NewsChannel 5 Gets Involved With Cleveland Water Department Billing Complaints

NewsChannel 5 got involved in this, also;

"Thousands of people in the Cleveland area are facing huge bills for water they claim they didn't use.Water bills for more than $1,000 are arriving at local homes, putting a major strain on families already stressed by the economy, reported NewsChannel5's Duane Pohlman."

Read more at Newsnet5.com

Read it on Twitter.

Share your experiences with the customer service department over at the City of Cleveland Water Division, below...

Comments

[John Chase]

Example - You may submit a case via Fax if you have a dispute but they DON'T GIVE YOU A FAX NUMBER !!!! THE most imcompetent run place I have ever dealt with !!

[John Chase]

Would LOVE to get involved in a class action suit after a year long nightmare. Would love to recoup some money with the most poorly run company I have ever seen. The communication is a joke !! I still paid through the nose !! No wonder our city is crap !!

[Ron]

ANYONE WHO WANTS TO JOIN ME IN A CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT AGIANST THIS UTILITY PLEASE E MAIL ME.......................ALSO LOOKING FOR A LAWYER TO REPRESENT..............

RFIR3@AOL.COM

I'M DONE BEING PUT ON HOLD...............

[Ron]

The Cleveland Water Department is the worst run business i have ever delt with in my life.........and you can't complain with the utilities commision because it is run by the city of cleveland. I have never delt with a organization of this size so lazy, ignorant, and confidant of their job in my life. It took me 2 years to resolve my last issue with them. I recently recieved a bill for 4,800, and another for 1500, on 2 different properties with no reason, expanation, or resolve, other than being transferred to another department.
If someone calls me pertaining to this situation , i have novels of information i would love to give up to start a class action lawsuit against this worthless company whom has no reprocussions for its automated actions......one or two people have tried to help, but the company at large should be fired...............and hired brand new with people who can handle running a business rather than getting a paycheck.............the bills they sent me can litterally bankrupt me................i have always considered them the worst business i have ever delt with , but now it's just discustingly pathetic and would love to join all the people who are as pissed off as i am

[Regis C]

A thank you to Don an employee at the Water Dept who went above and beyond to assist me today with a final bill situation. When I thanked him he said"We're here to serve the customers" WOW!!!

[Regis Coustillac]

Thank you to Don an employee at the water dept who took the time after three failed calls and being passed off to extensions with no answers to find out about my final water bill reading. We sat home all day waiting for someone from the water dept to read both meters (outside and inside the house).We were told he/she would be here between 8am and 4pm,
Don initially was going to transfer me to another dept but when I told him of my experiences he decided to look into the situation. He found out that someone was here between 9 and 10 am and didn't need to read the meter in the house. We wasted a whole day. Now we will wait and see if indeed there wasn't a need to read the inside meter. Regardless though, Don was excellent and when I thanked him for taking the extra effort he said "Sir we're here to serve the customers" WOW!!!!!!!

[Barbara Grisard]

In July 2009, our Mom passed away at 94 years old, and left the house to us. It stood empty for 3 months. For 6 months, we did not receive a bill from Div. of Water, Cleveland. Finally, they sent a final notice, which we did receive, (it was a very large bill considering the house had been mostly empty). We faxed them the information so the bills would come to us and paid the bill, requesting copies of the missing statements. We never received the copies. We put tenants in the house (a young couple, both of them work.) The next bills we received were outrageous. Finally, after many hours on the phone with the water co., they came out and determined that the inside meter and the outside meter readings (auto read), were way off (164.63 out/118.60 in). They changed both meters. This problem had to be going on a long time and our 93 year old Mother had to be way overcharged, as well as us. Each time we called, we were told that, on the next billing cycle, they would take a reading and they would average out the usage for the past year and a half, based on this current average. That never happened. On our January, 2011 phone call, we were told that our inside meter was running backwards and that is why there was such a large variance. That was an insult to our intelligence and proof that they had no intention on correcting the billing previous to the new meters. We tried contacting the Utilities Commission, but they do not handle government run utilities. We tried contacting channel 5 through their web site, but had no answer. We tried contacting the Mayor's complaint line, with no response. Any help/advise you can give us would be most appreciated!! Thank you.

[marylou salvatore]

I own a house in Cleveland, and the meters on the house failed. I started getting bills over a thousand dollars a quarter which in the past 250 dollars a quarter. They replaced the meters and said they would adjust the bill, and never did they keep sending me out rages bills, and telling me they will shut off my water if i dont pay them. I can't get them to answer my emails, or get them on the phone. do i need to make appointment to talk to them. i don't know this goes on and on what to do.

[Searay Queen of the Lake]

I own rental property in East Cleveland, but live in Columbus. Compared to Columbus service (which stinks pretty bad), Cleveland water (CDW) is like trying to get water service in Moscow, with dead-wood burned-out employees, and fried-out coked-up bureaucrats. I have owned this house for 2 years and have yet even to receive a water bill, although I have hounded them many times to send it to me, so I guess me and my tenant are getting free water due to their ineptitude and incompetency, what a joke. They sent me a letter about replacing the "out-of-order" or "obsolete" water meter supplying the premises and I've since requested that they actually should do this on many occasions, but they're not very keen on taking action. I guess they're waiting for HE#$& to freeze over first. As a busy business executive, all I can say is that I don't have time for this unprofessional crap, which is why I'm taking my real estate investments elsewhere other than crappy Cleveland going forward.

[Kathy McGinty]

I received a notice today that I am deliquent in payment of a water biill for $168.28. I paid that today. Confirmation number is *****. When I first received my water bill in September, I called for an actual reading as this was my 5th estimated reading. They came out, but when I tried calling I could never reach any one, not even at the x2700 number that was supposed to connect me to a supervisor. I am a care giver for a 97 year old woman and cannot spend hours on the phone in hopes that someone will actually answer it. I sent an email on the water division's site 3 weeks ago and am still waiting on a response. As I stated, I have paid this bill, but I still expect an answer for your department on the actual amount owed. I sent another one today [12/3/2010] My next step is to contact both the media and the Cleveland mayor, Frank Jackson. I may be reached via phone at*****time after 9:00 A.M. Monday thru Friday. Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

[Chris Cioban]

I am a landlord here in Cleveland Ohio with 6 rental properties. A couple weeks ago when I noticed that I had not received my latest bill for one of my rentals, I decided to go to clevelandwater.com and log in to view my bill. It said I owed $1700! When I tried to view the actual bill, it said that there was a problem with the site! I have owned this property which is a double house for 7 years and have not had a bill over $450. The following day, I called the customer service department 1st thing in the morning at 7am when they opened. I attempted the call 10 times each time giving me a message that said "please call back during regular business hours from 7am to 4pm." Finally, at 7:22am someone actually answered and said that I needed to be at the property to give a proper reading. I was not at the property and said that I would have to call back. Several days later when I was able to find the time, I called back and was told the current wait time to talk to someone was 10 minutes and I waited 18 minutes for someone to tell me that I would have to call back and schedule someone to come out for which I had to be there for a 8 hour time window!!!! Still waiting for a solution....

[Laura]

Please let me know how I can get involved in overthrowing the current water department. they are obviously not doing the job(s) they are being paid to do.
the dept. is a mess, it needs to be TOTALLY overhauled from the top down.
I am willing to write letters, make calls, march on city hall.
Let's throw these jerk rippoff artists OUT!!
Laura

[pat peters]

I'm having the same problem. Can not we get a class action law suit against them

[TN]

Somebody wanted a fax number - try this. Send them a fax ,they are public servants , paid by the public , and they would love to hear from you. But but numbers seem defunct today. Why and where would Barry be hiding. His other number might be:

Office of the Mayor
Barry A. Withers
Special Assistant to the Mayor
601 Lakeside Ave.
Cleveland, Ohio 44114

P: 216.664.3990
Ohio Relay: 711

Department of Public Utilities
Barry A. Withers, Acting Director
Carl B. Stokes Building
1201 Lakeside Ave.
Cleveland, Ohio 44114

P: 216.664.2444
F: 216.664.3454
Relay Service: 711

[TN]

the CW CS number 1.216.664.3130 is also bogus - just dial it and see for yourself.

[TN]

General Business Line published on their web site -(Monday-Friday; 7am to 6pm) (216) 664-2444 - this phone is bogus. This is a Verizon wireless number which gives some error. No one picked today - 10/27.

The number on the top of you bill - 216-644-3173 - is bogus too - it's a inbox of someone who didn't even bother setting it up. Drill baby drill - for water and sewer of your own ...

[TN]

Regarding customer service - they charge $7 per bill for that. Did any of you got customer service ? Very impudent. Along with the main point that they cannot put 2 and 2.

[TN]

I figure I can post my request for adjustment here because these people paid by me and you wont pick thephone, wont return the calls (especially his Excellence Brian Radkowski, CS supervisor) and can even do math!

My usage is a NEGATIVE number, based on their estimates and the actual reading yet my bill is over $600. Absolutely amazing what kind of people work there!

Oct 12, 2010

Re: Incorrect bill, no customer service response – acc. no. 6711883406

City of Cleveland, Division of Water
1201 Lakeside Ave, Cleveland, OH 44114

CC: The Plain Dealer
CC: The Sun Courier

NOTE THAT THIS BILL HAS BEEN INCORRECTLY FORMED. NO PAYMENT IS ENCLOSED.

1. Incorrect meter reading/estimate. The estimated meter reading is incorrect. The correct meter reading on Oct. 09, 2010 is 039.8 Mcf. Thus the actual consumption is a negative number due to your incorrect estimate on June 17, 2010.

2. Late bill. This current bill was submitted very late (received on Oct 09, 2010) for the “due date” listed as Oct. 14, 2010. Delays due to late submission are not customer’s responsibility.

The telephone listed for customer service 1-216-664-3130 did not answer on Oct 11 and Oct 12, 2010. Repeated calls to this number are either given over 30 min of waiting time or simply disconnected. Thus any attempts to resolve the current bill in good fate have failed so far.

You must apply the existing balance to future usage and send the updated account statement within 7 days of this notice date.

You must change the process that you used for estimating the customer usage by next time of reading.

You must submit your bills on time to ensure prompt payment.

Jan Terziyski
Voice Mail: 1-440-792-4848
8347 Vera Dr.
Brecksville, OH 44147.

[Michelle]

I have been sending in CERTIFIED letters (after trying to phone at least 5 times with more than 1 hour waits and I gave up each time) to review my bill, which I think does not take into account the summer water program. NO ONE REPLIES. How can you ignore a certified letter? I copied PUCO, but now i'm looking at who else to copy. I have not paid the outrageous bill and am worried they will take action to turn it off, even though they take no action to reply to inquiries.

[Leona Evar]

leona evar again now water bill is 310. dollars no response from water dept can get throught without onehour and half wait i tired of these people dont want to pay 310 for nothing its not pocket change for me what does a person do to get help when i call and do get throught they tell me my account is on hold what does hold mean does it mean my water will be turn off because my bill isnt paid totally discussed bye.

[Rebecca Kiplinger]

I have tried to reach these idiots several times. I havenot occupied my home for two months asked for the water to beturned off upon leaving it was not even though I was not living there my bill went from a zero balance to 479.15 and I am on EZ pay tried to call in a final reading since they could not get it right and I cannot get a hold of the right people to talk to they all just want to pass the buck.

[Leona Evar]

Dont let them tell you your water meter is old and needs to be changed because the people changing it dont know what there are doing. It was wired wrong got wrong reading since Nov. 2009 Water dept said account on HOLD but getting bills from 159. to 360 dollars already called at least ten time Why dont they put there employees on Hold and figuer out what is wrong the amount of time waiting to talk to some is totally outrages when will it end by the time a get a corrected bill i will own the water dept.

[Angela]

I received a bill for the period ending 7/17/2010. It was listed as an "estimate". My previous quarter bill was also listed as an estimate. The current bill was 5 times higher than my previous quarter bill and did not include the summer sprinkling program I am enrolled in. I phoned customer service at 7:20am on 7/29/2010. I was on hold for 50 minutes!
The recording stated it would be a 20 minute wait. The cust. serv. rep. told me my bill was so high because my meter was broken! I asked her how long it has been broken. She said since October of 2009! Unbelievable. They had no intention of informing me. I asked her how I could get it fixed. She made an appointment for me at the end of August. My meter has been broken for almost 1 year and no one bothered to say anything. The rep said they are a "little" behind on repairs. How do they come up with these dollar amounts? The "reasonable" thing to do would be to average my quarterly bills from a period of time when the water meter was working, not to just take a bill and multiply by 5. I would love to see the accounting records in this place. Cleveland water needs to be taken away from the city of cleveland and given to a responsible entity. There are so many customers with so many complaints. Why don't our oversite organizations, like PUCO, step in, audit them and require some accountability!
Ticked off in Shaker Heights

[Scott Pardee]

Something big needs to be done regarding this pathetic utility. How do we get something on the ballet that takes control regionally? In addition to their sickening billing problems, the city of Cleveland has a very punishing water cost for anyone outside the city limits. Cleveland does NOT own lake Erie. Why can't the water be pulled from Lakewood or Avon or Mentor or Painesville? As I said, something must be done to break the stranglehold of this runaway utilty.

[James And Debra Seldon 07-23-2010]

I have been calling the water department since june for my water bill i even call them back with the meter numbers on june 10 still no bill i continue to call them they inform me that the bill was mail out on july 9 today is july 23 i havent had a water bill since january this is very costly please help us thank you seldon family