Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  10/07/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I received a letter and a bill from City of Tucson- Tucson Water for $672.12, with amount due being $480.02. I just recently was notified of this outrageous charge! They have my contact number and address and why wasn’t I notified of my meter being broken prior to this? I should have received a letter immediately when they noticed the faulty meter. I was paying my monthly bill, as I always do. Instead, Tucson water allowed the charges to accrue and not notify me! They allowed this to go on for months and this is very unprofessional of them. When I called they offered me a payment plan, but I do not feel I should have to pay this outrageous amount. I am water conscious and have a drip system, a large reservoir for collecting rain water, plus the last 4 months there are only two of us living at this residence. Our children have officially moved out since June. I feel that there should be a price adjustment to this amount. I detest when government businesses are able to take an advantage of the consumer, simply because they know that we, the consumer have no other choice. Water is a necessity and I feel that Im being cheated and taken advantage of by the system. Thank you.

  Business response

  10/15/2024

  Account Number # 1333219-582620
  
  The meter was stuck at this location for 22 months.  Since November 2022, this account has been billed at zero consumption.  Tucson Water unfortunately did not make the corrective action on this account until August of 2024.  One of our servicemen investigated the meter, and it was found that it was stuck.  Tucson Waters's next action when this is found is to exchange the meter for a new meter, and we begin our City Code(our city code is below) process for billing water usage. 
  
  Here is the City Code:
  
  Sec. 27-43. Charge when meter not registering properly.
  In the event any water meter has failed to register the water used, the estimated charge for water service shall be based on the previous year's consumption amount. If the customer does not have consumption history for the prior year period, the average of the class or other equitable method may be utilized.
  
  Since Tucson Water's backfilling process allows for only 6 months, we used the previous year's usage to bill from March 2024 until August 2024.  After calculating the back billing, the total amount due was $672.12 from March 2024 until August 2024.  All payments made on this account were totaled off the new billing to reflect the amount due of $480.02. Tucson Water did not bill the customer's water use for any usage at this location from October 2022 until March 2024 since it was not caught promptly.  On October 7, 2024, the account holder called Tucson Water to make payment arrangements for the amount due. 
  
  Tucson Water followed all procedures per the City Code and Back billing policy.  
  
  Thank you,
  
  Ray Munoz
  Tucson Water Superintendent
  Customer Service Division
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  06/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  City of Tucson utility services is charging me for water my household didn’t use. They would only give us a 100 dollar credit and we are left with a 300 dollar bill for water we didn’t use. They will not test their meters and continue to blame us.

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