New Water Meters and Billing Problems

Hi All,
I recently received my February water bill. Imagine my surprise that it has doubled tremendously since my new water meter was installed in mid-January [[the 13th to be precise). Well I called the water board to get an answer and of course you Detroiters know the drill....the customer service rep was just a clueless and dense as the rest of the departments in the city.

First, I asked why there was a signifcant difference in my meter reading of the old meter that clearly show on the bill as being read at 9 days. Well she finally admitted that the technician took the old meter to a "testing facility" where the meter was tested and it was determined that the City was undercharging me. I was like what? You all can do that? I mean to go back after I paid my past water bills based on what they [[the water board) charged me never mind the fact that they had screwed themselves in the past by sending estimates.

I have sent an e-mail to one of the council members [[Brenda Jones) since I have a good rapport with her and her staff to determine the legality of this situation because it seems to me that the water board and the city of Detroit should have sent out a letter when the sent out those post cards regarding setting up an appointment to have the new meters installed to forewarn residents about this "testing" situation.

BTW...I am not the only noticing this sudden increase. I was told by the CSR for the water board that this is "one time" thing and additional charges will not appear on my future bills.

I've been leery to get this done, I recently got something put in my door about it. I don't trust the board because their last big idea to make things more affordable was to bill every month instead of every 90 days. It seems to me like this is triple the work, how can this improve costs? I still pay for 90 days, but now I pay it in advance. I don't want to be bothered writing a check every month. The last I checked they don't have this set up as an autopay plan.

We got our new meter last year and never got hit for any "past undercharge" b.s. Since then, our water bills run about $10 less per month, and I don't see where we're using less water. Maybe your one-time charge is to make up for my accurate [[lower) bills!

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Originally Posted by nativegirl

Hi All,
I recently received my February water bill. Imagine my surprise that it has doubled tremendously since my new water meter was installed in mid-January [[the 13th to be precise). Well I called the water board to get an answer and of course you Detroiters know the drill....the customer service rep was just a clueless and dense as the rest of the departments in the city.

First, I asked why there was a signifcant difference in my meter reading of the old meter that clearly show on the bill as being read at 9 days. Well she finally admitted that the technician took the old meter to a "testing facility" where the meter was tested and it was determined that the City was undercharging me. I was like what? You all can do that? I mean to go back after I paid my past water bills based on what they [[the water board) charged me never mind the fact that they had screwed themselves in the past by sending estimates.

I have sent an e-mail to one of the council members [[Brenda Jones) since I have a good rapport with her and her staff to determine the legality of this situation because it seems to me that the water board and the city of Detroit should have sent out a letter when the sent out those post cards regarding setting up an appointment to have the new meters installed to forewarn residents about this "testing" situation.

BTW...I am not the only noticing this sudden increase. I was told by the CSR for the water board that this is "one time" thing and additional charges will not appear on my future bills.

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wait wait--you actually talked to somebody at the water department via the telephone--didn't think that was possible.

went through the same thing with "testing facility" which is complete bullshit they are simply reading from a script--they tell everyone that. I would love to find the stats of how many times a meter was brought to a "testing facility" and it was found to be overcharging the customer.

I challenge someone to find a more corrupt and incompetent governmental entity anywhere in the united states.

LOL @ Eastsider. My next door neighbor said her was lower but two other folks on the block stated that they noticed an increase as well.

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I'm dreading this new meter thing because it means I have to find time to clean out the basement enough so that they even GET to the physical meter to replace it. It's a mess down there, and I haven't even bothered going down there for anything since the washing machine broke last year.

It's funny that the notice says that if I don't let them do it, they'll start charging me $35 per reading to read the old meter. But, since they have not bothered to read my meter in 5-6 years [[yes, i've been on "estimated" bills since 2004-ish) you'd think that means I shouldn't get that charge since nobody ever comes out anyway. :)

Nativegirl, it wouldn't hurt to check for water leaks. Just shut off all your water consuming devices and check that the red diamond spinner on the meter isn't moving. If it's moving then there's a leak somewhere. I once discovered a toilet leak that way.

I also read that a constant leak like that can sometimes jump people into a higher rate which might explain a sudden water bill increase. I don't know whether that's true in your case though.

Sorry about your luck Nativegirl - My bill has been significantly lower since the new meter was installed.

BTW - If you resist having a new meter installed, CoD will shut your water off at the curb........

In the rental units my company manages, we were required to call to get an actual meeting every month, otherwise they would all come out as estimated, and their "estimations" were never even close to the actual usage. On some of the units, after they changed to the new meters, there was a large increase in the first bill, but it was because they had been estimating for months and the just caught up to the actual.

Funaho...I would suggest you get your meter read soon. As it is, you will probably faint when the actual bill shows up.

It is also very true that a small leak can make a huge different. In one unit, we had a long-term problem with a leak that never got reported to us to be repaired, until the water bill showed up and it was TRIPLE the normal rate. The testing of the lines is a great idea just to be sure there are no leaks.

[quote=Blueidone;120917
Funaho...I would suggest you get your meter read soon. As it is, you will probably faint when the actual bill shows up.
[/quote]

I tried to call a couple times, and gave up after being on hold for 45+ minutes each time.

The estimates are probabaly on the high end. They're estimating usage from when there were three people living here, and there hasn't been for several years. As it is now I pay about $50/mo, for one person pretty much just daily showers and occasional dish washing [[and I don't even eat home all that much.)

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Originally Posted by nativegirl

Well she finally admitted that the technician took the old meter to a "testing facility" where the meter was tested and it was determined that the City was undercharging me.

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Dont get mad, get even. if it was me i would get even with my benz-o-matic mapp gas torch and a couple copper fittings and pipes straight to my washing machine. ;) [[of course, i would change it back once i was satisfied)

I recently contacted the water department about an issue and between 3 calls and 1 visit to an office i received 4 different answers. :mad:

That being said, it seems like the water department is a bit friendlier and easier to reach than in the past.

I had my meter updated about 10-months ago. I find my bills to be a about $8 - $10 more per month but that could be because I've been "downsized" and have been spending much more time at home using more water.

But here's the interesting thing. For four months my water bill was exactly the same and I found that odd. So I called the water dept, talked to a rep who had no idea why and said "it's not that unusual." I explained that one of the months in question I was out of town for two weeks and zero water was used so how could it be the same. Her response, "the new system is accurate, therefore your bill is correct." That was basically it - "the new system is accurate."

Go figure.

I too am fixated on the cost of my water bill or electric bill. But if I take my water bill and divide it by the interest I pay on my mortgage or my property taxes, I realize that it is a drop in the bucket!

I do know that there is a minimum charge for the service regardless of how much water you use. I think a minimal amount of water usage is included in that. If I'm not mistaken, and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, the water bills also include your trash pick-up and the "bulk-rate" annual fee. I know this is true in the suburbs, but I'm not sure about the City itself. In the rental units we manage, many of them end up with the same monthly bill, and that amount recurs month after month.

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Originally Posted by Blueidone

I do know that there is a minimum charge for the service regardless of how much water you use. I think a minimal amount of water usage is included in that. If I'm not mistaken, and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, the water bills also include your trash pick-up and the "bulk-rate" annual fee. I know this is true in the suburbs, but I'm not sure about the City itself. In the rental units we manage, many of them end up with the same monthly bill, and that amount recurs month after month.

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Not sure about the regular trash pickup but the bulk pickup is an extra $300/yr line item on my property taxes and has been for the past 2-3 years.

Just got my water bill and it is triple what it normally is.

Thanks for the info, Funaho...I know some cities include it in the water bill.

Detroit does not include anything in the water bill except water and sewer for Detroiters that receive bills. Trash was $ 300. per year on your property taxes but went down for 2009.

On top of the new meter is a dial read it every month on or about the 15th. and compare month to month. I also keep my utility bills for several years to compare. I also read my own gas and electric meters one a month and compare it to the bills.

Mistakes can be made by meters readers.

I had a fiasco regarding the new meters.

Stupidly we let the "tech" or whoever he was related to in, to tell us we can't have the new meter installed unless the pipes around it were replaced. Passed it on to my landlord, who apparently did nothing.

On the hottest YTD day of 2009[[not making that up), they shut off my water without warning. I called[[and waited). They claimed they sent out a shutoff notice [[they did not). I was then told that my water could not be turned on at all if the pipes weren't replaced or they could bust. A total lie. After significant bitching and yelling and getting transferred to 3 people, they agreed to turn on my water - the next day, between the hours of NINE AND FIVE and I had to be home. I would have had to stay home from work. So my landlord had some dude come by and turn it on in about 5 minutes. That would have taken them all day?

Utterly criminal. I hope they all get the axe. I didn't like Bing, but I hope he busts the unions and fires all these losers. All these taxes and all these thousands of deadbeats employed for zero city services. Maybe the feds can go after the water department next?

This is actually a very common, yet under-reported phenomenon. The huge bill that some folks in Detroit get after having the newest [[automated) meter installed normally results from months or years of bills that have been underestimated by the water department. The good news is that you can protest that bill immediately and eventually the water dpt is likely to reduce the charges since it is their error [[assuming you don't have any leaks or anything like that). The bad news is that you have to deal with their customer service representatives to protest the bill which can be daunting. I wouldn't suggest going it alone. Working with the Ombudsman's Office or with a City Council member's office is probably the quickest way to get that bill resolved.

I never thought they 'under' estimated the estimated bills...seemed to me that over my 30 years experience of every other month estimates were always high and as they finally went to estimating three and four months with a seemingly actual reading bill at some point being low, followed by the repeat of the cycle...a joke...worse that the estimates by DTE.

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Originally Posted by Route29

Stupidly we let the "tech" or whoever he was related to in, to tell us we can't have the new meter installed unless the pipes around it were replaced.

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Out of curiosity what was their issue with the pipes? This actually bothers me a bit; I'm due to have mine replaced in the next couple weeks or so, and if they decided there was something wrong with my pipes there's no way I'd be able to afford to have anything done with them.

Listen to this one:

My neighbor bought a house recently on our street for 5k. The owner of the house was some far away bank. The house had a $3000 water bill associated with it. The bank has no idea that the water dept. would screw them so they just paid it. My neighbor researched the water bill and found out that they arbitrarily charged the house for 600 units of water.

After 3 days of sitting, waiting inside the water department he was able to get the balance credited to his water bill. The water dept. manager said "Why do you even care about this? The bank paid the balance and it doesn't even concern you"

I wonder if this is an organized scam.