Water dept meter readers chewed out [Archive]

Maggie-Doodle

10-19-2006, 10:08 PM

Earlier this afternoon, the HA had an update online about the Hburg water dept. meter readers getting in trouble for not reading people's water meters and customers complaining about very large water bills this past week.

I was in a hurry at the time and didn't post the link...I just went back to do so and it is no longer on the HA update site. :smt102 I wonder where it went? I did hear WDAM talk about it at 5 & 6 but they havn't gotten anything on line either. Do you suppose it po'ed the mayor and he made them remove the update? On second thought, probably not...I mean he wouldn't do that or would he?

fuzzis

10-19-2006, 10:11 PM

daisy

10-19-2006, 10:12 PM

I saw it on t.v. and it showed Bennie Sellers talking and saying the situation will be handled fairly and if records were falsified it will be handled.

A scene with flowing water was shown.?????? I am with Fuzzis, the news is the news and they were checking out customer's water bills being higher than normal.

hbm

10-19-2006, 10:13 PM

The seems to be a lot of stories that don't stay on the website for long.

fuzzis

10-19-2006, 10:13 PM

You can find the story here (http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061019/NEWS01/61019019&SearchID=73260376168731).

fuzzis

carsalesguy

10-19-2006, 10:14 PM

i don't think that this is the first time that they didn't read the meter....

i remember when we lived off burnt bridge we knew that n. lamar didn't read our meter....i remember one time i left the hose on all day 24 hours and the bill actually went down.....plus you could not read the meter because it had leaked for the past 3 years or so.....

Maggie-Doodle

10-19-2006, 10:31 PM

THANKS fuzzi, I couldn't find the link...

I was being jesting about the mayor having the article removed from the HA website....I imagine he can put pressure on alot of people when he wants...after all he is the mayor and he can do what he wants!!! :) lol

hbm, I agree, I see alot of stuff not being reported promptly or not at all.

fuzzis

10-19-2006, 10:35 PM

So, is this why my water bill showed a 5,500 gallon increase in usage in one month? :smt102

fuzzis

Maggie-Doodle

10-19-2006, 10:51 PM

I had a neigbhor who called me and asked me about my bill...she said her bill went from something like $45.00 to almost $200.00 this past bill...

She has a big swimming pool and I ask her had she put water in it...she said no, not since like Feb. right before they moved back in their house since Katrina hit..(she had extensive damage and had to move out)
she said she had paid the bill every month so she knew it wasn't but one months bill and said maybe she had a leak somewhere.

I told her I bet they hadn't read the meter..sure nuff...she was so p.o.'ed...IMO they need to not only chew the meter readers but whoever is over the water dept. too...IF enuf people complain something will be done...as we have seen here!

wilebill

10-19-2006, 11:06 PM

The HA's daily news articles don't build up and scroll like the one on the C-L's site. Once the HA's number of articles reach a certain number, the earlier ones just disappear from the little window they're in.

They really need to get their act together on their site. It gets worse and worse all the time, or maybe a better way to put it is theirs doesn't keep up with everyone else's, especially within the Gannett group's.

But back to the issue, we've got too many city employees who think they are entitled to a job and don't really need to do anything to keep it. Look at the police chief, he's probably their biggest role model.

TheKing

10-19-2006, 11:54 PM

Most of those updates are shite anyway

Ask about the recently added 'good enough' policy.

Conveyor Belt

10-20-2006, 07:30 AM

Not reading meters seems to be a common practice. It seems that once establishing an average usage for your household, they only come around to read the meter ever 3 or so months, and make adjustments accordingly.

Once, when I was living under the Barrontown Water System, our bill went up an astronomical amount in money and usage. I called about it. I asked the lady how it was possible for us to use, in one month, more water than we had used in the entire past year? She said that our meter hadn't been read in a year and they had been estimating. After I got through yelling about it, I went and checked the meter and it matched the ending total on the bill. After that, ever bill I got, I went straight from the mailbox to the meter to check. If it was off by one unit, I'd call and get them to come out and re-read it to give me a corrected bill.

I don't mind the estimation, if it were more accurate, but not reading a meter for a year or so is ridiculous and stupid... JMO.

jojobeans1120

10-20-2006, 07:38 AM

Not reading meters seems to be a common practice. It seems that once establishing an average usage for your household, they only come around to read the meter ever 3 or so months, and make adjustments accordingly.

.

Mississippi Power does the same thing. My light bill was reasonable for months. In August, I received my statement and nearly passed out.:smt103 I called, raised hell, and was told the same thing. :mad:

jmb

10-20-2006, 09:19 AM

So, is this why my water bill showed a 5,500 gallon increase in usage in one month? :smt102

fuzzis

Maybe this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=MAqb8U7fVok) is what happened. :)

58ford

10-20-2006, 10:49 AM

If the meter readers aren't reading the meters, FIRE THEM!

B.T. Justice

10-20-2006, 11:13 AM

You can't fire them; they are members of Mt. Carmel!

Maggie-Doodle

10-20-2006, 12:11 PM

I hear tell that they only have like 3 or 4 readers to begin with, they are shy about 4...seems the p.d. isn't the only one that is losing employees. I am with 58, if they don't do their jobs, which apparently they havn't FIRE THEM SUCKERS! THAT is exactly what would have happened to me had I not done my work while at HPD.
The thing is, it is not only the meter readers but apparently the supervisor who is in charge of them, he isn't supervising or else he would have known they were not doing their jobs in the first place! I would be willing to bet nothing else happens to any of them.

dave06668

10-20-2006, 12:23 PM

Mississippi Power does the same thing. My light bill was reasonable for months. In August, I received my statement and nearly passed out.:smt103 I called, raised hell, and was told the same thing. :mad:you are right about that.i had to do the same thing,and they will tell you right to your face that they sometimes 'estimate',they said sometimes the reader cant get a clear view or there was a dog or some crap.I dont own a dog,my next dor neighbor has a tiny dog that stays behind a fence at all times.
my bill went from 150 a month to 530 a month,and after raising hell it only went down to around 375 a month,and my meter is very easy to get to,i wish something could be done,i have tried everything.

jmack

10-20-2006, 03:24 PM

My water bill was well over $100.00 and I called to ask why before this story broke. If they didn't read the meter and made up a usage number, that is stealing in my opinion.

Biggie

10-20-2006, 03:36 PM

Estimating my water usage?
Man, I'm gonna estimate how much I think I should pay them in taxes.

TheKing

10-20-2006, 04:08 PM

Has anybody ever received a 'refund' because they overestimated?

wilebill

10-20-2006, 04:17 PM

I guess the water department is trying to cash in on the crime business, too.

Marjan Suggs

10-20-2006, 04:19 PM

Folks, get real this has been going on for decades, why yell now, cause the $ amount has finally reached an enormous total? Talk to any former meter reader, and if they were to be honest, 75% of all "readings " have been estimated, how do you think that the light companies,gas companies, and water departments could afford to hire big bucks ceos??? Why act surprised now????

Maggie-Doodle

10-20-2006, 04:24 PM

I called the water, power and gas companies to find out when my meter is usually read during the month...on those days I try and watch for the meter reader to come around...I have been know to holler at them if I didn't see them read the meter...of course I know if you are working during the day that is probably impossible for you to do...but for those who are at home it is one solution.

Bahlk

10-20-2006, 04:24 PM

I always wondered if it was possible (time wise) in a month to be able to read EVERY water meter in the city.

AlphaMale

10-20-2006, 05:15 PM

I bet if they over estimate and bump up the East Hattiesburg residents, some heads would roll.

Conveyor Belt

10-20-2006, 05:44 PM

Has anybody ever received a 'refund' because they overestimated?

no, it just goes to a 'credit' for your future business.

TideJoe

10-20-2006, 07:03 PM

Well..... I was one of them that got billed all summer for 5000 gallons and then in October I got billed for 47,000 gallons..... $165. I called up there and raised hell but it did no good. There was no possible way I used that much water in one month but I did water my yard all summer and was charged the same all summer. If it happens again I'll personally find someone to lay into.

Maggie-Doodle

10-20-2006, 08:54 PM

alpha, from what I hear even when those meters are read, they sometimes are let go for months without a payment being made..I have heard Mt. Carmel has been done the same way as well as another "big" city employee that is always in the news.

medtrans

10-21-2006, 01:54 AM

My light bill went up about $250 one month. I went and read the meter and there was a big difference in what I read and what was on my bill. I called MS Power and they said it was probably estimated. I said I believed there was an error made, but that if it was estimated they needed to go back and re-estimate. The bill should have gone down about $50. I asked that they come re-read the meter. She said "I will send them on Monday, but if it is correct you will be charged for a service trip." They came out and re-read it and, sure enough, they had made a mistake. Now I check it on the day they read it and then check it against the light bill. I did have trouble with the water bill the first few months I was here. I thought I had a leak somewhere and was about to call a plumber, then suddenly the bill came down from $60 a month to $7 one month, and now runs between $25-35 a month. I would really have been po'd if I'd had the line in my yard dug up and found nothing was found.

Derrick B

10-22-2006, 10:02 PM

I'm not sure that the mayor can make the newspaper do anything. I thikn that's giving him way too much credit.

fuzzis
(thikn) :rollonflo :shh: I think it's (think).lol

fuzzis

10-22-2006, 10:09 PM

(thikn) I think it's (think).lol

It's great to know that I have my own personal proof-reader. :smt038 :smt038

Do you want me to PM you my posts before I make them so you won't be burdened with having to comb through everyone else's to find mine? :confused:

I'm just trying to be as considerate as you are...:roll:

fuzzis

Conveyor Belt

10-22-2006, 10:12 PM

quick, do a hubba and edit it so derrick looks stupid... er... somehting like that...

fuzzis

10-22-2006, 10:15 PM

quick, do a hubba and edit it so derrick looks stupid... er... somehting like that...

Eh. I'm not ashamed of typos. Typos aren't the same thing as being able to construct a logical, coherent sentence. Derrick doesn't understand that. If it makes Derrick happy to be my self-appointed proof-reading stalker, I guess it makes him happy. Pitty. :smt118 (that one was on purpose, Derrick...was gonna say something else, but I'll keep it to myself)

fuzzis

Conveyor Belt

10-22-2006, 10:27 PM

c'mon... let it out or it'll turn into cancer...

fuzzis

10-22-2006, 10:33 PM

c'mon... let it out or it'll turn into cancer...

Derrick did just call me rude in another thread....and it's certainly rude. :smt038

fuzzis

Derrick B

10-27-2006, 11:47 PM

[quo:smt038te=fuzzis;125033]It's great to know that I have my own personal proof-reader.

Do you want me to PM you my posts before I make them so you won't be burdened with having to comb through everyone else's to find mine?

I'm just trying to be as considerate as you are...:roll:

fuzzis[/quote]
Well with you proof-reading mine,:rolleyes: I just thought I'd return the favor but I see you're already editing yours before I can get to them. No need to PMS:smt074 opps I mean PM your posts to me I can find them easy enough. Thank you:smt038 One more thing. When people, such as yourself, demean other people it's just because you have to be ugly to others because you believe yourself to be ugly. Also if you can't figure it out with all those books you have, I'm not talking about on the outside either, you're ugly on the inside.

fuzzis

10-27-2006, 11:51 PM

Well with you proof-reading mine,:rolleyes: I just thought I'd return the favor but I see you're already editing yours before I can get to them. No need to PMS:smt074 opps I mean PM your posts to me I can find them easy enough. Thank you:smt038

Ummmm...I was never proof-reading your posts, sweets, but I'm not surprised you don't understand that. Try to keep up, eh? You're like what? A week behind? :smt103

fuzzis