Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  01/03/2025

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Im the owner of ********************************************** IN *****. Today Ive received a bill of $1904.35 which is ridiculous and totally made up by the City Utilities of Fort Wayne. This property is going under remodeling and there is a minimum water usage as no one stays there. City Utilities guys came multiple times to inspect the water meter due to non usage of water and I explained to them that water is not being used except the minimum. City Utilities guys came and messed with the water meter and said all is good even though I confirmed that you are touching inside the water meter but he said don't worry you won't get a higher bill many months ago in 2024 and today I received a bill of $1904. This is a total fraud. account number *************** All of our neighbors will confirm that nobody lives on this property except to do some work once in a while and we've never used this much water.

  Business response

  01/07/2025

  Thank you for reaching out. We are sorry you are receiving this correction bill from our water meter reading estimating from the past 12 months. If you would like to set up a delayed payment plan to pay over the next 12 months please reach out to our office to schedule.

  Findings:

  After reviewing this account. The charges are stemming from the past 12 months of estimated water meter reads. The latest read is an actual read with usage that had not been billed prior.
  

  We verified the pictures of the serial number of the meter installed in ************************************************************************************************** 2024 when the Utility checked the meter. The water passed through the meter. 
  
  Usage charges is ****** units (100 cubic feet = 1 unit = 748 gallons).
  
  Attached is a spreadsheet breaking down daily usage and monthly usage.

  Customer response

  01/09/2025

   I am rejecting this response because: Nobody stays at the property and the water is shut off which only turns on when someone needs to wash hands or use restroom so there is even no leaking in any situation. This property is vacant since the beginning and minimal work is being done which is why there is no usage being done. Multiple times the crew from fort wayne Utility came and touched/messed up with the meter thinking that why the water is not being used so how can all of a sudden you can send the bill of this high amount? Definitely either your meter is messed up or your crew messed up with it to show some usage which is fraud and not acceptable. AGAIN, WATER IS NOT BEING USED IN THE PROPERTY AND THE VALVES ARE SHUT OFF TO PREVENT ANY UNKNOWN USAGE since 2022. Its Fort Wayne Utility people itself who played around with the water meter several times and told us that they're just fixing it because they are not seeing any water usage. We have enough neighbors who can testify that no one lives at the property and its going under very slow renovation by the owner itself (no contractors are involved). 
  
  
  

  Business response

  01/10/2025

  It seems like you don't trust the Utility and its equipment. I can see this is very frustrating for you. We don't know how the water was used and we are confident that it passed through the water meter. 

  The Utility takes pictures of the meter read and the meter serial number so that we can verify everything is correct. The Utility installed a new water meter radio (meter reading radio transmitter) on March 30, 2023. Pictures were taken of the meter read and the serial number. See attached pictures. The Utility then checked the meter in June 2024 and pictures were taken. See attached pictures. 

  Based on the pictures showing the same meter serial number and the different meter reads we are confident that the meter recoded the usage you have been billed.

  Customer response

  01/13/2025

   I am rejecting this response because: No pictures were attached to your previous response for water meter before and after. Please share the pictures. 
  
  
  

  Customer response

  01/14/2025

   I am rejecting this response because: Your June 2024 meter read has no reading but the meter number only (Please see attached). Also, Your people came prior to June 2024 when they messed up and played around with the meter. Again water was not used but its your technicians or your other people messed up with the meter because of their concern of non water usage. This property has been vacant with valves shut off since 2022 and till date nobody lives there so there is never a water usage except minimum when I visit as an owner but it has been a concern from City Utility since day 1 for non water usage when it doesn't matter how many times I explain them that water is not being used because nobody lives there and where all the neighbors can testify that the property is still vacant. I won't be paying for your staff's or technicians mistake when we have never used this much of water. 
  
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  12/30/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I received my billing statement on December 2024 via email once reviewed I was shocked at the charges. I called and originally spoke with a ***** which was rude and she said I was late, I inform I pay before billing comes out I was not late! I asked for a manager after couple words she hung up on me, called back and spoke with someone else and she stated something about a estimate bill and no actual reading I informed her that the white truck pulls in driveway monthly she informed that a call back is within 24/48 hrs no one called me for almost two weeks and even then I still have not been able to speak with anyone I have called **** which is whom left me a message! I paid my billing because I don't pay late! My billing was $395 when it usually runs $90/$100 When my water meter was changed I was advised this was to assure an actual reading with NO ONE needing to be home! I don't feel responsible for their error and I'm on a fixed income

  Business response

  01/10/2025

  Good day,
  
  I apologize for not being able to get back to you in a timely manner.  I did review the call recordings, and the representative could have handled the call better and better explain the billing situation to you.  We are going to coach the employees to better explain any out of the ordinary changes in a customers billing charges. 
  
  We understand that no one plans or expects for a larger bill than normal, and I understand that is frustrating.  I would be equally frustrated if I received a larger than normal bill too.  We do have the ability to setup a long-term agreement, which breaks down the one large bill into smaller monthly installments without interest.  I see on your account that you have already paid your balance.  However, if you would like to, I can return the $296.00 payment you made on 12/28 to you.  This will place that owed amount back to your account.  I can then setup a long-term arrangement to break it down into smaller installments.     Let me know if this were something you would like to have done.  Unfortunately, I am unable to discount or adjust charges of the usage from actual reads on the meter.
  
  Kind regards,

  **** *****

  Customer response

  01/11/2025

   I am rejecting this response because:
  I would like to take the time to thank the BBB if I had not submitted the compliant there would have been no interaction on City Utilities end! They are just wanting to extend long term payment it's paid I was cheated and that's the conclusion!. No more response is Needed I just wanted them to meet me half way with the billing they refuse I'll sit in silence with God! Again thank you
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  05/20/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Upon moving and requesting to have the water turned on, I was given a large window of time in waiting for the utility employee to come over in order to turn the water on; in other words, I had to stay at home most of the afternoon standing by and waiting -- and I tried to do that. But due to an eventuality, I was not there at the time the employee came over the first time and due to that event I have been charged an extra $56. The point is that besides the fact that they should provide us with smaller windows of time I was not informed about that possible extra charge when I first called in order to request services; therefore, I was no aware of that possible extra charge. All in all, this is really unfair and a bad business practice which should be purged from any organization.Customer and Account no.: ***************

• Initial Complaint

  12/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Since October, I have scheduled 3 appointments for the required water meter replacement program going on in Fort Wayne. Two appointments have been canceled by Tribus / Fort Wayne City Utilities. While having set appointments - I have so far received 3 threatening letter to schedule an appointment and 1 letter of Water disconnection threat with a date of 12/26/2023. I have called and talk to multiple Tribus employees who have all admitted the cancelation have been on their end because of computer issues, yet they continue to send, mail and hand deliver threats of disconnection. This is an ongoing issue - as they have now pushed my scheduled date out til middle of January.

  Business response

  12/27/2023

  Customer's complaint is not with ********************** directly but rather with a third-party contractor we brought in to handle a mass meter change out program city-wide. The contractor's name is Tribus - they are an ***************** We cannot manage their crews or their level of service. All we can do is hold them accountable within the contract, which is something we have been doing by charging liquidated damages for each day they go beyond their allotted time period as well as throttle the number of appointments they are permitted to schedule per technician. They have been dealing with unforeseen staffing issues due to inflation and changes in the job market- they are having a hard time keeping qualified technicians to do the work. They schedule appointments out in advance, only to have techs quit last minute and then need to reschedule. The customer has not tried to call ******************** directly with this issue, if they had, we would have returned their order to the utility and scheduled the meter change with them directly with our own technicians. We had reached out to the customer to try this approach, but they neglected to have us complete the meter change and elected to keep their appointment with the contractor for ******** We can try again to offer this alternative if the customer is worried that his appointment will be rescheduled yet again. I will have a customer support representative reach out to him today.

  Customer response

  01/02/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  1) they never contacted me or offered and other options.

  2) I did contact their office - only to be told that this is a 3rd party issue and I was instructed to contact Tribus.

  3) my problem - had they contacted me, was never about the canceled appointments, staff shortaged or no shows....  my conplaint has solely been the threatening letters sent with Fort Wayne City Utilities header, with threats of canceling my service, where they know and admitted that All of the issues are with Tribus.

  Business response

  01/10/2024

  The consumer states their negative rating is solely due to the letters they received warning of disconnection for non-compliance.

  City Utilities is required by law to inform the customer if disconnection of service due to non-compliance is possible. Both our General Rules and Regulations as well as our MyWater project Rules and Regulations (all approved by the ***** of ****** Works and available on the City Utilities website at ************************************************************************************************* and ************************************************************************** ) outline the utility's obligation to notify a customer when a meter change is required and to inform the customer that should they neglect to schedule their meter change, we (or our third party) are permitted to disconnect service for non-compliance.

  To not deliver this notice to the customer would be against the law and a violation of our rules and regulations. Though I appreciate that this customer did all that he could to schedule his meter change and apologize sincerely for the lack of responsiveness of our third-party contractor, we do have customers who ignore the notice entirely and do not comply with the required update to the equipment. In those cases, we must turn off water in order to get the customer to respond in order to reduce socializing the costs of non-compliance across our entire customer base. We must notify all customers up-front what the consequences could be for non-compliance.

  In **************** case - our records indicate that we did not disconnect his water but did properly disclose to the customer what the consequences could be if he neglected to comply with the equipment upgrade. We attempted to call the customer to offer to return his appointment to the utility instead of having ****** complete his appointment since they cancelled on him. However, on our attempt to call, the phone rang busy and gave no option to leave a voicemail. 

  To negatively score City Utilities through the BBB for following our Rules and Regulations regarding properly notifying the customer of consequences for non-compliance would not be best practice as the alternative would require us to break the law and regulations set forth by the ******* ***************************** as well as the ***** of ****** Works.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩