Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 11, 2015/08/12) */
[redacted] and [redacted] both with MSD have both been in contact with the consumer. [redacted] met with the homeowner on 7/29/15.
This concern is addressed through MSD Operations. Unfortunately, I do not have details of what transpired...

between the consumer and MSD representatives.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 10, 2015/12/07) */
Response to Revdex.com [redacted]
First allow me to apologize for the time it has taken to resolve this issue. MSD uses the data received from water providers to accurately bill its customers for the wastewater portion of the MSD...

bill. This account bills on components (rooms, baths, showers etc.) Once this data was received, MSD applied the information according and opened the account as active. The account is billing correctly at this time. Again, I would like to apologize for the delay in getting this accomplished.
[redacted]
Accounts Receivable Supervisor

To Whom It May Concern: I reviewed Ms. [redacted]'s account and have noted her concerns. The customer being billed the default average usage of 7 CCFs is accurate as that is the most equitable value for new users with whom we do not know what their actual consumption is. We do this for all new...

customers. If the customer claims to have lower actual usage we can consider (but changes are not guaranteed):1. Reviewing the next 90 day "Actual" meter read from their water provider. The emphasis on "90 Day" and "Actual". 2. If the customer moved from another property that is also within the St. Louis Metropolitan area and that property was also billed by MSD, we can assess the billed usage on that account and consider possible adjustments as long as we can validate that the customer was indeed a resident at that property.  Ms. [redacted]'s next meter read was on 1/12/2017 over a 94 day reading period and it was an "estimated" read which an indication that the water provider can not confirm actual usage. I attempted to contact Ms. [redacted] and was only able to leave a voice mail message on her daytime phone number. She is more than welcome to contact me directly at the number listed below. [redacted]MSD Accounts Receivables Supervisor[redacted]

Good Morning, I attempted to access the account information with the use of the address provided and was not able to locate an account under the customer's name to review his concerns. I then made contact with the customer, Mr. [redacted] at [redacted], where he advised me that the matter has...

been resolved and no further action was needed. If there are any other questions/concerns, the customer is more than welcomed to contact me direct at the information listed below. [redacted]MSD A/R Supervisor[redacted]

Good Morning,MSD experienced some issues with the calculation of usage for some residential metered customers. We set some goals in order to correct the issue systemically and unfortunately for us and our customers this effort inconvenienced our MSD customer base even more. Mr. [redacted]'s account,...

42621-3, received adjustments totaling 48 ccfs or $172.32. The adjustment transaction occurred in two parts: -16 ccfs (-$57.44) on the September 2016 Bill Statement and -32 ccfs (-$114.88) on the November 2016 Bill Statement.Additionally, the bill charges going forward through July 2017 will bill at 9 ccfs ($51.77) per month. There are no additional adjustments due. The customer is more than welcome to contact me directly. My contact information is listed below. [redacted]MSD Accounts Receivables Supervisor[redacted]

Tell us why here...
This complaint is being handled by MSD's Operations Department  and they reported that  an MSD crew was out on 1/8/16 to check the main line and found it to be open and clear.  This dispute is still in progress and is being handled by one of the yard...

engineers.  MSD is trying to work with the consumer to resolve this issue.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/12/22) */
Revdex.com Complaint [redacted]
Mr. [redacted] has been removed from billing for MSD. We received water data information for the property address and inadvertently opened an MSD account. We have since closed the account so Mr. [redacted]...

should not receive any bills from MSD. My sincerest apology for this error.
[redacted]
Accounts Receivable Supervisor

To Whom It May Concern:The customer first reported the backup to the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District(MSD) on Jun 4, 2017.  An MSD crew responded to the incident and determined that the cause of the backup was an overcharged main.  An overcharged main occurs when excessive rain fills...

the sewer line in a short period of time so that the line cannot hold any more water.  If the sewer line backs up into the building as a result, MSD will reimburse the property owner $3,000.00 less a $1,000.00 deductible.  There is no problem with the actual working of the sewer line.  Mr. [redacted] was offered a check in the amount of $2,900.00 ($3,000.00 minus $2,000.00 deductible) but he refused to sign the release. Let me know if any further clarification is needed.  [redacted]MSD Accounts Receivables Supervisor[redacted]

To Whom It May Concern:The customer's has had a continuous rolling balance since July 3, 2017 on their MSD account #[redacted].). When an account has a delinquent balance that is not paid by the due date, it begins to move through various stages in our collections process. The account...

mentioned is receiving courtesy collections calls because the payments applied to the account are not enough to address the monthly accrued service charge and the outstanding delinquent amount due. The account is subject to assignment to one of our Collection vendors in the next collections phase if the customer does not resolve the balance. I have attached a Ledger History report that reflects the transactions that have occurred on the account to-date. The customer is more than welcome to contact me directly if there are any other questions.  [redacted]Accounts Receivables Supervisor[redacted]

To Whom It May Concern: The Metropolitan Sewer District bills residential metered single family residents based on meter reads done by their water providers between January 15th through April 30th each year to arrive at an average cubic foot (CCF) that we will bill for our fiscal year...

(August - July). The customer in question is concerned with the current average CCF that we have been billing since August 2017. They are being billed at 19 CCFs because during our annual review of their meter reads, we noticed that the read done by their water provider, between the dates mentioned, displayed extremely high water (232 units) usage. Normally, the calculation for average CCFs is done systemically; however, the increase from the previous year's meter read was so extreme it met our variance criteria required for manual intervention. When this occurs we look at a 12 month reading period, apply a 84% discount to the consumption value, and figure the average CCF based on that. If we had not done that, the customer would have been billed 73 CCFs (multiplied by $3.97) instead of 19 CCFs.  There were 2 years where the customer had zero usage during those periods and we billed the bare minimum of 1 CCF from 2015/2016 through 2016/2017. The customer had a series of 'estimated' reads from their water provider just prior to an actual meter read done on 2/14/17. I believe the reason it was high can be attributed to a correction, on the part of the water provider, to correct the previous estimates reported to MSD. Ultimately, we took the high read into consideration when adjusting the customer's usage down to a more reasonable value. The 19 CCFS they are currently being billed on is accurate and fair. I attempted to contact the customer to discuss verbally and was only able to leave a voice mail message. Please let me know if there are any other questions.  Sincerely, [redacted]Accounts Receivables Supervisor[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
I paid what I was billed. If there was an error on their part it is thier mistake to eat. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/02/26) */
The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District denies all liability for this claim. The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is shielded from court liability by the Doctrine of Sovereign Immunity. In order to state a cause of action and tort against...

MSD for dangerous property condition, immunity must be waived. Such waiver regarding a dangerous property condition occurs only when: (I) There is a dangerous condition of the property; (2) The plaintiff's injuries directly resulted from the dangerous condition; (3) that the dangerous condition created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the kind of harm the plaintiff incurred; and (4) that a public employee negligently created the condition or that the public entity had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition.
Ms. [redacted] complained that, "she was driving down the street at Bircher and Arlington and a sewer lid popped up and got stuck under her (truck)...by Ms. [redacted]'s own admission, MSD did not have actual notice of any dangerous condition or constructive notice of any dangerous condition. Therefore, MSD has sovereign immunity for this claim, and denies all liability.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.  However, MSD needs to implement a procedure which makes it EASY for a customer to inform them they are calling the wrong number  - and have MSD quickly resolve the error.   I should not have needed help from the Revdex.com to get them to stop harassing me, and it was definitely harassment.   
Sincerely,
[redacted]

To Whom It May Concern: The customer residing and receiving services at the property known as [redacted] purchased the property on July 14, 2016. MSD is not an 'applied for' service meaning that the service charges accrued are tied to the premise/property. MSD is also heavily reliant on...

the water providers data to arrive at an average consumption or cubic feet (CCF). This customer, specifically, is being bill on a Residential Metered Rate and on that bill class their average CCF is based on water meter reads done by the water provider between January 15 - April 30 of each year. The average CCF calculated is then billed to the customer for 12 consecutive months beginning August through July each new fiscal year. When a new customer moves into the property, as this customer has, after the specified meter reads have already been done for the year, it is hard to determine just what the actual consumption for the new users are. MSD will set a default CCF of 7 for all new customers who meet this same criteria and bill on that at for 12 months until we get an actual meter read that falls within the period described above. The  7 CCFs is a statistical value that the average sized residential occupants would use. In some instances we can take a look and consider, no guarantees, the next 90 day after they have moved in to arrive a lesser value if applicable. I did review this customer's next 90 day read which occurred on December 13, 2016. Based on that meter read of 7 units over a 91 day reading period, MSD would calculate to 2 CCFs. I have adjusted a total of -30 CCFs  for service periods August 2016 through January 2017. The customer should see these adjustments reflective on their next sewer bill. The usage adjustment will cause a credit overage which the customer can choose to have refunded or leave on the account for future bills. I attempted to contact the customer via phone and was only able to leave a voice mail message. Please let me know if there are any other questions.  [redacted]MSD A/R Supervisor[redacted]

Good Evening, The property known as [redacted] had a delinquent balance of $547.00 on 2/27/2015. For clarification, any premise that has a delinquent balance that exceeds $350.00, MSD will begin the process of filing a statutory lien, against the premise, to protect our interest in the event...

the property is to be refinance and/or sold. The aforementioned balance does exceed that amount so property lien# [redacted] was filed on 2/27/2015 under Book # [redacted] and Page # [redacted]. To file the lien and have it recorded costs the District $38.50 to process. The same amount is then charged once the customer pays the debt in full to zero because we are not allowed, per audit restrictions, to charge for services not yet rendered. The customer then paid the account to zero, thus initiating the process of releasing the lien 10/10/2016 resulting in the $38.50 charged to their account on 11/1/2016. Our ordinance # [redacted] allows us to recoup any funds expended for the purposes of collection activity from the customer directly. The customer was delinquent for a large period of time that resulted in the initiation of our collection efforts. Part of those efforts include the filing of statutory liens to protect our interest. Please do not hesitate in contacting me directly if there are any further questions.  Regards,[redacted]Accounts Receivables Supervisor[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 12, 2015/10/22) */
Mr. [redacted] contacted MSD questioning how billed usage for his address increased from 2ccfs per month for the previous billing year to 3ccfs per month for the current billing year. He was provided an explanation that coincides with MSD Ordinance...

#13758. Metered property is billed according to the water usage registered by the meter and reported by the water provider. MSD's rate structure as reflected in its ordinances has been the subject of numerous court cases. The structure as is contained in ordinances is consistent with those cases. The issue about which claimant complains is within the ordinances and standard industry practices. MSD has addressed and responded to complainant. We hope that the explanations provided settled the issue. There is no additional explanation other that what has been provided.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (1500, 15, 2015/10/22) */
MSD has told you the exact same info that I told you in my initial complaint. Around and around we go. Ordinance # 13758 does not explain why they are rounding up my usage. I am not questioning why my rate was raised from 2 units of discharge to 3. They told me because they round up. I am contesting the ability to round up so as they get 9 units of discharge in the same period of time 7 units of water are used. It's a physical impossibility. Ordinance 13758 (30 page document) DOES NOT EXPLAIN THIS as advised to you in my original complaint. How does their response equate to anything that I did not already inform you? This is not an investigated response, its the same PR copy and paste B.S. they tried to use when I first contacted them. This is far from being resolved. They are still charging me for more than what comes into my meter. Don't give me a 30 page document that doesn't answer my question. It says nothing about being able to round up usage. If needed I'll give you copies of my water bill vs sewer bill. 7 units in, 9 units out in the same period, this is not rocket science.

Good Evening, I have reviewed the customer's account # [redacted] for the property known as [redacted]. and have concluded that the customer's account should truly be closed and a new account should have been created for the buyer. The reason for the disruption is due to the payoff...

transaction type. The title companies have been instructed to send their payoff amounts to [redacted] instead of the standard P.O. that our customer send their regular payments to. The discrepancy on their part caused a disruption to the normal processes we use to resolve the seller's account thus creating an account for the buyer. Now that I am aware of it, I have had someone on my staff resolve the issue and Ms. [redacted] should not see any other bills for this property. I have attempted to contact the customer, however, I was only able to leave a voice mail message. The customer is more than welcome to contact me directly at the information listed below. [redacted]MSD A/R Supervisor[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/13) */
Response to #XXXXXXX T. [redacted]
Mr. [redacted]'s MSD is partially based on the water usage data reported by Missouri American Water. In reviewing MOAM Usage for the property located at XXXXX [redacted] MOAM estimated the usage for the winter...

months which is the value used in calculating a part of the MSD bill. As of Friday, October 9, 2015, the estimated usage has not changed on their website for this property. The estimated usage still shows as 27ccfs which calculates down to what MSD is charging as 9ccfs. When MOAM recalculates their readings, MSD will see a cancel and rebill value, these are not shown on the MOAM account. If MOAM provided a monetary adjustment for the property, unfortunately, MSD has no way of knowing how that calculates to usage and therefore can not provide a usage adjustment. Please provide a copy of the adjusted usage so that MSD can make the proper credits as needed.
Sincerely,
[redacted] B. [redacted]
Accounts Receivable Supervisor
MSD
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/10/13) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I was given no phone number, address, person, or additional information on whom to send this usage to. I would be happy if my account would be adjusted, but I have no idea how to get this information to the MSD. MSD need to provide contact information.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 10, 2016/01/25) */
Dear Sir/Madam:
I am in receipt of Complaint Activity Report No. XXXXXXX in which Mr. [redacted] residing at [redacted] XXXXX complained of basement flooding due to a clogged sewer drain.
Mr. [redacted] contacted the...

Metropolital St. Louis Sewer Districk ("the District") by phone on December 23, 2015 at 12:36 PM; two days after the date of incident identified in his complaint and identified a water backup through a floor drain. The district responded on December 31, 2015, investigated and found the source of the problem to be an overcharged main and no problem of the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District. An overcharged main refers to too much rain water for the sewer system.
During this time period, the metropolitan St. Louis area received a record rain event resulting in 1,445 calls to the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District to investigate water related issues. As such, the District responded in a timely fashion to the customer complaint and found the sewer system operating as it was designed. Although the District denies all liability, it has offered Mr. [redacted] $2,9000.00 which the District is allowed to offer through its insurance program. Upon return receipt of a signed release, payment will be made to Mr. [redacted].
If you have any questions, please contact me at (XXX) XXX-XXXX.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
MSD Legal Counsel
cc. [redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and while I appreciate my account being adjusted with credit appropriately there is still no explanation or reasoning as to why there was no communication about the extra debit from my account. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]