Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Birmingham Water Works's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  Birmingham Water Works

  3600 1st Ave N Birmingham, AL 35222-1210

  
• 

  Birmingham Water Works

  PO Box 830110 Birmingham, AL 35283-0110

  

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:06/29/2023

  Type:Service or Repair 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 was cut off for 7 days, I paid the bill complete total and was told my water would be cut on the same day. I stayed and waited around at home . When it hot to be 10 am that morning I have them a call and was told someone had just left my apartment I told them no one had knocked at my door. I went outside and there was a blue tag on my door explaining how to cut my water on myself. I dont have tools or equipment to turn on my own water. I called back and asked to speak to a manager and the woman I spoke with told me I was unable to speak to a manager. They also stated that because the water was off more than 3 days I would have to pay anew tenant deposit and reconnect fee which totally almost $300 and I had 2 weeks to pay that. I am disgusted as well as sick. I am still waiting on water to be turned on after paying $576.00 and I am a diabetic . No water , no customer service that cares and bills that set you up to fail.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/17/2023

  ****************, thank you for your payment .  Please accept our sincerest apology if we were not clear when you spoke to our representative.  Once your service is interrupted and is idle for more than 3 days your deposit you have on the file will apply to the account.  In your case your the deposit applied on 6/28/23 towards your balance owed at the time of disconnect.  Yo restored the service on 6/29/23 and the charge automatically applies in your case.  We did waive the $43.00 Establishment fee that was required at the time. 
  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/22/2023

   
  Complaint: 20254750
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/26/2023

  Type:Service or Repair 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.

  During repairs to their water main, their employee broke the regulator on my water line with their heavy equipment. They refused to fix the damages that THEY committed. I had to hire a plumber and went without water for 9 days till he could get the damages repaired that they caused. After multiple attempts to contact them, they assured us that they would get in contact with me to get this corrected. They have not contacted me yet.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/12/2023

  Dear ****************, we apologize for any inconveniences to you.  I have been notified that you have been contacted and now is working with the BWWB Claims Department.  Thank you for your patience while we investigate your claim.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/04/2023

  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.

  Received bill on January 11, 2023 stating that we used ********* gallons of water during that month when we only average **** gallons of water used. Company keeps telling ** that we must have a leak because otherwise it wouldn't be that high, but there have been no leaks and the water work found no leaks. They keep telling ** that there is nothing they can do about resolving our issue either, and refuse to escalate it up higher in their office.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 05/16/2023

  Mrs. ************* thank you for reaching out to us.  We apologize you had to experience receiving this high bill. We have reviewed your account again and found that we had a faulty meter that cause your consumption to go up.  We will be reaching out to you to provide your Private Meter reading so we can consider processing your Private Meter Adjustment and the Faulty Meter adjustment today.  Thank you for allowing ** to make this correction.
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/24/2023

   
  Complaint: 20018064
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Company said they cannot resolve the issue until June when the May bill drops. Therefore my account still has a balance and would still have a balance past the 10 days I was given to accept or reject their response. 
   
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/12/2023

  Type:Service or Repair 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.

  The company is basically fraudulent. The city of Birmingham decided to do repairs and make more stops around the ********** with doing so they pushed my water meter further back into my front yard. I work from home and watched the meter readers pass by house for months because they couldnt find the meter and put forth no effort in trying to do so, but I was receiving a bill each month. The company continued to tell me the workers were reading the meters. I had one employee tell me my water usage has been the same for months. Now does that even sound right? No one uses the same amount of water every month. I emailed the company and nothing. I finally called in again and was told they cant do anything because the workers are reading the meters. I finally threatened to go higher up because they are basically lying and stealing from everyone in the city of Birmingham (multiple complaints about the same thing). They sent two meter readers out to my home and soon as I opened the door to ask if they were rereading the meter, one of the workers instantly got an attitude with me and told me he only needed to read the meter. The other worker re read the meter and told me that I possibly had a leak in the house. I do not have a leak in my home. That is their way of getting more money out of the citizens. I found an entire thread online where they have have a history of telling people they have a leak in their home. They want 500 dollars out of me before they discuss my ***** + water bill (currently pending disconnect) which is not accurate. Its a slap in the face to the citizens in the community. And it seems no one at the company gives a rats **** to even try to correct the issue.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/17/2023

  The Birmingham Water Works take our customer complaints seriously and we appreciate that you brought this issue to our attention. After reviewing your billing history, we see that your consumption averages between 6 or 7 ccf monthly.  We also reviewed your payment history and found that we only received amount only included partial payments towards the account. Unfortunately, this causes your account to be interrupted. Please keep in mind we offer payment arrangements that could possibly be more beneficial for you.  Please contact us if additional information is needed.  Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/05/2023

  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.

  Can't access my account online. The account is linked to someone's else profile. This person is able to see all my information that is saved to the account. They are even able to transfer or even end my service whenever they want to. I have called *** multiple times, and no one has helped me. They just take my information and say they will give me a callback. I have not received a call back yet.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/17/2023

  *************
  
  Thank you for taking the time to communicate to us that you are having an issue with your online account.  On April 12th,we were informed that the problem was corrected by our Technical Support Team.  If, you have any other issues, please contact us at ************.  Thank you.
  
  
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/14/2023

  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 have had nothing but trouble & extremely high balances, bill history has errors that looks like they are covering up for their mistakes. I asked to have the water cut off in Oct/21, but they never cut it off, which I realized about a week after asking for it to be cut off, that it was no longer needed to have cut off & informed them. Later on about 4 months later, the water got turned off. When I called to find out what happened, I was told there was a delinquent amount that had to be paid right then to get water turned on. Had to pay almost or about $500. Now, we have not received a bill until recently, a few months back, then another one a week ago stating delinquent and it will be cut off tomorrow with balance of $1000. Well, I dont work and working on disability determination now, so I cant & dont have that amount to pay & after calling Monday, with 50 callers on hold, I am afraid to find out how many callers today. A bill I have had a due date of the 21st, but that is the last month due date, past due balances are all being shut off Feb 15, 2023. I have been checking throughout my account and it has no payment history, but the bill history is pretty interesting.It shows a bill in Nov 21 & not another until (Invoice date) March 1, 2022, with (due date) 2/28/22, there are 4 with these exact dates with the invoice numbers showing that 4 bills were made back to back. So, when they cut water off and told us an amount we owed, in Feb/March of 2022, they took that almost 500 & made 4 bills for the missed months + 2 additional months with balances that would deduct from that huge amount. So, they fabricated bills to cover their mistakes, also the water bill has never been so high, even the people who were here before (still friends with them), they once had horses and a whole farm, their water bill never ran that high then. To be completely honest, I dont think they ever truly come out, their bills show too many errors. Bills shows usage & each bill amounts are different

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/03/2023

  Dear *********************,
  We are sorry for the confusion we may have caused with our billing process. After researching your account, we showed a request to close the water account received and completed on 10/28/21. On 11/9/21 the water account showed water was being used without a contract. Therefore, the water was shut off a second time. On 1/31/22 we informed you why the water was off, and the amount needed to restore water service was $483.00. After payment of $490.00 was received BWWB backdated the water account to capture all water consumption from 10/28/21 through 2/17/22. Four backdated bills were mailed on 2/28/22 detailing the consumption for each month. The last payment received on your account was 1/31/22 in the amount of $490.00. Bills from March 2022 through February 2023 generated monthly,but no payments were received causing an increased bill of $982.04. Birmingham Water Works offer payment arrangements and provide the best solutions available to assist you. If you have any further questions or would like to discuss payments options, please feel free to contact us at **************. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/18/2023

  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.

  We received a bill for October that was for 75 when our typical bill is for 1! Our usage was back to normal for November and December. We did not have any additional water use, and an independent plumber said there was no leak or problems with our house or sprinkler system. There is no possible way our consumption was as high as reported. Birmingham Water sent someone to read the meter and said there was no malfunction. There is no way that this could have been anything other than a faulty meter.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/02/2023

  ************** has been contacted and advised that his account is being reviewed. **************** will be contacted with BWWB findings. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/06/2023

  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.

  We have with inconsistencies in our water bills from Birmingham Water Works. **v 2022, my account wasnt billed. The BWWB website showed my account was $-33. On Dec 1, 2022 I received a bill for $1762.22, due by 12/14/22. I called BWWB and they advised me to check for leaks. I did so. We shut off the water to the house and the meter was still. BWWB push my bill out for two weeks and said that I would be contacted by a supervisor. My claim number is **********. I called BWWB back on 12/13/22, not having been contacted by a supervisor. They pushed my bill out two more weeks. A couple days later, BWWB came out (for what I am guessing was a routine reading) and I received a bill for $4,393.15. I have called BWWB SEVERAL times hoping to resolve this issue. On Tuesday, Jan 3, 2022, I called again. "****************" stated that no one could help me, and if I needed help I would need to go down to the office and speak with a supervisor in person. I did so that day. The supervisor that I spoke to stated that another supervisor would be sent to my house to inspect the meter, either that day or the next (1/3 or 1/4/23). ** one has come. This morning I contacted Mr. ************************ PR Manager at BWWB, regarding a video I have. The video appears to show a meter reader from BWWB reading my neighbor's meter (10 ********** Terrace), skipping mine, and continuing onto the next neighbor's meter (6 ********** Terrace), reading that meter, and driving away. Please note that all bills have been paid, and paid on time, until the large **vember bill was received and a claim was opened. Please see below for last 12 months of billing.Thank you, **** and ********************* Last 12 months of billing:1/20/22: $115 1/26/22: $305.99 ** bill for FEB ** bill for MARCH ** bill for APRIL ** bill for *** 6/17/22: Billed $665.60, $507.58, $316.24, $158.12 6/30/22: $1155.75 ** Bill for July 8/3/22: $431.21 9/12/22: $174.68 9/28/22: $431.21 ** bill for October 11/30/22: $1762.22 12/30/22: $4393.15

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/02/2023

  We apologize for the delay in responding to this request.  This account was addressed with an Attorney General Complaint.  The customer is working directly with the Billing Manager and they reviewed the account history and meter reading with the customer.  As of 1/23/2023., ******************* was informed that her account would receive an adjustment.  We are working diligently to find a fair resolution. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/15/2022

  Type:Billing 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.

  We are being billed for an astronomical amount of water usage with no signs of water leaks, etc. IN 2018 our water usage was around 20 cf. In 2019 it was around 10 cf. In 2020 it jumped to around 30 cf with no changes in our business usage or water requirements. In 2022 is now around 35 cf with the lates bill showing we used 51 cf. This is not correct. Again no signs of a water leak.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/30/2022

  Dear ****************,
  The Birmingham Water Works has performed a reread on your meter and found that the meter is reading correct. ****************, we ask that you inspect your property for any possible leaks.  If a leak is found and repaired,we will review the water account for a courtesy leak adjustment. As we discussed, Birmingham Water does not consume total loss when making a leak adjustment and the account holder is responsible for any remaining balance. If you have any questions or comments please call us at **************. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/02/2022

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/12/2022

  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.

  On 7-27-2022 Birmingham Water Works read my meter for the timeframe of 5/20/22 through 7/25/2022. The amount I was charged was $****** this amount is 9 times my monthly bill. My monthly bill usually runs approximately $** per month. I spoke with a representative at the Birmingham Water Works board who advised she would send someone out to reread my meter. The mechanic who came out stated the meter was reading correctly. This meter has to be malfunctioning because there have been no major changes in the way we use our water services. We have had someone check for leaks and we do not have any. We have not been using a pool or irrigation system and shouldn't be changed this extreme amount for water usage. The water works wants us to pay $****** to test our meter which I feel is outrageous. They should be more willing to assist with coming to a resolution quickly.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/16/2022

  We ordered a Test Meter for your premise.  The fee was $126.00 which was issued at no cost to you.  We installed it on 8/14/22 and we are waiting the results.  We will make our  best attempt  to solve the problem.  Someone will be reaching out to you with the results of the meter.  Thank you for your patience.