Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/06/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have service with the Public Water District No. 9 and I have been a customer for over 20 years. Recently, I started paying my bills online. The website has an option for you to choose paperless billing, and they automatically select for you before you leave the site. Even though I have told them I do not want paperless billing. I now have been disconnected twice and had to pay $75 reconnect fee, because of a missed payments and they stop sending me any type of communication until it's time to disconnect. Over 20 years and this has not happened to me and I think it's a scam to get extra money from patrons. I don't have choices when it comes to water service and they will not refund my disconnection fee, even though they know this is the reason why they are not getting paid. My monthly bills range from $25-30, and it has never been an issue to make those payments. I need water so of course, I pay my bills. I would like for someone to question them about their communication with patrons and the way they do business.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/12/2023

  The matter with Ms. ****'s service being disconnected was discussed with her by the office manager and the specific issue of her paperless billing vs a hard copy was also discussed. We are happy and appreciate that she is willing to use the online platform to make her payments. When on the payment portal before you can make a payment, there is a popup box that addresses the paperless option for billing and you can check the box to opt out of this and receive a paper bill. We will be happy to send her a paper bill if she chooses this option on her payment screen but she has to choose this option for us to do so. When on paperless billing she receives multiple notices prior to her service being disconnected. However, if she isn't reading the emails it won't matter how many notices she receives. If she will go to the site and choose the paper billing option she will start receiving paper notices for he regular bill notices and late notices. If she chooses to leave the notifications as they are she can always call the office for her current billing amount. Our billing due dates and disconnect dates have not changed since the District was established in 1965. Bills are due and payable on the 10th of the month for the proceeding months usage and subject to a late fee on the 16th of the month and subject to disconnection on the 1st day of the month following the date the service was provided.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/13/2023

  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  The problem is I have unclick paperless billing every time pay online and I should not have to do that. And when u dnt, u do not get a bill or any type of notice. If u review my pay history I have not had this many issues for over 20 years. Also, the last time this happened  my information did not get updated w current email so I wasn’t gettin any kind of notice the next time. I pay online so tht I dnt have to pay w check or money orders 
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  ******* ****

  Business Response

  Date: 09/18/2023

  I feel that I really don't have any response that you are going to like. You didn't update your email address on the website but we have taken care of that situation for you. The facts are that if you want to pay on line and you don't check the box you won't receive a paper notice. You can set up an auto debit so that you don't have to log on to you account and won't have to check the box to decline an ebill each month but aside from this I don't have any options for you. We won't be refunding the disconnection fees for this situation.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/08/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I wanted to bring an urgent matter to your attention. Yesterday my water was shut off with absolutely no notice by the Water District. This was due to an issue with my autopay that I was not aware of as the bill is usually only 25 dollars or so. Not very noticeable in the account. Rather than alerting me or notifying me so i could quickly fix it the Water District put our family in an emergency situation yesterday by turning off our water. When I looked up the requirements for providing notice they are very specific to protect the consumer from a situation like this. When I reached out to ***** ****** the manager this morning he stated that the public utility does not have to follow these state mandates. I find it to be borderline criminal the Water District does not have to follow the same government mandates that private utilities do! I would ask you to look into this manner to protect the consumers from this obscene behavior that creates emergency scenarios simply for a payment issue of less than 30 dollars.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/21/2022

  This is an unfortunate situation that was caused by a lack of response on Mr. ********* part not on lack of notification by the District. He was disconnected for non-pay on December 7th of this month. Mr. ******** has not had a zero balance on his account, meaning paid in full since September. His last payment on this account was in October. This is the amount that he was disconnected for. He was sent bills notifying him of his current charges and delinquent notices notifying him of his past due amount with late charges and notification that he was subject to disconnection without further notice if the past due amounts were not paid. He was sent no less than three notices with two of them notifying him that he was subject to disconnection of his service if it wasn't paid. After he was disconnected he contacted our after hours contact and was given the amounts that need to be paid to restore his service. I believe that much of his anger resides in the misconception that he had that the District wasn't required to do even more to try and get him to pay his bill before disconnecting his service. I explained to him that he was subject to the rules and regulations of the District just like the rest of our customers and that he wouldn't be receiving any refunds for services rendered and he took exception to that.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/22/2022

  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I was not notified 3 times I was not notified at all. They did not even follow the Districts policy when it comes to disconnection. I would like to be refunded please. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ****** ********

  Business Response

  Date: 12/27/2022

  Please find attached copies of the bills and notices sent to Mr. ********. The due dates are located in the top right of the notices. The beginning balances date and the Invoice date are todays date on which they were regenerated. I would ask Mr. ******** the supply the originals to dispute the amounts shown on the bills.

   

  The first bill with a due date of 10/10/22 shows and amount due of $24.47 with a previous amount paid of $50.95. The second bill is a delinquent notice for the amount of $24.47 with a due date of 10/31/22.The third bill is for the amount of $27.08 with a payment of $26.92, the previous amount due with a penalty added. The fourth bill is a the second delinquent notice for the amount of $27.08 with a $2.71 penalty due 11/30/22. The fifth bill shows an amount due of $48.54 due 12/10/22 with a notice that the previous balance is subject to disconnect. The sixth bill shows an amount due of $24.47 and the amount paid and a breakdown of the charges for the bill from Octobers of $27.08 which is the amount that Mr. ******** was disconnected for on 12/7/22. The seventh notice attached is the reverse of every bill and delinquent notice sent out to every customer each month. It clearly states that all bills not paid by the last day of the month will receive a disconnect fee and be subject to disconnection without notice.

   

  It is the District's position that Mr. ******** had adequate notice and opportunity to pay his delinquent charges before being disconnected and we will not be refunding his payment.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/27/2022

  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because: they did not follow their rules and have even stated that in their previous responses. Per their own rules they need to send a delinquent notice by mail. As I believed I had autopay set up I did not check my invoices as I thought they were being paid. By simply mailing a letter or even giving me a call the matter could have been fixed instantly. The State of Missouri requires the following for utility providers. 

  A utility provider must: Notify you of possible financial help to pay your bill; Send written notice by mail at least 10 days before the proposed shut-off; Attempt to contact the customer by either a second written notice by mail, a door hanger, or at least two phone calls 96 hours before shut-off; Attempt to contact the customer on the day of the shut-off; and For elderly or disabled customers who have registered with the utility provider, call and send a copy of the 10day notice to the customer’s alternate contact and make personal contact with either the elderly or disabled customer or a family member aged 15 or more on the day of the shut-off.  

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ****** ********