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:09/23/2024

  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.

  I want to know why I pay so much for sewer every bill. It is more than my actual water bill. This is insane.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/23/2024

  I understand your concern, however, your complaint needs to be addressed to **** *************). Big Creek Water is simply the billing agent for your sewer company.  **** is the sewer company provided in that area and the pricing is regulated by them.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/10/2024

  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.

  My Water company (******* *****) withheld the bill for 3 years and never contacted me about the service or cut off services. Now I’m being told I owe three years worth of water immediately. This is not right and I can’t afford that.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/29/2024

  November 18, 2020, our office received a request from the builder, ** ****** to disconnect water service at *** ********** **** ******* ***  The new owner did not contact us to sign up for service, so the water was disconnected on November 19, 2020.  Therefore, we had no contact information for the new owner. November 16, 2023, one of our employees noticed this address had no billing information and should not be connected to water service and sent a technician to verify. The technician reported that there was no lock on the meter, so it was then locked.  ***** ****** later that day came in to apply for service.  He stated that he did try to contact us by phone “several” times in November 2020 when the home was purchased but he said he “could not get through”. Our Water User Agreement is available on our website along with an email and fax number. Mr. ****** was billed for water usage from November 18, 2020 – November 16, 2023, as he did purchase the home in November 2020.  Mr. ****** offered to pay $20 per month to resolve this past due balance of $2,260.60.  As that would take 9 years to pay in full, he was advised that at least $100 per month in addition to his new bill would be required to meet this obligation. We feel we have put forth our best effort to settle this issue with Mr. ******.
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/28/2022

  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.

  Big Creek/Hammond Water District - address is now **** *** ** * ****** SC, (phone number is the same). I have had water bills totaling of almost 2000 dollars since moving into our house in April 2022. I have contacted them on numerous occasions requesting for them to check my meter, requested more frequent readings (since they bill every two months) so that we don’t have to wait additional 1-2 months to ensure that issues were resolved and they continue to lack communication and decline to provide sufficient documents. When requesting a full history of bills/usage they declined stating they did not keep previous documents and the issue was with the sewer company (******** **** utilities and they have been wonderful to work with by the way). While ******** **** has appropriately responded so far, Big Creek/Hammond continues to refuse. There are NUMEROUS other people who have had astronomical bills as well. While the sewer rate may have gone up, Big Creek/Hammond Water District needs to be investigated for continuous suspiciously high water rates for numerous customers in their service area.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/02/2022

  November 30, 2022
  Consumer Complaint ID: ********
  To whom it may concern,
  
  
  The customer contacted our office August 1, 2022, in reference to her Hammond bill in the amount of $773.63. August 1, 2022, the technician went to her home to check the reading. At that time the meter was checked and was actively turning which indicates that water was going through the meter. The customer was contacted and advised that she most likely had a leak and needed to contact her landlord or a plumber.
  
  
  On October 21, 2022, the customer again contacted our office and requested a meter reading. She stated her meter is actively running when no water is being used in the home. We again explained to her that she most likely has a leak and to contact her landlord or a plumber. We also informed her that our billing cycle is every two months, and we are unable change to monthly billing. When the technician read the meter on October 24, 2022, it was no longer turning so we assume the leak was repaired.
  
  
  Hammond Water District is an SPD that only provides water to the community but does not provide any sewer service. However, we do bill sewer for both the city and county systems and the customer’s bill is based on water consumption. November 9, 2022, an email was received from ******** **** Utilities with a sewer adjustment to be credited to the customer’s account. Also included in the email was a copy of a repair receipt from a plumber dated October 24, 2022, showing the leak had been repaired.
  
  
  Our office has provided the customer with a yearly statement of her account as we are not able to recreate individual past water bills. She has also been advised of our policy which states if an individual has a water leak the consumption must exceed 50,000 gallons to qualify for an adjustment to the water and her consumption was below 50,000 gallons.
  Also, our office advised the customer on August 1, 2022, to contact her landlord or plumber to have a leak repaired and the date on the plumber’s repair receipt states the leak was not repaired until October 24, 2022.
  
  
  We feel that we have made every effort to help this customer and hope this response is
  satisfactory.
  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/04/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. 
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ****** *****

  
  

  Once, they have sent someone out one time. They were asked several times before 8/1 and several times after. This business has dragged their feet since the first bill and has made little effort to assist with anything. Is it not suspicious that several other customers have had similar issues? Would it not be appropriate to require some sort of alert system so the company can notify their customers of possible issues so that what was likely a small and simple issue can be detected as early as possible meanwhile this natural monopoly is profiting hundreds of dollars at the expense of an unknowing customer? A customer who has no other option to stay with the one provider. 

  Business Response

  Date: 12/13/2022

  December 13, 2022
  
  Consumer Complaint ID: ********
  
  To whom it may concern,
  
  We really do understand the frustration you have experienced, and we are sorry you are dealing with this situation. However, the technology that you are speaking of, I think, is in the early stages of development and has not been thoroughly vetted and is not cost effective to implement at this time.  Maybe in the future a better technology will be available at a cost-effective price so we can provide that for a customer.  The best advice I can offer at this time is to pay close attention to your meter readings to prevent a high water bill as we are only responsible for maintaining the water mains and the service up to the meter.  Anything beyond the property line is the customers responsibility.  We currently serve over 13,000 customers and there is not current way to monitor the customers’ side for a leak or any other issue.  Again, I’m sorry you are dealing with this situation, and I wish there was more I could do to help.  Currently I plan to use your issue as a teaching moment to help our staff understand your view and hopefully eliminate some of these issues in the future.  Again, I hope this is satisfactory.
  
  Sincerely 
  
  Chuck C*****, GM   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/15/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  However, I would highly suggest that the employees in the office take matters seriously and proactively when a customers calls and requests someone to come out to look at the meter then follow up with the customer promptly. This could have been detected much earlier if the employees were more proactive and took this matter more seriously by not declining my first request when I promptly contacted them after the first bill. I should be credited for some of this from the water company as this is partly due to their laziness or lack of education in how to do their job. While I understand that the sewer rates may have went up, they get their readings for the water company. 
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ****** *****