Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District

To Whom It May Concern: The account for the property at [redacted]., MSD Account # [redacted], has been adjusted as of 5/31/2017 bringing that account to a zero balance due. MSD is not an 'applied for' service meaning the sewer service charges remain with the property and are not...

transferable between premises. When we receive notification of water activity, new ownership via Title process, and/or new construction, we establish an account for the related premise and in some cases this process occurs automatically. I do see where we did validate with our Permits Department that this property is not within our service area, however, we continue to receive water activity from the water provider. The decision to begin billing was a manual oversight and should have been recognized when the water data was received. I have confirmed that the account is indeed inactive and all appropriate adjustments have been made rendering the customer absolved of any financial responsibility to the account at this time. Additionally, I have placed a screen pop on the account to alert the staff of the issue to assist in avoiding the creation of any erroneous charges. If the customer has any additional questions, they may contact me directly at the number listed below.  [redacted]MSD Accounts Receivables Supervisor[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response until action has actually been taken by the business. I have previously been told that this would be resolved, and it never was. Words are not good enough for me at this point.  Once the action has been taken and I see a zero balance on my account and THEN my account closed, I'll accept this. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Good Evening, I am in receipt of the customer's claim as of 6/24/2016 under claim # [redacted]. In response to the customer's complaint, I offer the following:As you know the Wastewater User Charge portion of the MSD bill is based on the amount of water used at the address according to the data...

obtained from the water provider.  Kirkwood Water changed out meters in 2015.  This change provided data to MSD differently and because of this change the meter readings received from January 2015 through August 2015 calculated by MSD were incorrect.  Therefore, MSD miscalculated the amount of water usage (ccfs) and have been billing some of our Kirkwood customers incorrectly.  Programming was completed in April to bring into the system the corrected meter readings and to recalculate the usage based on the updated readings.  The April bill cycle included a usage adjustment (Debit or Credit) to correct all months previously billed to be based on the correct usage.  This does not negate from the customer's actual usage. The adjustment is just accounting for the amount MSD under billed the customer by. The adjustment was done to reconcile the difference. For this specific customer the usage is equated to 8 months where we billed the property known as [redacted]. at 1 ccfs instead of the correct amount of 3 ccfs. The customer would have seen an adjustment on their April bill for $51.36 because this is the amount of the debit adjustment equating to a total of 16 ccfs @ $3.21 per ccf. I hope this helps to provide some clarification. I have included the customer on this response. If there are any additional questions my contact information is listed below.  [redacted]Accounts Receivables Supervisor[redacted]@stlmsd.com

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.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Good Morning, I have received a response from our Operations Division and the response is as follows: Investigation of this situation identified a blocked sewer main.  The affected homeowners were appropriately notified through our existing procedures and their damage claims are...

currently being processed through our third party provider. If there are any additional questions, you may contact me directly at the contact information listed below. [redacted]MSD A/R Supervisor[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/01/26) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted]
Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@stlmsd.com
Response to Complaint [redacted]-The account holder, [redacted], at the property known as XXXX XXXX [redacted] does not make...

consistent monthly payment to their account. When the account's balance accrues additional charges and ages over an extended period of time MSD begins an extensive collections process where the balance gets assigned to our collection vendors, at various stages, before ultimately being assigned to a law firm. Whenever this particular customer is not consistent in making monthly payments, the collections process is initiated. The latest events are outlined below:
1. The account was assigned to one of our 1st Placement agencies, for the third time, on 1/24/2013.
2. When no reasonable payment terms were made, the account was pulled and assigned to one of our 2nd Placement agencies on 8/21/2013.
3. When no reasonable payment terms were made, the account was pulled and assigned to one of our Collection Law Firms to initiate lawsuit.
4. The customer made sufficient payments resulting in the collection activity to cease thus causing the account to be recalled/pulled from the law firm on 1/26/2016.
The Law Firms are reimbursed for any expenses derived from the attempt to collect the debt. That would include but is not limited to: court cost and fees. They are also allowed per the courts to collect Attorney's fees if a judgment is taken against the defendant. The customer made payments totaling $456.48 in the month of January. The law firm also credited/removed $105.00 in court costs and fees to the account bringing the balance remaining to $ 9.97. In short, we believe the matter to be resolved. Please let us know if there are any other questions.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
A/R Supervisor
MSD

To Whom It May Concern: The Metropolitan Sewer District has had rate increases for the past few years based on Bond Proposals presented to the public for the popular vote. We have been mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency to maintain a high level of compliance concerning the...

health and safety of our rate payers. To achieve this, we have to make substantial improvements to the infrastructure which will result in an increase of funds needed to finance those required improvements. As a result, we have to increase our rates over a period of 15 years consistently to be able to allocate the appropriate funding to those projects. The Bond Proposal introduced a few years ago keeps the rate increases at a more feasible amount as without that, we would have to increase the rates more. Overall, the increase has been up to 11% per year which equates to a $4-5 increase to a rate payers monthly charges. Additionally, the customer in question, is being billed on a Residential-Metered rate which means that we are only using meter reads provided by their water provider that are taken between January 15th through April 30th to arrive an average cubic feet (CCF) that we will bill on consistently for a 12 month period. If the customer's water usage increases that will also impact their monthly bill from MSD as the current rate per CCF is $3.97. This particular customer has been billed 4 CCFs for the past 2 years (see attached document - MSD Billed Usage) so the increase they are referring to is specifically related to the rate increase. I have also attached a list of Common Usage reported to us by the customer's water provider and the formula we use to calculate the average CCF we apply to the customer's MSD bill. Please let me know if any further clarification is needed. My contact information is listed below. Mrs. [redacted]MSD Accounts Receivables Supervisor[redacted]

To Whom It May Concern: Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay. The customer, Ms. [redacted], was approved for our Customer Assistance Program on April 20, 2017. The discounted rate, as per the program, became effective as of 5/1/2017. As part of being a participant in the...

program, the customer receives a monthly 50% deduction to their monthly accrued service charges and if they are new to the program, they also receive a 50% reduction to outstanding balances that have been delinquent greater than 30 days in addition to a 100% reduction to any late fees that were assessed. I have reviewed the account and found that this customer did not receive the courtesy forgiveness adjustment on either of the accounts associate with the premise. I have adjusted -$436.73 from the customer's judgment account ([redacted])bringing the balance to $91.45. Additionally, I have adjusted the post judgment account, that is actively billing accrued service charges ([redacted]) -$739.91 bringing the balance on that account to $898.16. The customer has an active garnishment on account # [redacted]. I have asked that a representative from our internal collections department reach out to the attorney of record to have the garnishment updated to reflect the adjustment given. Lastly, the customer still owes a balance on the post judgment account that is currently billing monthly service charges. It is the customer's responsibility to set payment terms to resolve the outstanding balance to avoid any further collection activity. I have asked [redacted], MSD Section Head, from our Accounts Receivables to reach out to her and make an attempt to set some reasonable payment terms. If there are any other concerns, the customer is more than welcome to contact me directly at the number listed below. [redacted] A/R Supervisor[redacted]

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.  A concurrent complaint with the state Attorney General's office resolves the issue.  Sad that it was necessary to involve third parties because the utility refused to make changes requested multiple times by their customer.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

To Whom It May Concern: MSD accounts are assigned to our various contracted collection vendors in the following manner: Automatic Courtesy Collection calls beginning at 35 days; assignment to a 1st Placement Agency at 90 days delinquent; Assignment to a 2nd placement 7 months delinquent; and...

assignment to a Law Firm 10 months. MSD nor its vendors do any reporting to the major credit bureaus. The customer is only in danger of that if the outstanding balance goes through litigation resulting in a civil judgment against them at which point the municipal courts report as it is a matter of public record. The customer's account in question ([redacted] / [redacted]), was assigned to a 1st Placement collection agency on 01/01/2018. The account has not been at a zero balance since April 2017. Historically, the payments to the account are inconsistent and have not addressed the balance in full. the account is not recalled from the collection vendor until the account is brought current. The customer made a payment on 2/5/2018 leaving the remaining balance at $105.30. As that amount contains some of the outstanding amounts, the account remained at the collection agency. During this time, the agency is doing as instructed by continuing any collection efforts to resolve the balance in full. The customer's account billed again on 2/6/2018 bringing the current balance to $162.55 which contains their current bill amount of $57.25. The agencies have access to our systems and are made aware of any transactions that occur on the account that may impact the balance. There is no 'false' reporting. If the customer wishes to make payment arrangements on the account, they will need to contact: Credit Control, [redacted].  [redacted]A/R Supervisor[redacted]@stlmsd.com

To Whom It May Concern: In response to the customer's questions: 1. If the next 90 day is reflective of lower consumption that would equate to a lower CCF average, we can consider adjusting the account to accommodate the change to the what the customer was billed before. We would have to see the next 'actual' read to consider making any adjustments. 2. We can consider adjusting to impact previously billed amounts.  As explained in my previous response, all new customers are billed at a default of 7 CCFS when "actual" consumption is unknown. This is a standard business practice and is deemed the most equitable way to bill new customers. Again, if the customer moved from a previous residence within the MSD service area we can also consider using the usage from that address and apply it to the current place of residency. I would need to know precisely information on that property and documentation validating said residency.

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.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

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.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

To Whom It May Concern: The customer contacted our office on this topic beginning April 4, 2017. After further research of the issue we have determined that the check ([redacted]) was written out to MSD, however, the customer's bank referenced an incorrect MSD account number for processing....

The account number was 1 digit off from the customer's true account number. The customer's payment of $44.59 was transferred from the incorrect account number and applied to his account # [redacted]. The payment transfer occurred on April 27, 2017. Additionally, the customer received a credit adjustment for late charges amounting to -$0.33. The customer's account balance is currently $0.00. We also placed a temporary collection hold on the account while it was being research. The customer received no other penalties. While the staff members made attempts to contact the customer to go over the details he has also spoken with a couple of members of Management regarding the matter. To date, we consider the issue resolved. I have attached a Ledger History Report that reflects payments, charges, and adjustments. Please let us know if any other details are needed. [redacted]MSD Accounts Receivables Supervisor[redacted]  Transfer Balance $44.59 as of 4/27/17 from Account [redacted] to Account [redacted]... customer sent pmt to wrong acct (ck #[redacted] was written out to msd acct # [redacted]-sent by customer's bank)...[redacted]

To Whom It May Concern: The customer's account # [redacted] for the property known as [redacted]., has gone through our entire collections process ending at one of our Collection Law firms in an attempt to collect the debt. Per the attached Ledger History Report, the customer is making...

payments, however, the amount of the payment has not been consistent or enough to keep the account from moving through our various stages of collections. To secure the District's (MSD) interest, we do also reserve the right to place property lien against the property so that we are able to recoup expenses and resolve any outstanding amounts through the sale or refinance of the property. The District is expensed from the St. Louis City and County Recorder of Deeds whenever we have liens filed and recorded. We then turn those costs over to the delinquent customer. The charge, in total, to MSD is $38.50 to file and the same amount to release it. Should the customer continue to leave the outstanding balance unresolved, the collection attorney will pursue a judgment lien against the individual to further secure the District's interest. The customer will need to make contact with the law firm of record, [redacted] G. [redacted], who can be reached at [redacted], and solidify reasonable payment terms to avoid any further action against them. All other contact from the customer will need to be directed to Mr. [redacted]'s office. [redacted]MSD Accounts Receivables Supervisor[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: This is not my bill, My land lord has sent them my lease showing I just moved to this property on February 17th,2017 . When I call to speak to them about this they are very rude, stating that they can not remove my name from a bill that was clearly made by the previous tenant. This is the first time I have ever had Water Services in my name and should only be responsible for the service used since my lease move in date.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 10, 2015/06/08) */
Revdex.com Case #XXXXXXX
[redacted]
Since this concerned a sewer back-up the information was forwarded to MSD's Claims Department. The claims department sent the following response:
The claimant reported a sewer backup to MSD on Saturday, 2/28/15. ...

The loss was determined to be the result of a sewer separator failure. We began attempts to contact her on Monday 3/2/15, but did not receive a call back during business hours until 3/17/15. At that point we requested documentation of the alleged damage. She provided two handwritten plumbing invoices. The combined total of the two invoices was $575.00. She did not provide any other documentation. We sent an offer of $575.00 to the claimant, and she returned a signed release dated April, 1, 2015. We then determined that her MSD account was past due by $282.46. We reduced the settlement by this amount, and sent a check to her for $292.54 on 4/6/15.
Unfortunately, Ms. [redacted] MSD account was in arrears. When this happens, any funds due will be deducted from the settlement amount. MSD Claims Department considers the matter closed.
Sincerely,
[redacted] B. [redacted]
Accounts Receivable Supervisor
MSD
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (1500, 11, 2015/06/08) */

To Whom It May Concern: As per standard business practices for The Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD), we are heavily reliant on the water providers for information regarding usage and activation of services for respective properties. If the water services have been initiated, it is our standard...

practice to begin billing as of the activation date. This is done because at any time the user has the potential need to be able to dispose of waste water into the main sewer system and we would have to treat that waste. The charges incurred are for the treatment of waste water disposal. The customer's property is a newly constructed property and as such when we are made aware of new service, we would initiate services back to the activation date per the water provider. Our Ordinance # [redacted] allows us the ability to back bill for up to 18 months to recoup any funds for services provided during that window of time from the time the MSD customer account is established.  Mrs. [redacted] has spoken with our Call Center Operations Manager on 4/7/2017 and the matter was escalated to the Accounts Receivables Manager on 4/11/2017. The account was reviewed and the outcomes are as follows:1. Adjustments done totaling $-101.80 for a service period from 10/30/2015-1/15/2016. The adjustment consists of  $45.63 Base charges;  $56.17 volume charges.  Adjustment done as a result of a HUD statement sent by owner showing sale date of 1/15/2016 from [redacted]. Closing done at [redacted]: [redacted] [redacted] 2. Collection holds in place until 5/4/2017. Customer was sent an e mail from A/R Manager, [redacted] on 4/11/2017 and given 15 days to respond to make payment arrangements on the remaining balance due. The balance due is currently: $ 537.10. We consider the matter closed as the period in question has been adjusted. Please let us know if there are any other questions/concerns.  [redacted]MSD Accounts Receivables Supervisor[redacted]

Good Afternoon, The customer's concerns requires additional research from our Engineering Department. I will follow up the week of 11/14/2016. Thank you.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2015/05/12) */
Revdex.com Case #XXXXXXX [redacted].
I would like to apologize for the lack of professionalism from the person that Mr. [redacted] initially spoke with during his call to MSD's Billing Call Center. We have identified that per son and will move forward...

accordingly.
Mr. [redacted]'s MSD account will be adjusted to reflect usage as reported by [redacted]. He will notice this change within the next two billing cycles. I sincerely apologize that it has taken this long to resolve his issue.
[redacted] B. [redacted]
Accounts Receivable Supervisor
MSD