ComplaintsforSooner Utilities

• Initial Complaint

  08/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My water was shut off due to late payment which I understand. As soon as I realized I got online and paid the full amount due through the website. I then called the emergency line because, even though paid the bill by 5pm, during what is standard business hours sooner utilities was closed at three (apparently so they can charge to turn water on after hours). When. I spoke to the gentleman at sooner utilities he informed me that I could pay $35 dollar for after hours turn on service or wait until the following day and service would be restored. Water was not back on the next day when. I arrived home at 5 pm. When I called to find out why I could only reach an answering server and was not contacted by the business. When I returned home from work the second day without water service was still not restored. I called the emergency line once again and was informed that even though I had paid the full bill online I owed an additional $40 for turn off, which they added at a later time. They lied to me about turn on and failed to inform me about the $40 turn off fee to try and entice me turn the water on myself so I would incur a $50 tamper fee for restoring service I had already paid for. When I told him would not be denied services I had paid for the gentleman at sooner utilities told me "you've got to do what you've got to do." In previous instances I have turned the water off to make repairs to the house and was charged a $50 tampering fee. These people are crooks and they are taking advantage of people that live in lower income neighborhoods.

  Business response

  09/26/2023

  Customers water was turned off for no payment.  Customer called after hours and was told it would be on tomorrow if paid.  Sooner checked on payment the next day and it wasn't paid in full.  All water cutoffs have a fee added of 40 dollars and that also needs to be paid.  We do offer an after hours service where a sooner employee will come out after hours and turn water on for a 35 dollar fee.  That is totally up to customer if he or she wants that service.  First  sooner hours are on all bills mailed to customer and ********************** hours are mon-thur 9am - 3pm fri 9am - 12pm.  Second sooner is not required to send a cutoff or late notice but we do it reads on it.  Water must be paid by 5pm on the 19th or there will be a 40 dollar fee added and your service will be disconnected without further notice.  Only authorized representative may reestablish service.  Our hours have been the same for around 20yrs or so.

  Sooner is sorry this matter has come to this and hope we can help in the future.

  thanks

• Initial Complaint

  05/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had a broken water line on March 23. Contacted the water depth and landlord on that day . Said need someone to check water leak coming from meter as I had no water In my home. After multiple calls to water company(sooner utilitys) and land lord with no answers and no show on their part. I waited until water bill was due and called again to tell them I had not payed the bill due to no one coming to look at why I had no water. ************* said It didn't matter he was shutting my water off tomorrow. I replied "good that will give you the opportunity to look at the leak and ***** fix it". The next day he came and fished around in the water until he could get. It turned off got back in the truck and left and never looked at the leak. So on april nineteenth I paid my bill in full seeing that he wasn't going to look at the anyway and began to try to fix it myself This is now forty days after i've had no water.After digging the hole I found that the line was broke at the meter so in order to fix it I had to pull the meter out of the hole. To figure out what kind of thread it was on Monday morning. The water company came by with the police. And gave me a ticket for tampering with their meter and charged me 3 tampering with meter charges for the single incident.

  Business response

  06/08/2023

   We the water company didn't have a  leak and customer is suppose to repair there own leak.  What the customer actually did was pull our meter and hook his water line to our line without the meter.   Then he was using water without our water meter getting free water.   If all was true from him why did he take our meter out instead of just fix his leak?  He says he had to take out so he could see the threads but he was able to see the threads to hook his line straight up without meter that was still under ground. When he got the meter out he still didn't put back after he could see the threads as he says.  We then called the police for tampering with a public utility.  We didn't charge 3 tamper. We charged one tamper for him pulling our meter and we charged a reconnect fee to put meter back in.  We have all worked past this now and bill is paid water is back on..

  thanks

• Initial Complaint

  01/25/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  They have zero communication skills, lack of customer service and horrible at keeping records. Every time the power goes out we are left without water. Water quality is horrible. Had a question and Russell the “owner” refused answer further questions.
  

  Business response

  02/09/2023

  I do not know who this consumer is but if she wanted to specify who she is I can try to answer it. Our water does not taste bad.

• Initial Complaint

  09/28/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This company operates without any oversight. They charge outrageous fees and offer no customer support. You cannot get ahold of them for any questions, you can't get clear answers to fees you receive, you can't get answers on why the water is off. Once I finally get someone to answer or return my call (mainly a dude named Russell) you're met with a defensive jerk who doesn't care about your experience. My water has been off for an hour and turns out they had a water break. They didn't send out an email, or a text, they don't have a Facebook group or anything. If I'm forced to use a private company by the city then they should be held to a higher standard of customer service. Also, there is not payment method that does not involve a fee--if I use a credit card there is a fee, if I pay cash there is a fee. It's a total circus.
  

  Business response

  06/08/2023

  Are fees we charge are the same or less than surrounding areas.  We are open from 9am to 3pm mon-thur and fri 9am to 12 noon.  I still answer phone until late in the evening on most days.  We are not set up to send out e-mail when we have a leak.  When we have a leak all our time is going to fixing it and getting service back to normal.  If a customer chooses to make a credit card payment they use ************************ and they charge a fee.  If you choose to do a walk up payment at HQ food mart they charge a dollar for that. You can use the postal service also.  Sooner Utilities never charges anyone to make a payment.  

• Initial Complaint

  06/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Company is not fit to be providing a necessary utility. We constantly wake up with zero water pressure without warning and sometimes its so bad you cant get more than a drop. The bills are currently so service has not been cut off. This has been an issue the entire 6 years we have been living here. I had to keep bottled water at all times to make sure my infant had water to make her formula since we would sometimes go hours without being able to use it. Most recently we had a terrible leak. Our **** went from $60 a month to suddenly $234 and we got no warning or heads up that our usage had skyrocketed. The leak was under our house so the meter was our only indicator. The owner (who reads the meters) said he had no way of knowing anything was off, however the plumber said one look at the meter shows a significant leak. Now we have received a second **** for $234.60 the exact same amount as last months down to the *****, even though we fixed the leak. Was the meter even read, or did they copy and paste? There is no customer service number anywhere to get information and the only number you can call to speak with a person is the owners. He was unable to give me any information about my **** whatsoever.

  Business response

  06/16/2022

  Dear Customer,

  We have reached out to the manufacturer for the water pumps to see why there may be an issue with the water pressure. We do have a back up water system in place so the water should always be available for use. Please contact us if an issue arises when you do not have water.

  Your personal line, not belonging to the water utility company had a leak. The leak spanned two billing cycles which is why you have two high bills. Sooner Utilities, **** is not responsible for a customer's personal water line leak. However, because your bills are higher we are willing to make arrangements for your payment.

  Meter dials are continuous and we both agree that the readings on your meter are accurate. We can always be reached at ************ during office hours, Monday through Thursday 9:00 am to 3:00 pm and 9:00 am to 12:00 pm on Fridays. In the event of an emergency, you may dial the same number and let the operator know you need a call back from a Sooner Utilities representative. You will receive a call from a worker who is "on call."

  We regret you found our services to not meet your expectations. Sooner Utilities can not be responsible for every customer's personal water line leaks and hope in the future you contact us as soon as you discover a problem.

  Please contact us at ************ to create a payment arrangement.

  Sincerely,

   

  *****************************, Owner

• Initial Complaint

  03/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  on the high end my **** is about 84 dollars a month. this is the 2nd time in 2 years that my **** is extremely high for no reason. my **** is 200 over what it normally is and this is outrageous to do this to honest working people. This company does this to people and this is not right

  Business response

  03/07/2022

  Customer has a water leak and knows it    Pretty simple stuff not sure why they wrote the BBB

  Customer response

  03/07/2022

   
  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. with the exception the water leak started yesterday so it is what it is its in the home so dont understand why he is saying that i had a leak the whole time but it is what it is 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************

*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. ↩