Results 1 to 6 of 6
  1. #1
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    New England
    Posts
    5,095
    Thanked: 1922

    Is that my problem?

    I've had problems with our water department in the past. It's just a few guys. The supervisor once walked into my house uninvited then lied to his boss about it. We started locking our front door even when we are at home which is abnormal considering our location. We are not easy to find at all.

    Recently, they showed up at our house. Didn't call. Set off the dogs while my husband was working and woke me up while I was trying to get through a nasty cold. The town has all of our information, including our phone number. They did not call first.

    The issue? Our meter was stuck and they wanted to replace it.

    My husband supervised the process while I went back to bed but later told me that they went after him for not reporting it because it was clicking.

    Two things. What do we know about our water meter? I didn't even know it was in the furnace room. Second, we asked our furnace guy / plumber about the clicking when he serviced the furnace. HE told us not to worry about it. If he doesn't know, why should we?

    We probably got a lot of free water since they only read the meter every three months. It was hardly intentional. Is that really my problem?

  2. #2
    Senior Dog Jeff's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Grand Rapids, MI
    Posts
    1,816
    Thanked: 2198
    Nope it is not. I mean, I know I have a gas meter, I know where it is. I do not know how it works, if it is functioning, or really anything about it. Those are utility company things. They are responsible for them. Actually I have come to learn since owning a home there are things you should learn about them so they don't screw you. For example one thing I learned, the power cable coming in to your house, there is usually a loop in the cable before it comes into your house. This is called the drip loop, it is so water comes down the line when it rains hits the drip loop and then runs down the to bottom and falls off. This prevents water from coming in to your house and even worse running down into your electrical system. Well a lot of power companies to save money do not put this on there as it is about a foot or two of heave copper and so expensive. Also, underpaid line techs will also trim this off and sell the copper as it is extra money in their pocket. They are all pretty much looking out for themselves. However, they can get you to pay for their mistakes the better.

    Are they trying to bill you for something? I would see if you have a problem solvers in your area. Like one of the news channels usually have problem solvers where a company is trying to screw over people. They get involved. Usually this will solve your problem really quickly. You wont get on TV or anything unless it gets really bad and your problem isn't solved. I have used the problem solvers a couple times. Banks, Utility companies etc. Basically you call them and as long as your reasonable. Like yeah you just think this is unfair and shouldn't be charged, because how should you know what your meter is supposed to do. Not like well I want compensation for my time and yada yada, they will ignore you if your doing this. They then call these companies on your behalf. The companies quickly take action because last thing they want is to be all over the news. The problem solvers call you back to check to make sure the problem has been solved and you move on.

    The biggest one I did was Chase bank. I had an issue with them when I moved to Michigan. I had been a customer in Indiana for 20 years. I started with a savings account when I was 5. Plus all the perks of being a customer that long and so on. When I moved to Michigan, I had to start a new account as they couldn't move my accounts across state lines. Ok no big deal I thought. This was before direct deposit and so on. Well when I deposited my paycheck from a global fortune 500 company I had to wait 10 days for the check to clear before the money was deposited in my accounts. Because I was a "New" Customer. New Credit cards had all kinds of rules and like I think I only had a $200 credit limit. I was quite upset. Called the problem solvers. I have no idea what all went on or what was discussed. Next day I get a call from Chase bank, I have a meeting set up that evening with every bank manager in a 15 mile radius of my house. So they can get to know me and learn my face. I was still considered a new customer, for 1 year. However during that one year time frame all bank managers personally did my banking because they could override any rules. I would walk in and bring my paycheck directly to the bank manager, they extremely nicely offering me coffee or bottled water while they cashed my paycheck. I had and still have credit limits which way exceed what I should have at least I think so as they overrode every limit on my credit cards. I got like free checks and so on. There was a lot of perks. I am pretty sure there was some notes on my account about something. Next time I moved, I walked in and said I wanted to move and transfer accounts. The started off saying ok well you need to create new accounts and so on. Then when they looked into my accounts, magically they were able to move them no problem. Again I have no idea what was said between the problem solvers and chase bank. But for a while I was treated like I am guessing a rich man is treated by chase bank. I definitely was not an average joe anymore.

  3. The Following User Says Thank You to Jeff For This Useful Post:

    janedoe (03-24-2018)

  4. #3
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    New England
    Posts
    5,095
    Thanked: 1922
    Thanks Jeff. I really don't know if they've been charging me unjustifiably. I called a little over a year ago because I got an enormous bill but got the guy who came in my house uninvited and he just kept trying to tell me why he did it. I stuck to the topic and he told me we probably had a leak. I turned off all of our outside water sources from inside the house and it did go down but it has never been what it used to be. Nothing I could prove though. I'll see what happens here. We'll definitely keep an eye on it. I'm just tired of their flak.

  5. #4
    Senior Dog labsnewfy's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    WV
    Posts
    2,301
    Thanked: 1216
    We had a leak under out house a year after we moved in, which we didn't know about until we actually had water in our window well. called a plumber and he told us there should never be water standing in our window well. The water company never called or came out to tell us we might have a leak but they expected payment. This past fall we had a wet spot in our front yard where the water meter is on their side of the meter. I noticed it on Friday while I was mowing and they were out on Monday morning before I could call and report it, they threw the dirt back in the holes they dug and threw straw over the area, which I am going to have to fix.

    If I caught a utility man in my house without invitation and his boss wouldn't do anything about it I would be calling the mayor, which in my area is the bosses boss. I cant believe the man would just walk into your house. As long as they are not expecting you to pay for the water meter and your usage I wouldn't worry about it much, payment for all the hassle they have given you in the past.
    Hidden Content

    Coleman - CGC blk lab 6/02/97-2/25/08 adopted
    Tootsie - choc lab 10/19/99-8/03/13 adopted
    Bailey - CGC newf/fc 7/12/00-07/15/14 rescued
    Ginger - BT 11/16/05 - 10/14/19 rescued
    Sarah - blk lab 6/22/06 - 12/30/19 rescued
    rescued felines - AJ - 8/00 - 1/11, Merlin - 5/20/05-8/23/21
    Tucker - 8/3/10, Penny - 7/7/13, Toby - 6/14/21

  6. The Following User Says Thank You to labsnewfy For This Useful Post:

    janedoe (03-26-2018)

  7. #5
    "Sorry" Woody's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    1,342
    Thanked: 1571
    My water meter only clicks where there is water running. It sits in my rec room under my bar. I catch myself leaving the hose on all the time in the summer. If it was clicking with no apparent water running I would assume we had a leak somewhere.
    Thanks Everyone!!

    Hidden Content

  8. The Following User Says Thank You to Woody For This Useful Post:

    janedoe (03-26-2018)

  9. #6
    Senior Dog
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Ellicott City, MD
    Posts
    6,626
    Thanked: 3641
    We had our water meter replaced years ago because it was making so much noise when we ran water....a pain when we were doing 24/7 watering during really dry summers. The noise seriously annoyed our one cat who had a terrible reaction to being stressed out. She had irritable bowel disease....you can guess what we were putting up with, courtesy of that noise.

  10. The Following User Says Thank You to SunDance For This Useful Post:

    janedoe (03-26-2018)

 



Not a Member of the Labrador Retriever Chat Forums Yet?
Register for Free and Share Your Labrador Retriever Photos

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •