Huge water bills for January
Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 02/11/2012 - 12:00
So imagine my shock when I opened my water bill this month and found it to be six times my usual average. I went down to the Water Authority, spoke to the customer service representative (perhaps representative sans customer service may be a better description) who then tells me that I must have had a leaking toilet, a burst pipe under my foundation, someone stealing my water or something else but the bill was accurate. I then got the excuse that meters were read early in December and so this may simply be a case of more days being billed. I explained to the representative that this was six times my average which a review of his records will show, therefore, even if I was billed for 52 days, the most I would expect is a bill for twice that amount.
Needless to say I got no relief, his only offer to me was to enter into a payment plan to settle the bill but stated that I should continue to pay something to avoid disconnection.
Has anyone else experienced this situation? I have now received representations from 4 households claiming their water bills were astronomically high this month. Could we have all sprung the same leak, is there a water thief going around the Island or is the Water Authority fixing the revenues before the impending sale to make the Company look better?
Interested to hear your views Cayman.
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We too experieced an
We too experieced an extremely high water bill for January. I think most of us have fallen victim to this situation at one time or another and I'm sorry to tell you, there is absolutely NOTHING that you can do about it. No-one that we are aware of has ever won this argument with the Water Authority. For heavens sake, don't waste your money having them send the damn meter away. We, and a thousand others can guarantee you the report will come back stating that it is "perfect".
A couple of years ago we had to pay a bill for ten times our usual monthly usage or risk being cut off. We heard every excuse under the sun, but with no helper, no children, toilets and garden running off wells, fenced in and gated property (they even suggested someone was stealing our water) and the utilities police (my husband) siting in his office at the front of the house keeping guard all day, and no leak found, we disproved every possible excuse they came up with. They either concluded that we were lying or that one of us deliberately left the tap open so that we could throw away some of our hard earned dollars. Since it clearly wasn't my husband (bless him), a confessed cheapskate who moans when we need to put the AC on for 30 minutes to cool down, that only left me. I resented the implication but still did not follow through with a suggestion from some condo/property owners who have installed their own meters closer to the house and compare the two readings weekly. I think it is now time, although I'm not sure even that will help convince the WA when there is a problem. The large, but not so attractive, containers like they have in Cayman Brac (if we can paint them white) might be an option though; been trying to figure out how to fit them in for a while now. By the way, our bill was back to normal the following month, having done nothing to correct it (except for the fact that the meter that tested "perfect" probably wasn't returned).
It is a disgrace that there is still no consumer protection agency in this country and these companies continue to have their way with us year after year and get away with it.
There is no recourse for
There is no recourse for customers of CUC and the Water Company. If a pipe burst on my road I can almost guarantee that the following month my water bill has gone up so I am of the opinion that when a water main burst and waste hundreds of gallons of water, the water authority simply tacks the cost onto all the houses within that area instead of absorbing that cost themselves. They can challenge me on that one and prove me one if they wish.
I can't prove anything to the water company. I know the average amount of water my family use per month and what my bill usually is but the moment it is unusually high and I complain, the first thing they tell me is to check my toilets, check my faucets or I may have a leak underground. First of all if I have a leak, the meter would be running non-stop so if I go outside and check the meter when I don't have water knowingly running somewhere and it is not moving, there is NO LEAK.
When that weak argument fails they then send someone out tell me that my meter is working properly and that is their only obligation to confirm that it is. As far as they are concerned the bill is accurate once the meter is working properly. HOGWASH!
Workers come and manually read my meter so why is it not possible that it was human error? Why is it not possible that they displaced a number and wrote 525 instead of 252? The water authority stands by their staff that they are absolutely perfect and do not make errors so my suggestion is somehow ludicrous to them.
Then they try to convince me that maybe I used a lot more water than I realized, maybe filling the kid's pool (my kids are teenagers and we don't have a pool), maybe watering my plants (I don't have any plants only mature fruit trees and and rely nature to water them) maybe we took extra long showers and didn't realize it. It is like they are grasping at straws to find an explanation.
The Customer Service at Water Authority is absolutely useless. They are like trained monkeys whose sole objective is to protect the company, its profits and ultimately their jobs.
I want to know what Mrs. Gelia or the head of customer service or any of those high ranking officials would do if they received a water bill that they felt was inaccuate (I doubt they have never received an bill which they felt was an error)
I don't know what can be done but there must be some other recourse available to customers other than the Water Authority simply confirming the meter is correct therefore the billing must be correct. The cause/effect conclusion is a big leap because there are so many factors involved.
Reduce human interference, like reading and recording of the meters and the probabability of human error will be reduced.
I don't know if you all recall the gentleman some time ago who had a water bill that was in the thousands, he took them to court and lost because the water company made a big show of sending the meter overseas to "prove" that it was not defective and he was a seasoned lawyer so what are the chances of a little store worker like myself taking on the big, bad water company.
I recommend that everyone buy those water containers that I see they have in the Brac and minimize the amount of water used from the water company. The less things you have using water from the WA the better it is to prove that the leak is not on your side.
The containers are not the prettiest things but with the money you will save from paying the water authority's outrageous bills I am sure y'all will think of someway to make it more pleasing to the eye.
A friend of mine has one here and I think she only use it for cooking or something because she has her toilets hooked up to it, she has her showers hooked up to it and I don't think her water bill goes over $35.
If you think your bills are
If you think your bills are high now, wait until Kim Jung Mac sells the water authority.
I just had a look at their financials, or the 2008 which is the latest available. They make a profit of around $2 million from sales of less than $25 million.
Big Mac says he can sell/lease the water authority for $50 million plus $5 million per year for the next 25 years.
Anybody want to run a calculation on how high water bills will have to go to get that kind of return?
Water Bills
Mine doubled too. I live in Mount Pleasant, that's Cayman Water Co., Heard same story though, more days billed than usual. ?????
i can only asume we all must
i can only asume we all must have sprunk a leak, my bill was twice the amount than last month and it has nothing to do with any early reading.
I thought it was just mine
I thought it was just mine went up, and I went like a dot and paid it, ours went from a average $70.00 to around $115.00 and I'm sure we never used anymore water than normal
High water bills
We also experienced a bill for January that was 5 x our normal usage. We didn't have any leaking toilets as they are flushed with well water. But the Water Authority had done a lot of digging in the area recently!!
We once received a bill for a
We once received a bill for a month of water use from the water authority for over CI$52,000.00 (that is fifty two thousand dollars for the people who may think I made a typo) for a single family residence having three people using water. Go figure how they operate.
Lies
They are either lying or completely incompetent. Why does last months and his months bill read 30 days if in fact it isn't? How can water usage double for my bill compared to the last six months? Guess we will have to see the next bill.
Thats because you charged two
Thats because you charged two rates , $4.01 for first 12 cm of water and $5.10 for anything after, plus energy charge.
High water bills.
So because they decided to read the meters at a different time my usage went into the next band and I had to pay more for the water. I am paying more for my water because they couldn't organise themselves - how is that fair?
Maybe someone can explain
Maybe someone can explain this
This is a Government agency and Government is the major job market in the country.
Government pays its staff late in the month. Yet a GOvernment agency is asking the people to pay on the 20th. Other companied such as CUC and Cable do the same the difference is that the Water Authority fines you if you are late.
This is a serious joke.
I don't think the 1.5%
I don't think the 1.5% penalty they have introduced forms any part of the contract with customers or is enforceable at law.
I was also surprised to open
I was also surprised to open my water bill this month and see it had doubled. I live on the Brac - it's not just GCM where they are getting away with daylight robbery!
This is absolutely
This is absolutely ridiculous, some people are fixed income pension earners, there should be full disclosure when anomolies like this takes place, if you receive a low bill for say 20 days of usage, you should be told thats what it is so you'll know to save for a higher bill next month. The bill does in fact say "30 days" on it and I have not received any unsually low bills to compensentate for this extended billing period.
Something is wrong and someone needs to come out, admit it and make the necessary corrections. Dr. Gelia, you and Tom or whomever over there need to have this explained to you in a credible manner so you can advise the consumers, this is bull.
Daylight Robbery
I too was horrified at the amount of my Dec/Jan water bill, particularly as I was off Island, 10 out of the 30 days billed!
I immediately turned to my poor helper and reminded her that all garden hoses should be turned off at the tap, the dish washer and washing machine should only be run once full. I called in the plumber, who spent three hours searching for a leak, nothing! Result another bill to pay!
The Water Authority was called and I too got the story about how water meters were read in early December because of the holidays! I am sorry but am not aware of any holidays at the beginning of December! Fine, so if there are extra days then why note 30 days on the bill, when in fact the reading was for 42 days. What is going on? If a mistake is made with the numbers from one reading to another, I shudder to think what other mistakes lay in the bill.
Why is it that the consumer always takes the hit, we have no choice but to use a single provider, pure monopoly. I smell a rat, has there been a massive screw up with some of their works and know they are trying to pass on the cost, with some ridiculous story of reading the meters in early December.
Times are trying and difficult enough, water is a necessity. Please someone in authority look into this!
My bill was two and a half
My bill was two and a half times what it was in December or previous months. I called to ask why the bill was so high, looking at my bills for the last 6 months, when we had the same amount of usage basically. Their response? The meter was read very early in December and therefore the January bill included 6 1/2 weeks of usage.
They are just absolutely ridiculous. And as with CUC and other utility companies in Cayman, because there is a monopoly with only one company, they can pretty much charge whatever the heck they want when they want because what else are we going to do if we have no other company to turn to for service. And it will never ever ever change.
*sigh*
It's sad, but what you need
It's sad, but what you need to be doing is taking a picture of your CWA and CUC meter readings with a digital camara, -every- -single- -day- Use a camera that will include the date and time on each image. Then during a billing dispute you can make a proper argument. In court.
Mine too - My water bill was double this month.
I could not believe it when I got my bill this month - it was double what I normally pay.
I called a plumber and have had him check for any leaks.
I hope the water authority can give some plausible explanation for this enormous hike in our water bills.
They do it because they can.
They do it because they can.
And there is nothing you can
And there is nothing you can do about it...remember I think there was a court case, someone was trying to fight their water bill that was outrageous and he had to pay it.
I love the 1.5% fee for being
I love the 1.5% fee for being 21 days late when it takes 14 days to get the Water Authority Bill. It is a penalty. It in no way reflects any costs to CWA.
If it's punitive it is
If it's punitive it is unenforceable in court. Don't pay.
Mine doubled this month as
Mine doubled this month as well. Hope the Water Auth. can come up with an explanation for this.
Of course it is a penalty. If
Of course it is a penalty. If there was no penalty then everyone would be late paying their bill. Having said that, my bill is extremely high this month and on close examination it was not an increase in the volume of water used but the high ENERGY CHARGE!
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