Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/02/2025

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My payment was set up on auto draft. My paycheck went into my bank account late that day and caused the payment to not go through for my water bill. I immediately the same day that it was due made a payment, and the water bill was paid, and our usage was paid for. There were no error messages or notices on our website for account management stating there was an issue. The payment was made on December 12, 2024 for Novembers water usage. (Since you pay for the prior months water bill). Now on December 26, 2024 my water gets cut off due to non-payment. When they did in fact, receive the payment and even confirmed, they got the payment on the phone when I called. She then proceeded to tell me that even though my water bill was paid because of the reversal fee, this has caused my water to be turned off, and then I had to pay the reversal fee and also a cut back on fee to get the water back on. Even though I had paid for the water usage already and they received that money, they cut my water off over a non sufficient funds fee, which could have been paid on my next bill. Since when does fees on an account cause an account to be delinquent to the point of turning off services when the actual product being the water was paid for. I do not show anywhere on their website that lists this policy or practice. I will attach a screenshot of what my account looks like on their website as of today the day the water got shut off with no notices or warnings. The current amount due showing in the photo is not due until January. Also, Im attaching my bank statement showing the payment was made and also their payment confirmation email that was sent to me right after the payment was made.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/08/2025

  As a Public Utility, North Marshall Utilities has Policies and Regulations set by a 5 member board which are followed.

  Our Policies and Regulations can be viewed on our website at **************************.

  Regarding returned items, our policy states that Customers having a check or bank draft returned by their bank will be given five business days to pick up the item and pay a returned item fee or water will be disconnected.

  Unfortunately, the payment that the customer made was not only less than amount to cover said return, but also was made via electronic check.

  We tried to call the customer before disconnection, however, the number on file was not a working number.

  The $50.00 in question was a reconnect fee to reinstate the water service.

  NORTH MARSHALL UTILITES

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/09/2025

   
  Complaint: 22731955
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The amount that was paid that came out of my bank account covered the water for the prior month. The reversal fee on the account is a fee separate from the water charge so you have no right to cut off my water when the water was paid for. No attempt was made to alert us of the water being turned off and that there was a fee still due on the account. There was nothing in the mail and no email was sent advising of this information. This was poorly handled by North Marshall utilities, and many others in this area have reported the same kind of treatment by this company. My water should not be able to be turned off when it was paid for over a *** fee. Any and all other companies do not consider an account to be delinquent over a fee on the account. It can be paid on the next bill or when the customer is aware of the fee. As shown in the screenshots, there was no alert on my account showing pending water cut off.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ******

  Business Response

  Date: 01/21/2025

  On December ******* we mailed a notice to the customer informing them that their payment had come back to us as NSF.

  After not hearing from the customer and not having an up to date phone number on file to reach them, water service was disconnected on December 26, 2024.

  We where then contacted by the customer and we explained what needed to be paid to get the water back on.

  The customer stated they had made a payment online. The amount paid by the customer online was $50.00 via check on 12/11/24. The amount due to reinstate the water was $131.00.

  We allowed the amount of $50.00 to go towards the $131.00 total due, although it should have been paid via cash, money order, or card payment.

  Mr. ****** came in to take care of the return and I let him know we had tried to call the number on file before disconnecting service.

  He thanked me for trying and I updated the phone number on file to a good number he could be reached in the future.

  The confusion and disconnection could have been avoided if the customer would have called the office to insure the online payment they made was sufficient to cover the return.

  As stated before, As a Public Utility, we have Policies and Regulations to follow. 

  NORTH MARSHALL UTILITIES

   

  Business Response

  Date: 01/21/2025

  Date Sent: 1/21/2025 12:48:04 PM
  

  On December ******* we mailed a notice to the customer informing them that their payment had come back to us as NSF.

  After not hearing from the customer and not having an up to date phone number on file to reach them, water service was disconnected on December 26, 2024.

  We where then contacted by the customer and we explained what needed to be paid to get the water back on.

  The customer stated they had made a payment online. The amount paid by the customer online was $50.00 via check on 12/11/24. The amount due to reinstate the water was $131.00.

  We allowed the amount of $50.00 to go towards the $131.00 total due, although it should have been paid via cash, money order, or card payment.

  Mr. ****** came in to take care of the return and I let him know we had tried to call the number on file before disconnecting service.

  He thanked me for trying and I updated the phone number on file to a good number he could be reached in the future.

  The confusion and disconnection could have been avoided if the customer would have called the office to insure the online payment they made was sufficient to cover the return.

  As stated before, As a Public Utility, we have Policies and Regulations to follow. 

  NORTH MARSHALL UTILITIES

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/14/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On Tuesday November 12 I witnessed a service worker for the utility company come to my property and turn off my water. When I contacted the office about why this was happening I was advised that in order to continue to pay for my service at this address I was required to setup a brand new profile on their website in order for my services to be billed/payed for at my new address. I moved to this address on September 12 and services were transferred on the 17th of September. To my knowledge at that time, all balances were paid in full and no member of the water company notified me that I needed to go thru all of these rigorous steps to continue to keep my services in good standing. When I contacted them about the shut off, I was advised about all of the information which should have been told to me upon transferral of services to the new address. I was also charged a $50 reconnection fee and a $5.95 fee to use my debit card to pay for it all. This all couldve been avoided had the sufficient information been conveyed to me, the customer, upon transferral of service. The fact that none of that information was conveyed to me and now Im being charged for something that was beyond my scope of understanding at the time, Im very upset. I was misled and uninformed and now have to pay extra money due to one of the employee's mistakes. This is theft by deception. After the disconnect it took 5 hours to have the services reinstated. I was also charged a late fee, which I dont dispute because I understand it was late, but I cant pay a bill I never received.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/03/2024

  North Marshall Utilities has a Policy set by the Board in regards to how accounts are processed.

  Attached you will find our Rules and Regulations and how past due balances and reconnects are handled.

  Each customer when setting up an account is given a copy of these Rules and Regulations.