ComplaintsforElsinore Valley Municipal Water District

• Initial Complaint

  05/07/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Every month for over 15 years, I pay my bill online or by phone. I have my bill in my hand and there is only one account number "0083749-024282". I even provide a street address. No longer does their payment systems locate my account. Therefore, I am unable to pay my bill by phone or online. I am going out of town and wanted to pay by bill earlier except it's not possible! I have to pay by check, AND they want an auto payment and paperless therefore I will not even receive a bill to pay, if I agree to it and I am not... If my payment is late, I am penalized with a late fee and threat of disconnect. This is a way for them to attempt to collect more money from me by keeping me from paying my bill on time. This is how I feel about it. We have no other means for a water company as they monopolize the entire area so we have no choice in what they do to us. I am annoyed at their lack of integrity and that their systems can no longer locate me as their customer. I rather I didn't have to be their customer.

  Business response

  05/08/2023

  Thank you for forwarding Ms. Ashley's concerns. I was able to contact Ms. Ashley earlier today to obtain more information regarding her issues and concerns.  It appears that Ms. Ashley was unable to make a payment on the District's web site last night.  While on the phone with her today I asked Ms. Ashley to attempted to make a payment to see if we could recreate the issue. It appears the issue was the manner in which the account number was entered on the online bill pay site.   The District's account number consists of a seven digit customer number followed by a six digit account number. The 2 numbers are separated by a dash.  Once Ms. Ashley entered the account number with the dash included, she was able to make the payment with no issues.  

  Based on the success of the payment made today and the fact that we have not received any additional complaints or concerns with any other payments that were made during the same timeframe, I believe the issue has been resolved.

  Ms. Ashley was satisfied with my assistance by the end of our call so I believe the issue can be closed.

  If you have any questions or need further assistance, please let me know.

  Thank you

  Christina Henry

• Initial Complaint

  03/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Unfortunately I could not find access to a direct point of contact to speak with someone directly with the organization and I’m happy to remove once addressed. I input brokerage account when enabling ach rather than checking this was compromised when I misplaced new card with corresponding info and account closed at my request. As a result payment not able to be presented I contacted Elsinore valley advised of circumstance they refused to correct ach disabled ach payments and assessed considerable fees. I seldom use ach typically card and do not encounter issues. In the last 4 months o have paid over $500 they are now sending disconnect for a balance attributed to fees when asked to waive they vote we did one we won’t do more without a bank letter I advised this is a brokerage account and all I was given was proof of closure and phone they said that wasn’t good enough and still have these errorneous fees attached Reinstate ach access, remove the prior ach as requested several times, remove fees and do not send anything to me FedEx or certified again Phone only

  Business response

  03/27/2023

  Thank you for forwarding this to us for review.

  
  

  The issue at hand is that Mr. ***** claims that the returned payments on his account were a result of fraudulent activity on his checking account. .  Each payment that was subsequently returned was initiated by the customer on his online account.  The District at no time initiated these payments. He is asking that we waive all fees associated with the returned payments  He has been advised that due to the number of returned payments on his account,  all we need is a statement/letter from his banking institution attesting to this and we can waive his returned payment fees. Per the notes on the account, we  have been working with Mr. ***** with his returned payment issue for quite some time. 

   

  EVMWD customers have control over which account they utilize to make their bill payments via our web site.  Mr. ***** states in his complaint that the District was unwilling to disable ACH transactions from his account.  We normally do not alter or delete payment profiles from a customer's account to ensure security.  Mr. ***** should have been able to remove the accounts off of his profile by logging in to his online account.

  
  

  I was able to speak to Mr. ***** today.  I explained that we would need documentation to waive the returned payment fees. In addition, I outlined the noticing requirements per SB998.  SB998 requires water providers to notice customers if their account becomes past due and subject to interruption. These noticing requirements (1 written notice, 1 phone call and 1 door hanger notice) are required and have associated fees to cover the costs of producing these notices. These fees are passed on to the affected customers.  Mr. ***** would like to avoid these fees. During our conversation, I advised him as to when the balances need to be paid in order to avoid these fees in the future, specifically our delinquent processing fee which is a $15.05 fee that is added on to a customer's account at the time we process the door hanger notice.  At this time, since Mr. ***** was told by his banking institution that he will have the full resolution of his fraud claim sometime in April, I authorized a payment arrangement to assist him with  his bill. However, he understands that until we are provided with something stating that the issue that caused the returned payments was fraudulent, we are unable to waive any additional fees at this time.   In addition, at his request and authorization, I removed all checking accounts from his payment profile on our online bill pay site in an effort to resolve the issue.

  
  

  Mr. ***** is aware that based on the returned payment activity on his account, he is temporarily disabled from utilizing ACH or a checking account to make payments since his account has been deemed cash only for one year.  If we are able to resolve the returned payment issue we can discuss his cash only status at that time.

  
  

  If you have  any other questions or need further information, please let me know.

  
  

  Sincerely,

  ********* ** *****

  Community Relations Manager

  Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District

  
  

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