Woman Slapped With $4,000 Water Bill

[dmcowen674]

12-6-2014

http://www.inquisitr.com/1659306/woman-slapped-with-4000-water-bill/

Woman Slapped With $4,000 Water Bill



A bill for $4,000 right before the holidays is not exactly what Dawn Pelligrino was expecting, but it’s what she got.
Pelligrino has lived in the same Connecticut home since 2005, but never realized that she had been receiving only estimated bills for her water usage, due to the fact that she had an old meter reading device.

“Never in the nine years did I get a letter in the mail saying you have an old meter we need to change it,” Pelligrino said. “Never did anyone come to my door, nothing. No one had ever made an attempt to change that meter.”

The word “estimation” appears in large print on the bill, right below the bill summary. The exact statement reads, “Your bill has been estimated one or more times. You should contact MDC for an actual reading to prevent errors and hardships.”


Pelligrino, however, maintains that she should have been notified about the issue nine years ago.


“They knew in April 2005 when they came out here and did the final indoor reading when it switched owners of the home,” she said. “They knew. But they never switched it.”


Pelligrino worked out a three-year payment plan with her local water department to pay what she owes — fortunately at no interest.

 

[dmcowen674]

Most statute of limitations go for 7 years so how can this utility go back 9 years?

More Government bullshit

 

[Meghan54]

Most statute of limitations go for 7 years so how can this utility go back 9 years?

More Government bullshit

Well, there's your first problem.....you tried to think.

Second, any statute of limitations for monies due involve having no contact with the billing agency for those years, not being an active customer who is too stupid to actually read each month's bill and not comprehend what estimate is, or too stupid to follow up with the bill's suggestion that the homeowner contact the public utility to have an actual reading done.

No outrage found, except for faux rage.

 

[Moonbeam]

Odd they didn't overcharge her 4000 and send a refund.

 

[cubby1223]

Most statute of limitations go for 7 years so how can this utility go back 9 years?

More Government bullshit

If the person were wealthy your thread would be about how an America-hating rich asshole is pissed off he got caught stealing resources from the public.

And your commentary would be a stern suggestion he move out of the country immediately.

What is your actual belief? Should this person have to pay what she used, at the rate it was being sold at? Or not? Your commentary wasn't very clear. You are fine with charging for the previous 7 years of usage, but not the prior two? Is that the only complaint here?


We all have some point in our lives a time when we thought we were paying what we owed, then some time later informed we were not. Assess the validity of the claims, and if credible we pay what we owe.

 

[pcgeek11]

Why is the water meter inside the friggin house? Every place I have lived it is in the yard outside so they can read it anytime, just like the electric meter.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I think there are two meters, one outside & one inside. I'd guess the outside one stopped functioning and this is a true up bill.
Yes its money owed, all homeowners should verify their meters work occasionally kind of like your smoke alarm. Utilities should maintain their billing and equipment better, they should also offer payment plans instead of expecting someone come up with large amounts of cash upfront

 

[halik]

Neat, she got two free loans from the utility company. Where do I sign up?

 

[Blanky]

Why is the water meter inside the friggin house? Every place I have lived it is in the yard outside so they can read it anytime, just like the electric meter.

Mine is inside and has a radio transmitter to send the bill out.

I don't understand how this could go on for as long as it did and IMO the water company messed this up. Many utilities will estimate. My power for example has an estimate for every second month and they only do a true read on every second bill. That a utility could go on estimates for only 9 years is ridiculous and some of this fault lies on them.

The funny thing is if she had found her water meter and "accidently" knocked something into it to destroy it she would have been okay.

 

[waggy]

shrug. sucks for her but she got the bill and didn't really look at it and question it.

 

[dmcowen674]

If the person were wealthy your thread would be about how an America-hating rich asshole is pissed off he got caught stealing resources from the public.

And your commentary would be a stern suggestion he move out of the country immediately.

What is your actual belief? Should this person have to pay what she used, at the rate it was being sold at? Or not? Your commentary wasn't very clear. You are fine with charging for the previous 7 years of usage, but not the prior two? Is that the only complaint here?

We all have some point in our lives a time when we thought we were paying what we owed, then some time later informed we were not. Assess the validity of the claims, and if credible we pay what we owe.

Bullshit. You may think it is OK to roll over die and submit.

An estimate could be high or could be low.

She paid the bill in good faith.

The Utility failed to detect their own error.

She should only have to pay the bills from when they fixed the meter.

Nothing but a bunch of Pussies, America hating, Corporate and Gestapo Government loving Apologists in here.

Disgusting.

and yes you should leave the Country post haste.

 

[Jhhnn]

Mine is inside and has a radio transmitter to send the bill out.

I don't understand how this could go on for as long as it did and IMO the water company messed this up. Many utilities will estimate. My power for example has an estimate for every second month and they only do a true read on every second bill. That a utility could go on estimates for only 9 years is ridiculous and some of this fault lies on them.

The funny thing is if she had found her water meter and "accidently" knocked something into it to destroy it she would have been okay.

9 years is ridiculous. Our gas meter was inside for many years. They left a card every 2 months with a pic of the dials on the meter & I filled in the position of the pointers, mailed it in. If I didn't send it, they estimated, based on our past usage & season. When they did, the estimate was high. Every couple of years they insisted on having their guy come in to read it himself.

 

[cabri]

Bullshit. You may think it is OK to roll over die and submit.

An estimate could be high or could be low.

She paid the bill in good faith.

The Utility failed to detect their own error.

She should only have to pay the bills from when they fixed the meter.

Nothing but a bunch of Pussies, America hating, Corporate and Gestapo Government loving Apologists in here.

Disgusting.

and yes you should leave the Country post haste.

Do you understand what the word ESTIMATE means?

 

[tnt118]

One can argue that the water company has an obligation to keep an estimate within a range of reasonable expectation. Them allowing an estimate system to bill someone for multiple months, let alone years, is a fault on their part that is not 100% the customers responsibility to rectify. If I received utility bills that were marked estimate, I'd easily assume that even if the current bill was an estimate that it had been adjusted to account for estimate discrepancies of recent prior bills. At any rate the company should not have been allowed to let this reach such an extreme.

 

[WHAMPOM]

What kind of dip-shit utility company lets a meter go without at least yearly checks? What happened here? New management take over?

 

[WHAMPOM]

One can argue that the water company has an obligation to keep an estimate within a range of reasonable expectation. Them allowing an estimate system to bill someone for multiple months, let alone years, is a fault on their part that is not 100% the customers responsibility to rectify. If I received utility bills that were marked estimate, I'd easily assume that even if the current bill was an estimate that it had been adjusted to account for estimate discrepancies of recent prior bills. At any rate the company should not have been allowed to let this reach such an extreme.

Do a human nature test: you get an estimated bill that is low you say nothing for nine years, you get a high estimated bill, you call within the hour for a meter check.

 

[tnt118]

Do a human nature test: you get an estimated bill that is low you say nothing for nine years, you get a high estimated bill, you call within the hour for a meter check.

High or low, I'm surprised a utility company can legally bill on an estimate system that extends more than 2-3 months without verification. Shouldn't be allowed.

 

[Blanky]

Do you understand what the word ESTIMATE means?

I think he does, but really 9 years straight? At some point she probably assumed they were doing reads or, more likely, just didn't think of it at all. Most utilities rely upon the utility sending a bill for what the person has used. Few people ever will confirm that the bill is accurate unless it seems weird.

She got free water if she didn't pay the $4k, but the utility must assume some moral responsibility for not bothering to get a real bill for almost a decade. They should split it in half.

Do a human nature test: you get an estimated bill that is low you say nothing for nine years, you get a high estimated bill, you call within the hour for a meter check.

Ha. I've only called my power company twice in my life: 1) Got a high electricity bill. Turns out it was based on a real read after an incredibly low estimate the month before. 2) got an INSANE electricity bill, like 4X normal. Turns out it was a real read but the reader had messed up a digit, read 95 as 99 or something silly, but yeah I never call when my bills are low

 

[MrPickins]

The power company estimates the usage on our farm land, but we have to provide an actual reading every 3 months or they come out to read it themselves (at our expense).

Estimating for 9 years? Asinine.

 

[Matt1970]

"The word “estimation” appears in large print on the bill, right below the bill summary. The exact statement reads, “Your bill has been estimated one or more times. You should contact MDC for an actual reading to prevent errors and hardships.”

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1659306/woman-slapped-with-4000-water-bill/#R9r6j1iVxX37MTLQ.99"

I feel for the lady, but she did ignore the statement.

 

[mikeymikec]

Nothing but a bunch of Pussies, America hating, Corporate and Gestapo Government loving Apologists in here.

Come on, don't mince words, what do you really think?

(I wonder whether I should have capitalised my Nouns for greater effect)

 

[her209]

$4000 / 108 months = $37

 

[Jhhnn]

High or low, I'm surprised a utility company can legally bill on an estimate system that extends more than 2-3 months without verification. Shouldn't be allowed.

But... but... Free Market! Don't need no ebil gubmint regulation!

 

[Jhhnn]

$4000 / 108 months = $37

Yep. I wonder how they arrived at their estimate. Obviously they didn't base it on her usage since they never read the meter.

 

[brycejones]

Bullshit. You may think it is OK to roll over die and submit.

An estimate could be high or could be low.

She paid the bill in good faith.

The Utility failed to detect their own error.

She should only have to pay the bills from when they fixed the meter.

Nothing but a bunch of Pussies, America hating, Corporate and Gestapo Government loving Apologists in here.

Disgusting.

and yes you should leave the Country post haste.

BS, you have made many valid points over time about the overreach of government and corporations here. But its when you post crap like this all credibility is gone.

Also please provide video of woman being "slapped" with the bill this must be a new collection tactic to violently assault customers with their outstanding bills.