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NO WAY-This needs to stop!

17 (68%)

Hmm... sounds a little fishy to me

3 (12%)

Depends on the situation

0 (0%)

I somewhat agree with this policy

3 (12%)

I completely agree with this city policy

2 (8%)

Total Members Voted: 23

[Brian Beneteau]

Just give notice of the requirement on the bill…….And not just one notice on one bill because one time we didn’t receive a bill and was stuck with a late charge but I found several people that didn’t receive a bill that month either…..someone forgot to mail them out but they wouldn’t admit to it…..the late charge had to be paid.

Plaster “Urgent Notice”….”Compliance is Mandatory” on the bill….that should be sufficient.

I disagree with the sneaky method they’ve chosen…..it’s just not right.

Again, and I quote "The options presented to council in 2005 were if unsuccessful attempts were made to get into a customer's home to change / upgrade the meter was to either send a letter requesting to change the meter or they would be shut off per City Ordinance.  An alternate was to estimate larger water / sewer bills where this is done is communities around Michigan with large success.  Note, the City Council opted for the Water Dept to send letters to the customer & shut off if needed."

It would be more sneaky and more costly if the water was shut off.

[Boylanjl]

Just give notice of the requirement on the bill…….And not just one notice on one bill because one time we didn’t receive a bill and was stuck with a late charge but I found several people that didn’t receive a bill that month either…..someone forgot to mail them out but they wouldn’t admit to it…..the late charge had to be paid.

Plaster “Urgent Notice”….”Compliance is Mandatory” on the bill….that should be sufficient.

I disagree with the sneaky method they’ve chosen…..it’s just not right.

Very good idea Fry, mark "Urgent Notice" on the bill and also state by paying this bill it is acknowledgement of of what the notice is.

[Frenchfry]

Again, and I quote "The options presented to council in 2005 were if unsuccessful attempts were made to get into a customer's home to change / upgrade the meter was to either send a letter requesting to change the meter or they would be shut off per City Ordinance.  An alternate was to estimate larger water / sewer bills where this is done is communities around Michigan with large success.  Note, the City Council opted for the Water Dept to send letters to the customer & shut off if needed."

It would be more sneaky and more costly if the water was shut off.

I don’t buy the attempts were made stuff and the shut off per city ordinance stuff…….just because laws were made that gives someone the right to do something doesn’t make it right to do so.

Which Einstein decided that placing a large conspicuous notice on the bill wasn’t a good idea?

Sending a separate notice via the mail or in person MUST cost more.

[eriemermaid]

Due to the events, the Water Service Worker forgot about the appointment & did not reschedule it which is a violation of the City Rules & Regulations such that he was issued a written reprimand - 1st offense. 

This just doesn't seem right!  The worker has a schedule to maintain during working hours, he has an emergency situation somewhere, someone must have called him and told him to go over to the Toledo Ave. house.  He spends all the rest of the day there in the water until it is fixed.  After working hard all day he comes back to the office and gets a letter of reprimand??  Who the heck sent him off to do a different job than the job planned?  That is the guy who should get the reprimand!  Leave the poor working guys alone!

[historeluver]

Well.......let me add MY horror story of the City of Monroe Water Dept.

I had my meter changed out in front of my house. I have no meter inside my house. Guess what?? The meter had stopped working!! I ended up with a $750 bill. Even though my bills stated that I had had a "actual" reading done on my bills. Never found out when the meter stopped working. All they knew is that I owed them $750 and they wanted their money.

Then when it came to setting up a payment plan.......WHOA!! Don't you know you're asking for limb when asking for this. They didn't want to work something out for me. They didn't care that I'm a widow with 2 small children....living on limited income.....trying to MAKE the effort of taking care of this bill. They wanted their $750. Finally, after months of trying to take care of the issue, I had MAJOR meltdown and TOLD them......THIS is what I can afford. You WILL take it......You WILL appreciate it.......You WILL respect me for making the EFFORT of taking care of this bill.

Watch out Citizens of Monroe.......you might want to call the Water Dept and request having your meter checked. Or take the chances of when it is YOUR turn to have the meter switched to the "New and Improved" meters, you don't get screwed and thrown a bil for hundreds of dollars.

[Frenchfry]

The WDS scheduled a 2:00 PM appointment on 6-16-08 at ## ----- Street to change out / upgrade the meter along with verifying the old meter read.  The Water Service Worker scheduled to do this work missed the appointment due to an emergency service leak on Toledo Ave which avoided flooding a resident's basement.  Due to the events, the Water Service Worker forgot about the appointment & did not reschedule it which is a violation of the City Rules & Regulations such that he was issued a written reprimand - 1st offense.  The customer did not call until after normal working hours to report no one showed up to appointment.  If they did, another Water Service Worker would have been reassigned to take care of the meter change / upgrade.

It’s interesting how it’s the customers fault.......



And about the larger estimated bills……clearly indicate, on the bill, the reason for the higher estimated bill and how to remedy the situation.

Using bold, maybe a different color ink and all caps are possibilities to ensure they read the entire bill.

Maybe warn them that the estimations will grow exponentially if they do not schedule an appointment.

I still disagree with the whole phony estimation scheme………nothing grabs the attention like a shut off notice...... on the bill with an explanation on what can be done to remedy the situation.

[Nadjalu]

I disagree with this "policy" as well. 

It is sneaky, underhanded no matter how you look at it.  How many people (including the elderly) trust it and pay it. 
I know when my mother had died and we took over paying the gas bill she had over $800 in credit, do to her not reading the bill correctly.  She had always paid what they said she owed, not what was due.  Oh, how she could've relaxed a bit instead of going without food many times due to being disabiled and on a fixed income!!! 

I see another interested bit of fact, why was it so long between notices the water dept sent out?  Almost a year???  What is up with that?  I don't think they tried very hard. 
I think it is an easy way to scam extra money out of the citizens. 

[Brian Beneteau]

I disagree with this "policy" as well. 

It is sneaky, underhanded no matter how you look at it.  How many people (including the elderly) trust it and pay it. 
I know when my mother had died and we took over paying the gas bill she had over $800 in credit, do to her not reading the bill correctly.  She had always paid what they said she owed, not what was due.  Oh, how she could've relaxed a bit instead of going without food many times due to being disabiled and on a fixed income!!! 

I see another interested bit of fact, why was it so long between notices the water dept sent out?  Almost a year???  What is up with that?  I don't think they tried very hard. 
I think it is an easy way to scam extra money out of the citizens. 

If the water bill is estimated due to not being able to get into the house to read the meter, once an actual read is done either the homeowner will have to pay the amount owed or they will receive credit for any overpayment. It should be in everyone's best interest to get the actual reading every billing period so they get the accurate amount every time. Every utility company does this estimated read if they are not able to gain access to the meters. It is not an effort to scam extra money, however it is an attempt to collect what is owed. My suggestion, if anyone is constantly receiving an estimated reading, would be to get the updated radio read meter, so actual readings can be taken and the appropriate amount will be billed. If you have concerns, please contact the water department, or email me and I can try to answer or get an answer for you.

[Lethlweapn]

I agree that a shut off notice would be a more appropriate way of getting someones attention. Rather than saying "Look, we COULD have just shut off your water, would that make you happy?"

Instead of saying "If we don't hear from you by July 17th, your water will be shut off on or after that date" and at least that way they were warned. It is how all other utility companies do business, why should the water department be any different?

I don't care what kind of legal spin you put on it.

IT'S NOT RIGHT AND SOMETHING SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT IT!!!!!

[Brian Beneteau]

I agree that a shut off notice would be a more appropriate way of getting someones attention. Rather than saying "Look, we COULD have just shut off your water, would that make you happy?"

Instead of saying "If we don't hear from you by July 17th, your water will be shut off on or after that date" and at least that way they were warned. It is how all other utility companies do business, why should the water department be any different?

I don't care what kind of legal spin you put on it.

IT'S NOT RIGHT AND SOMETHING SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT IT!!!!!

That is what the 2005 Council voted to do, just shut off the water. It seems much more aggressive to do this, but it seems most readers here would prefer to just have the water shut off. I will mention this to the City Manager and Department Head of the MWD, and perhaps this will be enforced the way the policy is written.

[Lethlweapn]

That is what the 2005 Council voted to do, just shut off the water. It seems much more aggressive to do this, but it seems most readers here would prefer to just have the water shut off. I will mention this to the City Manager and Department Head of the MWD, and perhaps this will be enforced the way the policy is written.

As long as they get a note about it first in their Bill, or even a separate notice. They shouldn't just shut it off arbitrarily "Oh well, the guy didn't contact us, time to shut off the water" when no notice was given. You'd be surprised how fast you'll get a call when someone reads in big red letters'

Shut off Notice

[Brian Beneteau]

As long as they get a note about it first in their Bill, or even a separate notice. They shouldn't just shut it off arbitrarily "Oh well, the guy didn't contact us, time to shut off the water" when no notice was given. You'd be surprised how fast you'll get a call when someone reads in big red letters'

Shut off Notice

Absolutely correct.

[Kazimer]

Councilman Beneteau,

I read the response from the Monroe Water Dept. to you regarding the inquiry of the water bill/policy.

I realize that such a detailed response may show the respondent's time and effort into the  research of  the inquiry as well as their explanation of the events.  At the same, depending upon the reader, it may simply look as a defense or justification of the department's actions.

I don't know the parties involved in this case or the exact circumstances.  However, in my experience, in situations like this, each side has an aspect of the truth. I venture to say if you got each of the parties involved and talked to them heart-to-heart both would say they share responsibility in how the situation was handled.

If you are able and open to review this particular matter in a greater context with the powers that be in Monroe, perhaps the following could be addressed.

Instead of a lengthy dissertation on the Water Dept's actions,I suggest a brief summary would have sufficed. Sometimes too much of an explanation appears as a mountain of information that buries the key points.

 Continuing, while it may go against the norm on how things are done in the municipality,  I would have liked to have seen stated in the response something to the effect : " While we feel that the Water Dept handled the situation appropriately and within policy,  we ( I) will look into the matter to see if there is a better way to implement our communication with customers in general and this resident in particular to assure that our directives are achieved and the customer's needs met."

If such a statement were written and followed up in sincere manner of looking to what is best for both parties,  then I believe each side would walk away with their needs met along with mutual respect and understanding of each other's position.

Thank you for your consideration and time.

Respectfully,

Kaz

[Nadjalu]

Brian I think you misunderstood what I was saying. 

I think it is wrong to jack up the estimated bill just to get the citizen's attention. 
Not that getting an actual reading is wrong. 

There should be a better way than to "shock" someone.  But let's think about this.....
If they wanted to shock someone to get attention why not send a bill for 0, in big red letters.  That would get my attenion......."what I don't owe anything???".   I would immediately start calling in order that the next month wouldn't be overcharged as to them "missing" a charge. 

Yeah that would get my attention and would be easier than taking advantage of someone not reading their bill correctly (the elderly). 

[Happy Housewife]

Something very similar happened to me.

When my bill was higher than expected, they offered to come check the meter(s) but on the day that the technician was supposed to come out, no one showed. Must have had another emergency in Toledo or something.

The next few bills were more reasonable, so I thought maybe I had used a lot more water somehow during that particular billing period.

Interesting, to say the least. I wonder how many more meter-checking appointments were "forgotten" or "overlooked" due to "emergencies" elsewhere.

My question now is, what are we (the people with "missed" appointments) to do from here? Call and ask for another appointment, then cross our fingers and hope that another emergency doesn't occur on that day?