ComplaintsforPaintsville Gas & Water Company

• Initial Complaint

  06/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Been a customer for over 5 years and have never been disconnected. The last few months I've been having problems with paying bills since everything has gone up in price and my brother's insurance has been going through changes with their network coverage so have been having to pay more out of pocket to get his medical supplies. I looked on the Paintsville Utilites website to see if they offer help and seen where it says (under their policies section) 6.) Deferred Payment Plan. I decided to read it and see how you can go about doing it and it says; 1. If Customer has maintained the account in good standing for the past twelve (12) months, Supplier may agree to a Deferred Payment Plan with Customer to cure any delinquencies on the account and permit the Customer to continue to receive utilities services. 2. The Deferred Payment Plan shall be subject to the following terms: a. For past due amounts under three hundred dollars ($299.99 and below), the Plan shall divide the past due amount into equal portions. A portion of the amount past due shall be added to the regularly occurring future monthly charges, and repaid over a period of time not to exceed six (6) months; When my brother asked about it they at first said they didn't know of any deferment plan, just a budget plan if you had gas through them. When he brought in his phone, they then said it was if you had a recent repair or leak that was when they would do that. My complain is if that's what it for, then why not say that in the pdf it makes you download/view? It's really confusing that neither gas, leak, nor repair is mentioned in the plan itself. Is there any way to update the document or anything so others don't get confused or their hopes up when they are struggling? I'll upload the document with this down at the bottom so they can see for themselves or others can see, not sure how it works. Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  04/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My issues all stared in January. I got up one morning to take a shower and had no water pressure. The night before it had dropped down to around 14 degrees so my first thought so maybe it's froze up. But I've never had that issue in the almost 12 years I've been there. So I go check everything and all is fine. I call my parents and talk around to people because it is the weekend and the water company office is closed. My Mom says something about my outside spigot. Well that fixed my problem for the time being. I had to turn it completely on, water running full force to have pressure in my house. So Monday morning I go to Paintsville Utilities and asked them if they come out and look at it. The guy at the from desk says he'll do a work order. So we did up the spigot and replace it with a new one thinking that would fix the issue but it did not. 6 days later still not workers. I'm still running the spigot to take a shower, wash clothes, do dishes etc. Well I contact them again. They said they would send someone out. I wait another week and still no one. So I go back again and when I walked in I told them I need someone out there because I was running double water and my bill was going to be outrageous! The woman said we can't do anything on your side. I said I don't even know what the problem is, I can't even get you all to come and look at it. Things got heated and they came after I left. But my bill ended up being $113.xx. I asked for an adjustment and they said they would only take off $11.01 because it was based on an average of the whole year. I didn't think that was fair. I understand that maybe their rules but I was just asking for help for that certain period. It took them 2 weeks to come out to me! And if I had not went in and got a little rough and hateful with them I don't think they would have came out when they did. To me an $11.01 discount was like a smack in the face when I was leaving my spigot wide open just to take a shower, double the water.

  Business response

  05/18/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 12, 2022/05/10) */ CUSTOMER CLAIM: My issues all stared in January. I got up one morning to take a shower and had no water pressure. The night before it had dropped down to around 14 degrees so my first thought so maybe it's froze up. But I've never had that issue in the almost 12 years I've been there. So I go check everything and all is fine. I call my parents and talk around to people because it is the weekend and the water company office is closed. My Mom says something about my outside spigot. Well that fixed my problem for the time being. I had to turn it completely on, water running full force to have pressure in my house. So Monday morning I go to Paintsville Utilities and asked them if they come out and look at it. The guy at the from desk says he'll do a work order. So we did up the spigot and replace it with a new one thinking that would fix the issue but it did not. 6 days later still not workers. I'm still running the spigot to take a shower, wash clothes, do dishes etc. Well I contact them again. They said they would send someone out. I wait another week and still no one. RESPONSE: Paintsville Utilities takes each customer concern seriously. As a municipal utility, we work for our customers. When issues or concerns arise and need follow-up, field personnel are issued a work order by office personnel. These work orders are prioritized by available personnel based on the nature of the event. Those requiring emergent or immediate actions are given first priority. The original customer concern in this case was non-emergent. The customer called on February 15, 2021 and spoke to customer service regarding an issue of low pressure. Customer service entered a work order the same day. Service personnel changed the pressure reducing valve or "pressure regulator" on the utility side of the meter on February 28th. The work order was closed on March 1st. The pressure regulator change out on the utility side of the meter did not correct the problem. The customer was notified the issue may be the customer owned pressure regulator on their (the customer) side of the meter. The customer owned pressure regulator was changed by the customer's designee and the problem was corrected. CUSTOMER CLAIM: So I go back again and when I walked in I told them I need someone out there because I was running double water and my bill was going to be outrageous! The woman said we can't do anything on your side. I said I don't even know what the problem is, I can't even get you all to come and look at it. Things got heated and they came after I left. But my bill ended up being $113.xx. I asked for an adjustment and they said they would only take off $11.01 because it was based on an average of the whole year. I didn't think that was fair. I understand that maybe their rules but I was just asking for help for that certain period. It took them 2 weeks to come out to me! And if I had not went in and got a little rough and hateful with them I don't think they would have came out when they did. To me an $11.01 discount was like a smack in the face when I was leaving my spigot wide open just to take a shower, double the water. RESPONSE: Paintsville Utilities' policy for adjustments for documented water leaks is as follows: 1. Should Customer discover a water leak on his/her premises and receive a statement indicating higher than normal water use, the Customer shall be entitled to an adjustment to his/her water bill should the Customer meet the following requirements: a. Customer must produce written documentation that a leak was present, discovered and repaired; b. The adjustment shall be made for no longer than a one month period; and c. Customer shall only be entitled to one adjustment per twelve month period per documented water leak. 2. If Customer meets the above requirements, the customer's water bill shall be adjusted by: (1) Determining the total usage for the month in which the customer seeks adjustment; (2) Calculating the customer's average monthly water usage for the previous twelve (12) months; and (3) Subtracting the total usage from the average usage to arrive at the leak amount. Supplier will then divide the leak amount in half (1/2) to arrive at the adjustment amount and the same shall be credited to customer's account. The amount of the bill in which the customer sought adjustment was $113.02. The $11.01 adjustment is based on the 12 month average subtracted from the total usage and then split by 1/2 per the policy. This particular adjustment is also a lenient variation from the policy. The intent of the policy is to provide an adjustment in the event of an actual documented leak. This event was not a leak, rather it was an apparent equipment malfunction of the customer's pressure regulator.

• Initial Complaint

  04/02/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This company does not adhere to the policy that they have publicly listed on their website. They do not respect their customers. When requesting assistance for leaks or payment issues they provide none even though the website clearly states it's provided. When requesting to speak with someone about their policy I was told they can make it up as they go and can do whatever they want. I had a plumber access my gas meter as advised by them and was told the meter was faulty and leaked. Paintsville utilities promised to replace my meter after trying to talk me out of getting a new meter by telling me my usage would raise if I opted to get a new meter? I still requested a new meter and was told there was a work order for one. When I called to check the status I was told the meter would not be replaced that I, along with the plumber was wrong. I spoke with ***** and who I suppose works behind a desk thinks she would have more knowledge than a plumber about the issue. She informed me that I just wanted to blame them because I didn't want to pay my bill. Very poor customer service and this is not the first I have called about this leak. It puts myself and my family in danger not to mention outrageous bills. They add an outrageous late fee of 80 dollars. They only want me to keep the old faulty meter so that I will continue to pay outrageous bills.

  Business response

  05/09/2022

  On Friday, May 6, 2022, Paintsville Utilities received a letter dated April 26, 2022 regarding Case # ********: ******* ******.
  
  Please find below Paintsville Utilities' responses to the statements provided in the customer's original complaint.
  
  CUSTOMER CLAIM: This company does not adhere to the policy that they have publicly listed on their website. When requesting assistance for leaks or payment issues they provide none even though the website clearly states it's provided.
  RESPONSE: Paintsville Utilities does adhere to the stated policies. There is no leak adjustment for natural gas. The policy referenced from the website is only for water leaks.
  
  CUSTOMER CLAIM: They do not respect their customers.
  RESPONSE: This is not the case. However, it is understandable that some may feel that way when we can't do exactly what they ask. As a municipal utility, we work for our customers, all of whom are respected.
  CUSTOMER CLAIM: When requesting to speak with someone about their policy I was told they can make it up as they go and can do whatever they want.
  RESPONSE: This is obviously not correct. Entire customer service staff states they did not say this to anyone.
  
  CUSTOMER CLAIM: I had a plumber access my gas meter as advised by them and was told the meter was faulty and leaked
  RESPONSE: A qualified natural gas operator, who must be requalified annually by a third party, was dispatched and found no evidence of a leaking meter. The visible display, or index, was not working but the digital reading system was working properly.
  
  CUSTOMER CLAIM: Paintsville utilities promised to replace my meter after trying to talk me out of getting a new meter by telling me my usage would raise if I opted to get a new meter? I still requested a new meter and was told there was a work order for one. When I called to check the status I was told the meter would not be replaced that I, along with the plumber was wrong.
  RESPONSE: Customers are often advised that a new meter will more accurately measure flow than an older meter which will have "slowed down" and not measure 100% of the flow. These differences would be minimal. Due to the meter index issue, and the unavailability of a replacement index, a work order to replace the meter was generated on April 1, 2022. The replacement was done on April 4.
  
  CUSTOMER CLAIM: I spoke with ***** and who I suppose works behind a desk thinks she would have more knowledge than a plumber about the issue. She informed me that I just wanted to blame them because I didn't want to pay my bill. Very poor customer service and this is not the first I have called about this leak. It puts myself and my family in danger not to mention outrageous bills. They add an outrageous late fee of 80 dollars. They only want me to keep the old faulty meter so that I will continue to pay outrageous bills.
  RESPONSE: We don't want to get into a "he said, she said" routine, but here are some facts related to this claim. First, all decisions on this matter were made using information provided by our qualified gas operator. Second, anytime there is a report of a gas leak, our operators respond immediately. Finally, as to the "outrageous late fee" we, as do impose a $40 fee per utility (water and gas) when an account becomes delinquent. There is no additional fee for reconnection once the account is paid.
  See Attachment/File: BBB Case ******** ******* ****** response.docx

  Customer response

  05/09/2022

  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  I suggest anyone who believes the representative who responded call in and ask a question. You will find out how rude they are. They have deferment plans and payment plans listed on their website but if you ask for information you are told they are not available to you or do not exist. Even the employees speak poorly of the office personnel that should tell you how horribly they do business. Also a certified Plummer did check my equipment and I was told "they must not have knew what they were doing." Even the the road crew said my meter was faulty. Just as the personnel stated though "It's he said, she said" such a professional response from a business. Nothing I stated was inaccurate or false and I have documentation to prove it.

  Business response

  05/16/2022

  Paintsville Utilities does not wish to comment further on this matter.

• Initial Complaint

  08/04/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  When I received my most recent water bill with a previous balance of $224.62 plus net bill of $62.40 I contacted Paintsville Utilities about incorrect previous balance. I had no remaining balance from previous months bill. I was told they were auditing closed accounts and sending out final bills that had never been paid. According to them I had two previous accounts that held balances. One was closed April of 2020 and one was closed May of 2020. The one from April was for a bill that was supposed to have had my name removed when I moved and got divorced but it apparently was not. The second from May 2020 was when I moved from a rental property to a home I purchased where I continued service with Paintsville Utilities. At no point did I receive any bill for the accounts that they have now added to my current account. If I truly owed these balances and they have my current address why did I never receive anything until now. Over a year later.

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