What Would You Ask For?

[ny96]

What would you ask for in this situation?

A few months ago we received a really high water bill. We don’t believe there are any changes in our water usage or leaks so I contacted the utility company and they said that we were welcome to take a picture of the meter and send it to them, but they would charge us $50 to reread the meter. It took us a while to figure out where the meter is located (on the street above our house) and I tasked my husband with taking care of this, and long story short we ended up paying the bill without taking a picture of the meter. Fast forward to this weekend. We get a new bill and my husband finally goes for a walk, finds the meter in the street, opens the cover, and the meter is buried in about a foot of dirt. We believe that this probably happened when we had a large amount of rain last January and the meter has definitely not been read in a very long time. I am contacting them today and asking that come out and reread the meter, but considering we have probably been over paying for quite some time and they have just been making up a number, what else should I be asking for. For context we normally pay around $150 a month and the last 4 months it’s been closer to $300 per month (we pay every other month).

[EvieEthelGarland]

I'd be worried there was a leak. Can you turn off the water to your house and see if the meter is still going? That'll tell you if there is a leak in your yard.

[ny96]

Oct 14, 2024 12:26:22 GMT -5 EvieEthelGarland said:

I'd be worried there was a leak. Can you turn off the water to your house and see if the meter is still going? That'll tell you if there is a leak in your yard.

There is no leak. They are not reading the meter.

[blondemoment123]

It's possible that the meter is read electronically.

[ny96]

Oct 14, 2024 12:31:34 GMT -5 blondemoment123 said:

It's possible that the meter is read electronically.

No, they have to come out and physically read the meter.

[heygrey]

Whose responsibility is it to maintain the metre? Are they supposed to send someone to read it before every bill and you assume they haven't because of the dirt? I'll be honest, they gave you an answer 3 months ago and you chose not to pursue it, either sending a picture of the metre or investigating a potential leak. I think some of this is on you. I would want to guarantee there isn't a leak and have an accurate reading going forward, but I don't think I would push for anything on the previous bills.

[mysteriouswife]

I would ask for a supervisor to come read when you are there. It will give you peace of mind knowing it’s done properly.

[ny96]

Oct 14, 2024 12:32:42 GMT -5 heygrey said:

Whose responsibility is it to maintain the metre? Are they supposed to send someone to read it before every bill and you assume they haven't because of the dirt? I'll be honest, they gave you an answer 3 months ago and you chose not to pursue it, either sending a picture of the metre or investigating a potential leak. I think some of this is on you. I would want to guarantee there isn't a leak and have an accurate reading going forward, but I don't think I would push for anything on the previous bills.

They are responsible for reading the meter.

[mofongo]

There are tons of issues here with water bills, meters, etc. I would get them to come out and inspect it, see what’s going. I agree that I’m not sure why you continued to pay the higher bills when you thought something was wrong, so not sure you can ask for anything except for them to come fix it.

[lust2hart]

Oct 14, 2024 12:32:42 GMT -5 heygrey said:

Whose responsibility is it to maintain the metre? Are they supposed to send someone to read it before every bill and you assume they haven't because of the dirt? I'll be honest, they gave you an answer 3 months ago and you chose not to pursue it, either sending a picture of the metre or investigating a potential leak. I think some of this is on you. I would want to guarantee there isn't a leak and have an accurate reading going forward, but I don't think I would push for anything on the previous bills.

I agree with this.

[ny96]

Oct 14, 2024 12:43:11 GMT -5 lust2hart said:

Oct 14, 2024 12:32:42 GMT -5 heygrey said:

Whose responsibility is it to maintain the metre? Are they supposed to send someone to read it before every bill and you assume they haven't because of the dirt? I'll be honest, they gave you an answer 3 months ago and you chose not to pursue it, either sending a picture of the metre or investigating a potential leak. I think some of this is on you. I would want to guarantee there isn't a leak and have an accurate reading going forward, but I don't think I would push for anything on the previous bills.

I agree with this.

It’s been about a month and a half and we could not figure out where the meter was located and the utility company either would not tell us or could not tell us without sending a representative and charging us $50. We went as far as asking all our neighbors and walking the street several times trying to find it. We finally paid it because we were getting hounded with past due letters and emails. After we paid it my neighbor suggested it was likely on the street above us, about a 15 min walk from our front door, and so when we got this new bill we went looking for it.

[livinitup]

As a utility, I’d expect and ask for a credit for the amount they overcharged. I would also expect to pay the $50 - I’d ask for this to be waived or credited with little (but not zero) expectation that it be granted.

I would not expect more than that. It will be a ridiculous amount of effort for you to get this sorted and you will be frustrated. It sucks.

[donutsmakemegonuts]

I would ask for someone to come and read the meter now, whether that involved a $50 charge or not. I would not want to continue paying double per month of what you normally owe and if the meter needs to be repaired, then they need to know about it. I don't think there is anything you can "ask" for other than that. They are most likely not going to reimburse you the money you've already paid. Not sure what you want to happen here.

[dexteroni]

So not wanting to pay $50 for a meter reading has resulted in $600 in overcharges ($150/month x 4 months)? omg. Have them come asap. There might be a leak, or the meter might be damaged from the weight of the dirt, ir they may be negligent in reading it, but you have to get to the bottom of it or this is unlikely to stop.

Unfortunately I don’t think you’re going to get a refund for past bills since you didn’t take the steps they advised, but hopefully you can have the current bill corrected and future bills will be back to normal.

[georgeglass]

We had a crazy high water bill about six months ago because the city had been estimated our usage for YEARS and finally came and read the meter. They mark the bills as E for estimated or A for actual. They ended up crediting us thousands of dollars.

You should have a start number and ending number for each month. Is that on your bill?

[ny96]

Oct 14, 2024 13:02:33 GMT -5 donutsmakemegonuts said:

I would ask for someone to come and read the meter now, whether that involved a $50 charge or not. I would not want to continue paying double per month of what you normally owe and if the meter needs to be repaired, then they need to know about it. I don't think there is anything you can "ask" for other than that. They are most likely not going to reimburse you the money you've already paid. Not sure what you want to happen here.

Ultimately, I want them to reread the meter and then if it is in line with our past history (last year), I want them to go back, reassess the last 6 months (based on past history), and issue a refund. It appears that their meter readers were not doing their jobs.

[ny96]

Oct 14, 2024 13:11:15 GMT -5 georgeglass said:

We had a crazy high water bill about six months ago because the city had been estimated our usage for YEARS and finally came and read the meter. They mark the bills as E for estimated or A for actual. They ended up crediting us thousands of dollars.

You should have a start number and ending number for each month. Is that on your bill?

There is a read date and an exact meter reading number on our bill.

[ny96]

Oct 14, 2024 13:11:48 GMT -5 ny96 said:

Oct 14, 2024 13:02:33 GMT -5 donutsmakemegonuts said:

I would ask for someone to come and read the meter now, whether that involved a $50 charge or not. I would not want to continue paying double per month of what you normally owe and if the meter needs to be repaired, then they need to know about it. I don't think there is anything you can "ask" for other than that. They are most likely not going to reimburse you the money you've already paid. Not sure what you want to happen here.

Ultimately, I want them to reread the meter and then if it is in line with our past history (last year), I want them to go back, reassess the last 6 months (based on past history), and issue a refund. It appears that their meter readers were not doing their jobs.

I should note that first thing I did today was call them and ask them to come out.

[mcppalmbeach]

I would call them back and ask if there was any chance that your bill was an estimated amount as it doesn’t appear like the meter has been read. I would ask your neighbors id they are having similar problems. I’ve had to check our meter several times and I have to say every time it’s completely covered in dirt. I see my meter readers come as well.

[kadams767]

Oct 14, 2024 13:18:23 GMT -5 ny96 said:

Oct 14, 2024 13:11:15 GMT -5 georgeglass said:

We had a crazy high water bill about six months ago because the city had been estimated our usage for YEARS and finally came and read the meter. They mark the bills as E for estimated or A for actual. They ended up crediting us thousands of dollars.

You should have a start number and ending number for each month. Is that on your bill?

There is a read date and an exact meter reading number on our bill.

Is the meter reading on the last bill way off from the actual reading on the meter now?  If so, I would take the picture of the current reading on the meter, and either send that to them noting that their reading was incorrect and expect that you'd get a credit on your next bill(s) until you are squared up.

This recently happened on my gas bill.  The company alternates between estimated readings and an actual reading every other month.  Normal gas bills in the summer are super low, like $20, because we aren't running the heat at all in those months.  In July, I got a bill for over $200, so I called them and tried to submit a reading and get the bill adjusted.  Because it was SO FAR off their reading (the utility worker transposed numbers on their reading when they came out), they couldn't accept it and I had to just pay the bill and wait for the next actual reading to be done and I'd be credited for the overage.  Lo and behold, my bills for August, September and October have now been $0.  It's annoying, but in the end, they just credit you if you've overpaid.

[InBetweenDays]

Wow, I don't think I have ever heard of a water meter being located that far from a home. Usually they are right at your property line so you have easy access to shut off water to your house if needed.

Anyway, I believe water meter readings are cumulative. Like an odometer. So you should be able to look at the reading listed on your bill, and compare it to the actual reading you verify at the meter. If the number on the bill is higher then I would expect that I wouldn't be charged again until your actual meter reading meets or exceeds the number of the last bill.

[plutosmoon]

My water meter is inside my house, it's read by some sort of gun from the street, my water meter is quite old, but still readable remotely. They may have to come out, but not actually remove the dirt to read it, it could also be new dirt. Are you certain you are looking at the correct meter? My first house the meter was by sidewalk, last few houses it was in my basement.

Does your bill have the actual readings on it, mine does, so it's super easy to check if it is incorrect. I'd check the meter numbers on the bill against the actual meter, if the meter is way below I'd have them come read the meter and point out the discrepancy, you will then probably have no bill to pay for several months as it evens out. My house was vacant for about a year before I moved in, the city had been estimating usage for that time, so my actual reading was significantly lower, they assumed the meter was broken and I got a notice of inspection. DPW never responded to my calls, but eventually my meter caught up, during the year my meter played catch up and I had a very minimal estimated bill. I finally got an actual bill last month when it caught up.

[lust2hart]

Oct 14, 2024 13:11:48 GMT -5 ny96 said:

Oct 14, 2024 13:02:33 GMT -5 donutsmakemegonuts said:

I would ask for someone to come and read the meter now, whether that involved a $50 charge or not. I would not want to continue paying double per month of what you normally owe and if the meter needs to be repaired, then they need to know about it. I don't think there is anything you can "ask" for other than that. They are most likely not going to reimburse you the money you've already paid. Not sure what you want to happen here.

Ultimately, I want them to reread the meter and then if it is in line with our past history (last year), I want them to go back, reassess the last 6 months (based on past history), and issue a refund. It appears that their meter readers were not doing their jobs.

I think this is reasonable. I would be prepared for them to, rather than issue a refund, apply any overpayment to future bills. I don't think it's reasonable to ask for anything beyond that. 

[ny96]

Oct 14, 2024 13:51:31 GMT -5 lust2hart said:

Oct 14, 2024 13:11:48 GMT -5 ny96 said:

Ultimately, I want them to reread the meter and then if it is in line with our past history (last year), I want them to go back, reassess the last 6 months (based on past history), and issue a refund. It appears that their meter readers were not doing their jobs.

I think this is reasonable. I would be prepared for them to, rather than issue a refund, apply any overpayment to future bills. I don't think it's reasonable to ask for anything beyond that. 

I agree. A credit would be satisfactory.

[Jalapeñomel]

What’s the difference between what is on the meter and what’s on your bill?


If there’s a discrepancy, they’ll credit your bill.

They estimate our bill and then read every other month. Once we had a meter that was off, they asked us to read the meter, take a pic, and email them. Then they fixed the bill and credited our account.

[beerlover]

My meter's in my house as well. It's wild to me that you'd have to walk 15 min to yours! Must be regional lol. I'm sorry you're dealing with this though, it sounds super annoying.

[hermione]

I’m surprised by how often people’s meters are actually read. I think ours are read once a year and otherwise estimated.

[countthestars]

I can’t believe no one tagged me!

Are you sure they don’t read the meter via radio? If you post a picture here, I can confirm! Where do you live? In the road vs inside is regional, for sure. Do you have a very long driveway? I’m struggling to picture how it would be a 15 min walk to your meter!

I would first shut off all of the water in your house and see if the register “odometer” is still ticking up. If so, you have a leak. If it’s not, they may be estimating your bill. If they have been, all I would expect is a credit for the water you’ve paid for and not used yet.

A meter’s register is like an odometer, so they should be able to take a current read and confirm that you’ve paid for X gallons or cubic feet since you were last confident in the read. I wouldn’t expect more than that.