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:08/18/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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.

  I sold my house on June 23 and notified the city of water about this. I moved out on July 23 and received a bill for $6715 that is supposed to be one day use of water, the day that I moved out. I did not useany water. It is impossible to use $6715 worth of water in one day. I spoke to the water company and they will not do anything.When I sold my house, I paid off all my bills so I would have good credit now the $6715 bill that is not accurate. Has The ability to ruin my credit that I work so hard to correct

  Business Response

  Date: 08/21/2025

  Good Morning

  Thank you for reaching out to the Department of Public Utilites.

  The account was billed to a reading of 3188, the previous reading was 2336. This resulted in a bill for 852 ***'s. Our billing department scheduled a service order to confirm the reading. It was discovered that the account should have been billed to a reading of 2337.

  The account has been corrected, and a new bill will be sent to **** ******.

  If Ms. ****** has any additional questions, after she receives the corrected bill, she can reach out to our customer service ********************** at ************.

  I apologize for the error.

  Thank you

  ****** R. ******

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/28/2025

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I accept the business's response to resolve this complaint.
  
  Regards,
  
  **** ******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/14/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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.

  The company shut off our water because we didnt have an appointment for a water meter installation. No one knocked at door, just left a note. It is 90 + degrees outside and I have small children. This is very wrong. They said they will come turn on soon but Ive yet to hear anything and we are extremely concerned.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/18/2025

  Mr. & Mrs. ************************* you for contacting the Department of Public Utilites and allowing us to address your concerns.

  Per our system the water was restored Friday August 15th, 2025, at around 2:00 pm.

  If you have any additional questions or concerns, please call our office at ************

  Thank you

  ****** R, ******

   

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/25/2025

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I accept the business's response to resolve this complaint.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** *******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/26/2025

  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.

  I contacted Department of Public Utilities about $25 returned eCheck charge and asked remove $25 charge from my account. I paid full amount of my bill on time before due date. I always paid full amount before due date in past and continue do this. This was only one time honest typing mistake. They refused remove $25 charge from my account because they do not want do that.I had problem before. My new water meter was connect wrong way. I received bill with much higher amount than real water usage. I wasted my time for waiting for their crew to come and reconnect water meter.They made mistake too. And they did not give me $25 for my time and unconvience. I do not understand why their choose treat me like this. This is cruel and unfair way to treat good customers. This problem only will be solve if $25 charge remove from my account.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/28/2025

  Good Morning

  Thank you for allowing the Department of Public Utilities to address the concerns of *** ****.  

  Her payment of $119.63 was received on time however it came back as a return.  The bank charges the *** for the dishonored item, this fee must then be billed to the customer.  

  Unfortunately, we are not able to remove this fee.

  Thank you

  ****** ******

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/24/2024

  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 May 31, 2024 I provided the City of Columbus ***** of Public Utilities a completed Water/Sewer Tenant Direct Billing Agreement. The water switch, which is required by my lease, was to be effective 5/31/2024 with an inside reading of 0895 and an outside reading of 0894. The Utility Lead Representative responded to the email June 3, 2024 at 08:35 with the following: Thank you for contacting The Department of Public Utilities on 5/31/24 regarding your Tenant Billing Agreement.We have received your Tenant Direct Billing Agreement. The agreement is missing information and therefore cannot be processed as received. Please make sure the following fields are complete and resubmit:* Tenants SSN we need a valid social to accept the formAt 08:39, I responded that I refuse to provide my Social Security Number (PII) for utility service and especially not via an unsecured email. I asked for other options. Later that day at 12:37 Utility Lead Representative responded, with our policy we are required to have the social in order to accept the tenant billing agreement and create an account for the tenant. No options were given. On June 7, 2024 at 17:41 I replied again citing the Ohio Administrative Code which clearly states utilities cannot required a Social Security Number to establish utility services. *** 4901:1-17-01 The Utility Lead Representative responded June 10, 2024 at 08:14 claiming that the *** only applies to property owners. This is not what is written in plain English in the above-referenced code. I offered to provide my Drivers License information and/or a letter of credit from another utility to prove my creditworthiness.I have resided in this home since 2018 and can provide any needed documentation to prove residency and/or credit worthiness, but the Utility Lead Representative continues to insist that the City of Columbus is not bound by the *** or that the *** only applies to property owners. Both claims are absurd.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/25/2024

  Mr.  ******

  Thank you for contacting the Department of Public Utilites and allowing us to address your concerns.

  The Department of Public Utilites follows Columbus City Code, and we require social security numbers to start service.  As a tenant if you do not wish to provide us with that information, service will continue the owner's name. If you do wish to have service in your name but do not want to send that information via email you can come to our downtown ****** at *********************************** your SS card and the billing agreement and the *** can start your service. 

  I apologize for any inconvenience.

  Thank you

  *************************

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/07/2023

  Type:Customer Service 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 water got shut off without being told it was getting shut off yesterday. I only received a notice for the 13th, yesterday was clearly not the 13th. Then on top of that I had to call 3 times in an hour just to get someone to acknowledge my complaint/ concerns. They took my money, but dont seem to care to do their jib and get it turned back on a t a reasonable time. To me this is totally unacceptable.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/08/2023

  Ms. ***********
  
  Thank you for allowing the Department of Public Utilities an
  opportunity to address your concerns.
  You reported to the BBB that your water had been shut off
  without notice and that you had received a notice for the 13th.  
  Please allow me to break down your account.  The last payment made on the account was for $100.61
  made on February 17, 2022.  The reason
  this is important is we send 3 notices per bill so with multiple bills many
  dates would overlap and could cause confusion of due dates for each billing
  period.
  Any turn off process were stopped while you were on payment arrangements.   After the payment arrangement defaulted
  on December 2, 2022, I show that delinquent notices were sent to the property.  A new payment arrangement was added to the
  account on December 12, 2022 via our online smartsheet. This plan defaulted on
  January 20, 2023.  Per policy once notices
  are sent regarding a disconnection if they are stopped due to an activate
  payment arrangement no additional notices were sent.  A new bill for service dates September 15,
  2022 – December 14, 2022, was mailed on December 20, 2022, and stated new charges
  due January 19, 2023.   
  The next notices sent to your property all concerned your newest bill.  This would have been the
  penalty notice and a turn off notice.   No
  additional notices were sent regarding your previous notices. 
  I apologize for the inconvenience and the confusion.   If you
  receive multiple bills with overlapping due dates, please call our office at
  ###-###-#### for a breakdown of each charge and due date.

  Thank you. 

  ****** ******
  
  

  Department of Public Utilites 

   

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/08/2023

  Bc there were deliquincies sent yes, however nothing on my end showing it was getting disconnected before the 13th of Feb. I also am not happy with the service i received with you all in general . Customer service reps were rude, all but the one guy. He was the only one who would even hear me out at all. Then you all rake my money, bit make me go a whole business day before bothering to turnnthe services back on. Rhis is highly unacceptable as a business! I work customer service. 
  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/10/2023

  Ms. ***********,
  My apologies, but our system does show that all delinquent
  notices were sent to your billing address.  As for turn off dates, when turn off notices are sent out they are part
  of a process that sends the notices by days after the due date of the original
  bill.  If the process is stopped for any
  reason, the way it did anytime you were on a payment arrangement there will not
  be an additional turn off notice.  However,
  notices are sent regarding the default of the payment arrangement, the letter
  states that the water service has been rescheduled for disconnection due to
  nonpayment.  
  Unfortunately, it is not always possible to restore the service
  the same business day, this information is stated on turn off notices. 
   I will pass along your
  concerns regarding the service you received from the Customer Service
  representatives to the Call Center manager, she will have the supervisors review
  each call that came in that day regarding the water service at your property.   
  
  Thank you.

  ****** ******
  Department of Public Utilities