Anyone fought the utilities company and won? $600 water bill for leak (Cape Coral: live in, price)

[juntjoo]

It was on my side, right next to the main line in and I fixed it but apparently I'd caught it at least a couple days late as I racked up 60k gallons on my bill. Without any fail safes to at least warn the customer of excessive usage it looks like they're running quite a successful racket. I asked if I could just pay for what it cost them(so no one gets screwed unnecessarily) and they just kept repeating a script about my responsibility and how generously they're willing to forgive the sewage portion of the bill which is invalid anyway as it's an estimate based on estimated usage which they concede wasn't actually 60k gallons. Has anyone been through this and had any success?

[Kim in FL]

Why would you be fighting them if the leak was on your side? If the leak was on their side, and easily proven it was on their side, then yes, I can see giving them a bit of a tangle, but it was on your side. Your side= your bill. Their side=partially your bill


The most you can do is call them, which you did, and ask for a adjustment. They said no. Noe what? Do you plan on taking legal action over a $600 bill?

To answer your question: yes, I have family in CC that had a leak inside their bathroom wall and were able to get a payment adjustment ($350 bill) once they proved the leak was repaired.

[BugManTPC]

You gotta BE NICE, speak to a Supervisor. Just keep to facts and ask nicely for some type of adjustment / compromise.

You are going to ”PAY” some of the bill. It's on your side.

But as long as it's a provable, repaired issue and not straight up neglect, they will work with you.

But No, you will not be Forgiven for the expense.

[Parnassia]

Originally Posted by juntjoo

It was on my side, right next to the main line in and I fixed it but apparently I'd caught it at least a couple days late as I racked up 60k gallons on my bill.

IMHO your biggest issue is right in the title of the thread. This is not a powerless-little-guy-against-the-big-evil-utility battle for justice. Something you own, on your property, wasted a lot of their water. But they're still wrong. They should have saved you from yourself. Why should you be "winning" anything? You should be approaching this as a negotiation; hoping they'll cut you a bit of slack.

[juntjoo]

Originally Posted by Kim in FL

Why would you be fighting them if the leak was on your side? If the leak was on their side, and easily proven it was on their side, then yes, I can see giving them a bit of a tangle, but it was on your side. Your side= your bill. Their side=partially your bill


The most you can do is call them, which you did, and ask for a adjustment. They said no. Noe what? Do you plan on taking legal action over a $600 bill?

To answer your question: yes, I have family in CC that had a leak inside their bathroom wall and were able to get a payment adjustment ($350 bill) once they proved the leak was repaired.

Technically they're not responsible, and I don't want them to take any responsibility necessarily but at least make every effort to not profit off the accident. In fact IMO you shouldn't be able to profit off someone's accident. Maybe someone can enlighten me on this part of business law.

For something that happens so easily and is so potentially financially damaging, ESPECIALLY when you're a monopoly, there should be failsafes put in place to avoid such accidents like notifications when you've exceeded a certain usage threshold. They did tell me they recently upgraded my meter to one that would allow such a system. We didn't get into details but they said they did notice high usage and dropped by to check my meter which was after I fixed the leak apparently so I guess that doesn't work. Never got a call though, interestingly.

Anyway, I guess my real issue is the way they come off like they're helping me out with the standard adjustment and payment plan they do everyone is familiar with. Well this adjustment is basically as they put it 'absorbing half the "burden"' which is a real sneaky lie because half the bill is the sewage charge which is an estimation based off of water received which for the most part in these cases doesn't use the sewage service anyway. I'd rather them just be honest and say 'it's your responsibility but we'll take off most of the sewage as it doesn't count'. But since they're trying to come off as helpful I'm tempted to hold them to their word and they're not helping a hit. $600 is full price for the water received, plus there is small sewage charge in there too for my actual use, meaning they're profiting off my leak. If this was a personal deal between you and a friend you'd expect them to charge you just to cover the their cost of the service. And you know it's probably pretty close to retail anyway. I don't imagine they have huge profit margins. Though I have no idea. So, no, technically I'm responsible but wait til you get a leak you couldn't have detected before it accrued you hundreds of dollars of debt, from a company who didn't warn you this was happening and they're the only company in town and you're definition of responsibility might start to change.

Your family took them to court with repair receipts you say? $350 was for most of the charge or just half like I described?

[Kim in FL]

You lost me at ‘profit’ for the accident. How are they profiting when you ‘used’ the water? Doesn’t matter HOW you used it (leak or actual usage) you used it and you owe the bill. They don’t owe you anything.. they’re doing for you what they do for everyone in your situation. Someone has to pay for that used water.

As for this happening to me, I’d make a call and see what they could/would do for me, but I’d pay my bill. $600 is a lot for a water bill, but $600 is not a lot of money. They don’t owe you a warning about your property or equipment.. and overage meter would be a nice gesture, but not a requirement.


Never said they went to court. Didn’t need to. One phone call was all that was needed. There was a form to fill out and receipts to turn in, but their bill was adjusted and they were able to pay the balance over three months. No fighting needed.

[LoveSRQ]

I did not read all the other posts so if this is a duplicate, please ignore. Anyway, I know how to deal with this first hand. You call the supervisor and explain the situation. They will have you fill out a form and that way they can discount it. We had a $1,200 bill after hurricane Irma. They had shut off water and when they turned it back on, sand flushed through the line and that tiny bit of sand allowed the flapper on the toilet to not seal and the toilet ran for a month and we didn't know it until we received the bill. They cut my bill to $700. They can reduce it because it's not water that had to be processed in the sewer. If you fill a pool, it is a cheaper rate than the rate that your normal household would be charged. So that is how they discount it.

To me it is a scam because let's face it, if my normal bill has been $110 a month for years and suddenly they see the meter zipping along, don't you think they could call?text? send someone to take a look? Nope. They are all too happy to collect and think about the cause of my bill? It was their fault but they were not interested in accepting responsibility.

Good luck.

[Kim in FL]

Originally Posted by LoveSRQ

I did not read all the other posts so if this is a duplicate, please ignore. Anyway, I know how to deal with this first hand. You call the supervisor and explain the situation. They will have you fill out a form and that way they can discount it. We had a $1,200 bill after hurricane Irma. They had shut off water and when they turned it back on, sand flushed through the line and that tiny bit of sand allowed the flapper on the toilet to not seal and the toilet ran for a month and we didn't know it until we received the bill. They cut my bill to $700. They can reduce it because it's not water that had to be processed in the sewer. If you fill a pool, it is a cheaper rate than the rate that your normal household would be charged. So that is how they discount it.

To me it is a scam because let's face it, if my normal bill has been $110 a month for years and suddenly they see the meter zipping along, don't you think they could call?text? send someone to take a look? Nope. They are all too happy to collect and think about the cause of my bill? It was their fault but they were not interested in accepting responsibility.

Good luck.

They read your meter once a month.., they don’t stand in front of it and watch it twirl. It’s up to you to monitor your account. Call you, rofl, best thing I’ve read all day.

[LoveSRQ]

Well, actually the supervisor said that they can see it, day by day so she must not know what she is talking about. I never said that they stand and watch it twirl. Being that everything is digital today, I am sure that it is all computerized but they probably do have alerts set. I wasn't able to watch the meter since I live in Hawaii for half of the year. I "monitor" it when I see the bill. Why are you arguing with everyone? I just told her what happened to me and how I handled it.

[Kim in FL]

Originally Posted by LoveSRQ

Well, actually the supervisor said that they can see it, day by day so she must not know what she is talking about. I never said that they stand and watch it twirl. Being that everything is digital today, I am sure that it is all computerized but they probably do have alerts set. I wasn't able to watch the meter since I live in Hawaii for half of the year. I "monitor" it when I see the bill. Why are you arguing with everyone? I just told her what happened to me and how I handled it.

I’m not arguing with anyone. I just think it’s funny that you think the water dept should monitor accounts in time.

What they can see is your account in real time, providing they are in your account. They are not monitoring it for you.. that’s your job. Even in _Hawaii you have access to your account and can see your bill.

And how you handled it is how everyone else in Cape Coral handles it; you made a call to the city. You didn’t mention suing or fighting the bill even though you were upset about the bill (rightfully so)