholes in the yard.

    I decided to wait for one more bill before paying someone to thoroughly check for a leak between the street and the house.

    I'm glad I waited. The next bill was $0. As was the next.

    Apparently, my truck had been parked over the meter the day the guy came to read it that one month. The water company "estimated" the bill.

    Completely understandable...but I would expect the estimate to be something like an average of our monthly bills. I have no idea why they "estimated" so high and I never did get an explanation.

    Also, the bill that was so high did not indicate in any way shape or form that the amount was an estimate.

    I'm sure glad I didn't pay someone to come out and tell me that I had no leak. I'd have been pissed.

    Anyway...not really related to your story, but it jogged the memory.

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  2. It happened with my electricity one time. In March my bill was $120and in April it was near $400.

    I paid it until I could figure out what was up, a different guy came out in May and my meter was actually lower than what the guy had fudged from before. After talking to my neighbors it seems he got tired of climbing fences and did the whole block that way.

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  3. Sailorcurt: I don't know how it works with electricity, but with the water meters (around here), if the computer estimates it, it estimates high. But it shouldn't estimate that high. Three times normal makes me think something went wrong somewhere, other than just your truck being on top of the meter.

    Hammer: I used to read the electric company too. The meter reader who fudged your reading was an idiot. The handhelds they use show the previous month's usage. It would be really easy to enter identical or near identical usage and get pretty much the exact same bill amount.

    The water company's handheld don't show previous months' water usage. They only show the previous month's reading. So it would be much more difficult to estimate those, if one were prone to do that. I never have.

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