Complaints

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:02/17/2025

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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 was on the lease at a different address, *********************************************************************** for one year, until November 2024. I canceled gas and water service with the Department of Public Utilities, with the date to turn it off being November 1, 2024. I have called multiple times and confirmed with them that this is noted on their end. After I moved out, I received a check in December 2024 from them for $100, citing that after reviewing "adjustments," I had overpaid. Since January 2025, I have received three pre-collections notices, for water and gas charges totaling over $1000 at ********************. The service dates they outline on these notices are November - December 2024, December - January 2025, and now January - February 2025, which are all after I moved out and had service shut off in my name. They also included a "previous balance" that was not ever indicated on my previous bills, all of which I paid while I lived at the address. When I called to dispute it they told me there was nothing they could do, even though they verbally confirmed multiple times that I had shut off service on November 1st.They said that they'll send it to their adjustments department to be figured out from there, and it will take anywhere from 3 to 6 months. All the while, they're continuing to send me pre-collections notices, with the amount of money they claim I owe them increasing.I would like assistance in resolving this issue, since they're trying to charge me money for services past the date that I had shut them off! I told them I am not paying for services that were not rendered to me, or a "previous balance" that they invented out of thin air.Thank you!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/11/2025

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  Billing issue and being told they can't get to the meter due to vehicle parked over it and they are actually reading it and putting down estimate on the bill that's being higher than usual. I have been calling since October 28, 2024 and still haven't gotten any results yet on what's gonna on other than them telling me it's under investigation and it takes 30 days to complete. When asked who is the people coming out I was told they didn't know even the supervisor didn't know who is coming out reading the meter I have taken a picture of a lady and the vehicle to prove someone is actually reading the meter and can get to the meter due to know vehicle over the meter. I would like for someone to look into this situation further because these dpu workers seems to not be doing there job properly they are putting down false information reading residents meter and saying they couldn't this has got to stop and they take their time getting the situation straight saying they don't have any workers each time you call and that they are sorry for the frustration people don't want to keep hearing that for months or years we want something done about it the same way they want the money for your bill it's just ridiculous now.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/13/2024

  Type:Order 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.

  See provided letter

  Business Response

  Date: 11/15/2024

  Thank you for contacting the City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities regarding this account issue. This email serves as confirmation that ****** ***** account concerns have been finalized. More specifically, *** made contact with Mr. ***** via phone and advised of the next steps. This issue has been resolved and no additional follow-up is needed.
  
  Thank you again for contacting *** and allowing us the opportunity to be of assistance.
  
  
  **** R. *****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/16/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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 *********** have lived in our home close to five years. Weve never received a gas bill or knew that there was gas in the home. On October 7th/8th our water was not getting hot. I called a family who works in the electrical/plumbing business who advised we had gas in our home & that is why the water was not getting hot because our water heater operates off of gas. I then reached out to the Richmond ***************** who stated the Gas account was still under the previous homeowners name which is why we never received a bill (again we have lived in the home almost 5 yrs.). After numerous calls over a span of 10 hours with ******, an agent stated we only owed $851.00 back dating to 2020 till now. When we went to pay to have the gas turned on the representative at the **************** location stated the amount did not reflect in our ************ need to call again to be advised of the activation amount. After calling again we were then advised we needed to pay $3,000.00 which was a surprise to us after the last representative ****** stated he spoke to his manager who calculated the cost to be $851.00. To date October 16th we have had to Pay $800.00 with the remainder amount needing to be paid through Promise Pay. I have asked numerous times for the ****** representatives to pull and listen to the calls, I spoke with Supervisor *****, Supervisor ************** ****** no one has pulled the calls as I requested numerous of times. Everyone has given different information everytime I have called. We again have never received a bill & the Company even confirmed they never mailed us a bill over the past almost 5 years because they didnt know who to bill. We should not have to pay over $3,000.00 for a service we never even knew we were using or had. We had a representative today with ****** by the name of ***** ****** come out to turn the gas on and relight the pilot, upon doing so our laundry room went up in flames & exposed gas throughout the whole home.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/22/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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 moved in a rental on April 1 in 2019. The water bill has been upwards of about $200 and more since I moved in which I knew was not correct, its even sometimes been higher. Not only has it been impossible to get in touch with someone, but Ive waited at the very least 2 hours to speak to someone and email has proved useless. *** put in so many requests to get this figured out but FINALLY in May 2024 a technician was finally able to help and told me the meter was faulty and was being replaced. It is now August 22, 2024 and nothing has been done to correct the past over charges. Ive called and emailed but nothing. Im hoping the Richmond department of public utilities will once and for all rectify this situation and make the necessary billing adjustments. The service was cut off after I was told it would not be. This has been an ongoing struggle that has been absolutely needless and involves no fault of my own. Thank you for your time. *********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/18/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore 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 was a customer of RIC DPU. I sold my house *****************************************************************************. *****), prior to closing I called DPU to end gas service in my name effective 6/20/2024. Was told service would be out of my name as of 6/20/2024. Forwarding address was provided to DPU. Since this transaction, another bill had been generated in my name, and sent to old address (was forwarded by ***** forwarding service). RIC DPU had since been contacted regarding this on 7/30/24. Situation was explained and call taker stated:1.) Information had been updated (same as told last month)2.) A late fee what was generated due to mailing bill to wrong address was removed 3.) The next meter read would be 8/8/24 and at that point they could assess what the reading was on 6/20/24. 4.) They would correctly send me a final bill to the new address they had been provided for gas usage through 6/20/2024. Today I received in the mail a bill from RIC DPU" for continued dates of service and service still being provided in my name for an account that was taken out of my name on 6/20/24. The bill had a "PAST DUE" notice plus an additional late fee. I have called to terminate service in my name 2 months ago with **********. Gas is still being provided to an unknow individual at my previous address in my name, and I am still being charged for their usage. I am seeking for RIC DPU to successfully and finally close out my account with them and to send me a accurate "final bill" for gas used under my name from 6/6 - 6/20. which was my last billing cycle with them as a customer. My rough estimate based on past usage and 14 days used in the billing cycle, I owe DPU maybe $20. This current bill they sent me is $87.59 - which is two months after I called to close the account.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/19/2024

  Thank you for contacting the City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities regarding this account issue. This email serves as confirmation that ************************* account concerns have been finalized. More specifically, DPU made contact with **************** via phone and advised of the next steps.. This issue has been resolved and no additional follow-up is needed.
  
   
  
   
  
  Thank you again for contacting DPU and allowing us the opportunity to be of assistance.
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
  **********************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/04/2024

  This is a situation that has been going on since June and this is the second complaint I have filed regarding City of Richmond DPU. I had gas service ended on June 20. I continued to receive bills and was being charged for the new resident's usage. Following the first BBB complaint in August regarding this, COR DPU contacted me and made things right... for the time being. The bill was corrected to reflect what I owed up until termination of service, service was taken out of my name, COR DPU and I were squared away finally. In the process of correcting the bill and taking the account out of my name, I was charged an amount for ~2 weeks of service in the month of August. I was not a COR *** customer in August, I ended service with them in June. I made contact with DPU Department head 10/25, leaving a detailed VM, with no call back and again made contact with DPU Department head on 11/25 leaving a detailed message, with no call back. Contact was made again on 12/3 with DPU department head leaving a detailed message, with no call back. I received COR ***'s latest statement on 12/3 with the inaccurate charges from August, with "pre-collection notice" stamped on it. COR is not responding to my phone calls and planning to forward this charge to collections, for a service during which I was not their customer. Resolution I want is to have this charge removed from of my name and removed from the account I use to have. I need to stop having this unwarranted financial / account management error to content with.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/18/2024

  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 water meter for my property that is owned by the city of Richmond is broken. I have had two different companies evaluate the issue and it is clearly on the city side. There is nothing that I can do. I have emailed, called and emailed and called more to no avail. The water just continues to over flow onto my property. It has been almost 2 months since I initially reported this issue. I spoke with the City, my account is on investigative hold so that I do not have collection issues. That is appreciated but the problem still needs to be fixed. This water leak is eroding and a waste of natural resources. I am hoping that this will get someones attention long enough to repair this issue.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/14/2024

  Dear ****************,
   
  
  Thank you for contacting the City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities regarding this account issue. This email serves as confirmation that we have attempted to reach ****************** by phone with no response as of yet.  This issue will remain open until contact has been made with the customer.
  
  
  
  Thank you again for contacting DPU and allowing us the opportunity to be of assistance
  
   
  
  
  **********************
  
  The City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities
  
  Program and Operations Supervisor, Senior
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/01/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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 moved in a rental on Oct 31, 2021. The water bill has been upwards of about $400-$500 since I moved in which I knew was not correct, its even sometimes been higher. Not only has it been impossible to get in touch with someone, but Ive waited at the very least 2 hours to speak to someone and email has proved useless. Ive put in so many requests to get this figured out but FINALLY in July 2023 a technician was finally able to help and told me there was a water leak. It is now April 1st, 2024 and nothing has been done. Ive called and emailed but nothing. Im hoping the city of public utilities will once and for all rectify this situation and make the necessary repairs as well as do a billing adjustment since at the very least, July 2023. Thank you for your time. -AP

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/29/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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 emailed the dpucusterv on 2/3/24 to rectify the situation but received NO resolution. I personally went to the ************** location to resolve the issue on 3/8/24 and I was told my account was estimated because they could not get a proper electronic meter reading. I was told my account would be flagged and placed on hold until they could send a technician out to determine the cause of the obstructed and to see why the meter could not be read electronically. In the meantime, my water bill account reading has been estimated since December 19, 2023. Another problem is the payments made on Jan 5, 2024, Feb 3, 2024 and Feb 18, 2024 totaling $440.96 has not been posted to my account. I have verified with my Bank and the funds have been deducted from my checking account. I have attached my billing statements from October 2023 April 2024, along with a snapshot of the payments posted on the ***** EZ-PAY|payment center to review. I want the funds paid to be posted to my account correctly and an actual meter reading for all future charges.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/08/2024

  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.

  Richmond ************** and the Department of Public Utilities provides a variety of services to my rented home, including; water, sewer, trash, recycling, and ***. I moved into my home in July of 2023 and immediately began paying on-time bills for what I believed were all components of my bill. In December 2023, I received a bill that now included a separate "***" portion on the bill, in the amount of $1,702.13. This bill appeared entirely unusual in size, and this bill was an "Estimated" billing rather than an ******** reading of the *** utilized. I immediately began correspondence with the Richmond ***, and they scheduled a technician to perform an ******** *** reading for the month of January 2024. The *** bill for January 2024 came out to the amount of $31.30 (read: at this rate, the six months I didn't realize I hadn't been charged due to their error would total out to $187.80 at this ******** rate of *** consumption, as compared to the "Estimated" $1,702.13).In late January, the *** agreed to generate a ticket to perform an ******** reading of the time period in which I was charged the drastically over-estimated amount of $1,702.13. They also agreed to suspend any late payments and place my account in a hold while the ticket was addressed. In the meantime, I paid any and all bills for water, sewer, trash, recycling, and any ******** current *** bills while allowing the $1,702.13 sit on the account.Earlier this week I received my February 2024 bill from the ***, with another ******** reading for my current *** charges - however, the $1,702.13 has still gone unaddressed, and late charges are now accruing on my account, contrary to the ***'s claims. I have visited the *** in person four times and talked to phone representatives twice about this issue in the last two months, with seemingly no end to this issue.I have attached the bills for December 2023, January 2024, and February 2024. Thank you for your help!

  Business Response

  Date: 03/13/2024

  Thank you for contacting the City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities regarding this account issue. This email serves as confirmation that ********************* account concerns have been finalized. More specifically, DPU made contact with ************ via phone and advised of the next steps.. This issue has been resolved and no additional follow-up is needed.
  
   
  
   
  
  Thank you again for contacting DPU and allowing ** the opportunity to be of assistance
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
  **********************
  
  The City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities
  
  ************************************************** RICHMOND, ******** 23219
  
  Office: ************ FAX: ************ Mobile: ************
  
  E-mail: ****************** www.rva.gov