How to Dispute a $ 620 Water Bill in Mesa House? (real estate, insurance)

[Endurance]

Hello Everybody,
My husband and I recently bought a house in Dobson Woods and moved in on May 16 from Montclair VA. Water bill for the period April 12 (when previous owner vacated the property) through May 5, 2011 is $620.97. Previous reading is 196, current reading (on May 5) is 338. We flew in on May 16 evening and no one lived in the house after the previous owner left on April 12, even though a neighbor had the keys.
Our house in Emerson Circle is next to Woodglen Park which I noticed has water sprinklers all over running each AM for long periods of time. Is there any way for those sprinklers to use our water? Our house has a lot of 8,000 sq ft which is mostly occupied by the pool and has some shrubs on the side so not much water consumption there either.
I called Mesa customer support at 644-2221 several times. Once on May 16th AM when we were still in Montclair and was told that the consumption is huge and that maybe the house has a major leakage that we have to check when we arrive. Which we did. Next day after our arrival, on TUE the 17th, we called our real estate agent who called the home inspector who said he did not see any problems with the plumbing. He recommended a licensed plumber who literally for half a day checked the house inside out, the meter, the pool, everything and he said he saw nothing wrong with the house water system. He then called the same number we did and talked for a long time with the customer supp agent explaining that the water we are being charged for can fill out 3 large pools. Where did all this water go?, he asked the agent. On the other hand, our restate agent found that previous owner's water bills did not exceed $150. We also talked with the neighbors who said the same thing. The plumber told us that the meter was changed in October two years ago and in his opinion this is a clerical error that somehow the numbers were transposed. How can we prove this to the City of Mesa which is charging us with this amount?
Current charges are past due after May 27th and we still don’t know what else to do.
Please help us with any piece of advice you might have as to what are our chances to wave this fee or part of it and what are the steps we should follow. Thank you,
Cornelia

[1999corvette]

Call a news station or newspaper about it, I'll bet they don't want to be talked about ripping someone off!

[khuntrevor]

What day did you become owner of the house?

[AZJoeD]

One question I would ask is "Did the water company come out and read the meter when the home was transfered to you on May 16?", If not why not? When they establish new service, you in this case, they should have read the meter.

With the amount of water usage in such a short period of time, you should be able to watch the meter (record the number) over a period of hours and see a change. Then multiply by days/ hours to see if the number jibes.

The amount of water they claim, 196K to 338K (142K) is enough to fill 10 larger swimming pools.

I agree, with the commenter that said call one of the local TV stations, but first you must document that you made every effort to resolve it with the water company.

[Endurance]

Thank you all for your prompt reply. April 12 is the date the house became ours just that we had jobs in VA and could not come earlier than May 16. The plumber recommended to keep a log of water consumption for a week, which we did-reading the meter twice a day-AM and PM and numbers are normal. He adivsed to call him ASAP if we notice something unusual. We have the numbers all right the thing is how do we make the disputes agent when we go there tomorrow AM accept our word against their reading? THANK YOU!

[LBTRS]

When we arrived in Arizona to our new home I found neighbors on both sides of my property had hoses hooked up to my outside water faucets using my water. Luckily the service had not been transfered to me yet and the builder was still paying the water. Are you sure your neighbors have not been using it to fill their pools?

[Endurance]

I am not sure. How can I prove it? THAT IS THE QUESTION? Thank you.
Cornelia

[khuntrevor]

500 deductible on your homeowner's insurance isn't going to help much. Did you check serial numbers on your meter?

[BabsJohnson]

Ace Hardware has a device that screws on the end of your hose bib and then a place to padlock. Even if the water is turned on, not a drip of water will leak out. My neighbor from hell was stealing my water and my electricity when they first moved in. They removed one of my dusk to dawn floodlights and screwed in a plug adapter to get my power. Since it was dusk to dawn controlled, they could only get electricity at night. I am rarely surprised by anything anymore.

[Endurance]

Yes we did keep a log for the past week with 2 readings one AM and one PM and nothing unusual showed-just normal consumption. Thank you.
Cornelia