Think Utility Services Reviews (%countItem)
Think Utility Services Rating
Address: 4685 118th Ave N, Clearwater, Florida, United States, 33762-4444
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I just received my first bill and I'm being charged for a carry-over balance from the previous owner. Is this allowed ?
I'm being charged $20.69 for a left over balance from the previous tenant
I have no choice but to pay this amount or risk late fees. So I'm requesting a refund or billing adjustment
Contact Name and Title: James A. / Acct Mgr
Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Contact Email: ***@ThinkUtilityServices.com
My names is James A. and I am the Senior Account Manager with Think Utility Services. First, I was unaware of the complaint e-mail that was sent on 12/21/18. It was not in my spam folder either. I spoke with Rhonda at the Revdex.com Clearwater office and she was able to e-mail the direct link.
We are a submetering company, a third party utility biller for apartments, condominiums, townhomes, mobile home parks, and commercial shopping centers. We read the individual submeters and invoice folks for their water usage. We collect the monies that are owed and we reimburse property management with one check. The program is a cost recovery for the property.
It is policy with Musa at Daniels that whenever there is an impending unit closing, the title company is to contact us for an impending final bill amount. This way, the final invoice amount can be included with the closing cost numbers. In the event that this does not happen, we transfer the outstanding balance from the former owner to the new owner account. We were not contacted by the title company in regards to this unit sale. As a result, the amount of $20.69 was transferred from the former owner account to Mr. new water account.
In consideration of Mr.' concern, I removed the $10.00 late fee that was applied on his account.
Current balance: $22.99
The due date for the January invoice was 1/22/19.
In my e-mail response to him this afternoon, I did advise him that if he receives another late fee due to his inquiry concern, I *** have it removed.
Suggestion:
Perhaps Mr. can seek reimbursement from the title company? After all, they should have contacted us with the final balance.
This situation does occur on occasion. We are not always contacted in regards to unit sales. Not just for this property, but several properties. We have no clue that a unit is selling unless we are contacted by the seller, buyer, management company, or title company.
Also, it must be noted that we do not turn off the water to the property. We are the billing company not the water provider.
I hope this information brings closure to the complaint. Please let me know if you need anything else.
Fraudulent use of information not provided by consumer
I am currently a renter in a property located at the Avalon condominium. I have been renting from the same owner since 2008. I am not responsible for water and sewer as stated in my lease. I have never been responsible for it. I recently received a bill from Think addressed to me. I have never spoken to Think. I have never set up service with Think. I have never done business with Think. My landlord has always paid the bills and ther service has always been in her name. I have actually never received a bill until recently. There seems to be something illegal going on at this company that they could send a bill to someone who has never set up service with them.
I want my name removed from their billing and system completely.
My name is *** A. and I am the Senior Account manager for Think Utility Services. I am also the account manager for the Avalon. We took over billing for this property (water/sewer) in 2018. This is a condo property. When the accounts were setup, the property manager (***) provided a list of owner/renter units in which both the owner and the resident would receive an invoice. As such, the renter would be responsible for paying the monthly water/sewer invoice. Upon verification, unit 114 is NOT on that list. The owner - *** is responsible for paying the monthly water/sewer invoice. Ms. had contacted our customer service department and requested that a new account be created under the renter ***. This is why the account was created. Please know that this was not a "fraudulent use of information" against Ms.. We failed on our end to confirm if this unit was approved for the renter to be invoiced.
Action item: I have switched the account back into Ms. name. The bill will be mailed to the owner in New York. Ms. will not receive an invoice. We apologize for any inconvenience this situation may have caused.
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I appreciate Think taking responsibility although when I attempted to correct this by phone I was told there was nothing that could be done.
Company with shady water meter practice
the occupants are 2 adult and 2 children they are always there and the consumption based on what the company calls actual meter reading can go from 1200 to 4000 to 8000 in any given month with no reason, the typical answer is "it must be a leak" if you read complaints that is there standard answer, which is a lie. after a plumber assured us no leak is presents the company continues to assess late charged and convince fees at will, the HOA are complicit in this I suspect
water meter replacement or fix
My name is James A. and I am the Senior Account Manager with Think Utility Services. I am working on resolving the issue with the owner. The unit had a new meter installed on 6/11/18. Looking at the pulse counts in the system (usage), I'm seeing that the pulse counts have been re-set multiple times. This means that someone at the unit level is re-setting the transmitter. The transmitter pulse count cannot be re-set at the office level.
In looking at pulse counts pulled from the system, daily consumption has ranged from 228 gallons to as high as 353 gallons per day. The usage from 10/31 - 11/12 is showing a drop in daily consumption of 175 gallons per day. As stated earlier, the transmitter has been re-set at the unit level multiple times, so I am not able to obtain a clear cut average from 6/11/18 - 11/12/18.
Now,in order to determine if the meter read switch is tracking the proper consumption. I have asked the owner to provide two pictures of the meter head. One was taken on 11/12 and I'm asking for another one on 11/16. The goal is to compare the meter head reads (usage) vs. the usage sent by the transmitter.
For every 10 gallons of water that runs through the meter, the read switch registers a pulse. The transmitter sends the pulse counts to the Collector located on the property. We dial into the collector and obtain the pulse counts for every unit.
On 11/12, the owner provided a picture of the meter. With the picture of the meter, this is some information that I have at the moment.
11/12/18:
Meter head: 4461x0
Pulse count: 241 (This is the pulse count sent by the transmitter.)
According to the meter head read, the meter itself has logged usage of 44,610 gallons from 6/11/18 - 11/12/18.
154 days.
This is daily consumption of 289 gallons per day or a 30 day pace of 8,670 gallons.
The owner should send another pic Friday morning. I will be able to compare the meter head reads vs. the pulse counts for this week. I will provide an update.
I will be on vacation as of Thanksgiving and will not be back until 12/3. My goal is to have a game plan in effect before Thanksgiving.
Thank you.
Good morning. This is ***. I returned to work from vacation on 12/3/18. As of this morning, the owner has not provided any further meter pictures for me to compare usage on our end. The pulse count on 12/6: 800, 11/29: 675. 10/31: 0 (transmitter pulse count reset). The usage of 6,750 gallons is from 10/31 - 12/6. This is a daily consumption of 225 gallons. Please let me know if you need anything else.
This company utilize's shady billing practices and questionable meter calculations to accumulate additional revenue collected by the company.
I purchased a condo approximately 11 years ago in Estero Florida located in the *** Development. The address for the condo was *** FL 33928. The water bill was incorporated into the quarterly Maintenance fee for the first 10 years. Approximately 10 months ago, Midway Utility Services, Inc. came in and took over the Water service. This included installing their own water meters for each condo. From the beginning, Numerous complaints from condo owners regarding their billing and usage started. This company sent out a letter regarding billing fees. No matter which process you choose (online credit card $3.95 monthly charge, Automated Clearing House charge #2.95 monthly charge, Customer Service credit card payment $4.95 monthly charge, personal check $3.14 monthly charge). So any payment to this utility company, they are charging the customer a fee, making them additional revenue just for making a payment? The company itemized their billing to include a monthly sewer fee $29.99 whether water was used or not. Compound that with any water usage and a normal monthly water bill would cost approximately $50.00. From the onset, numerous customers were complaining of High water usage from their newly installed water meters. This illicited an uproar from the condo owners. Some owners were complaining of water bills over $100.00. The companies response was a letter stating that the high meter readings were the result of defective/old toilet flapper balls, faucet leaks, etc. In my case, I had a vacant condo from October 01, 2017 to February 15,2018, yet my billing showed water usage as (137 gallons for 09/30/17 to 10-14-17, 271 gallons for 10-14-17
to 11-14-17, 197 gallons for XX-XX-XX to 12-14-17, 275 gallons for 12-14-14 to 01-14-18) water was utilize after 01-14-18 as a home inspection was conducted. So where did this water usage come from if no one was living inside the condo? So between the shady water meter readings and additional billing fees, an individuals bill was excessively increased! Finally, after completing the sale of the condo, I received a final bill. Adding insult to the prior issues, I was charged a $10.00 deactivation fee on the final statement. I owned this condo for 10 years before this company took over the service for this development. Why am I paying a fee to cancel my service? My electric company did not charge me to cancel my electric service. If I was a new customer withing the last 10 months under this rouge company, maybe I could understand paying this fee. One of the other condo owners in *** has been fighting with this company and has taken his issues, concerns and complaint to the Attorney Generals Office. These types of practices should not go unnoticed and companies such as this particular one should be reprimanded for their questionable business practices.
An investigation should be conducted into this business and how it operated regarding their questionable water meter reading and their billing practices. Ridiculous billing fees should be returned to the customers.
Contact Name and Title: James A.
Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Contact Email: ***@midwayutilityservices.com
My name is James A. and I am the Senior Account Manager with Midway Services Utilities (MSU). I will be able to clarify important information as it relates to Mr. account and concerns.
Midway Services Utilities (MSU) provides utility billing services to apartment, condo/townhome, and mobile home communities. We also provide billing services to commercial shopping centers. With a standard Read, Bill, and Collect contract, MSU will read each unit sub-meter, invoice the residents, collect payments, and remit water/sewer monies back to the property. The billing of water/sewer to the residents is a cost recovery program for the property. The submeters do not belong to MSU, they were purchased by the property.
Our Billing fee is our fee for reading the sub-meters, providing a monthly invoice, and providing customer service. MSU accepts the standard payment method of receiving checks or money orders in the mail. There is no charge to process a payment in this manner. However, we do accept alternative payment methods. As such, those alternative payment methods carry a fee. Why is a convenience fee charged? Assessing a convenience fee is standard for many businesses. Any online payment ($3.95) using our website is handled by a third party company. They charge for their service. If one of our customer service representatives handles a payment over the phone, the charge is $4.95. The payment is being handled by a live person. We do offer an ACH payment ($2.95) method if a resident is interested. For ACH payments, the bank assesses a charge for their service. We have to assess a convenience fee should any of these alternative payment methods are chosen. Sub-metering companies are not allowed to add monies to the water/sewer rates assessed on the invoices. It must be noted that the convenience fees are outlined before the payment method is chosen. MSU chooses NOT to increase our billing fee in order to assume that a certain percentage of payments are being handled online. This would be considered unfair for those folks that choose to mail their payments or handle payments through their bank. We do suggest to folks that they can pay their invoice through their bank. A resident's bank typically does not charge for this service. The bank will mail a physical check to MSU.
MSU nor the property management compose the water/sewer rates that are assessed to the residents. MSU must match the exact rates that the local municipality charges the property. It is illegal to add monies to the water/sewer rates. Any monies assessed to residents for water/sewer belong to the property not MSU. The water municipality charges flat rates based upon their master meters on the property. These flat rates are passed onto the residents. The flat rates are charged to each unit regardless of water usage or occupancy. The water flat rate is $7.61 and the sewer flat rate is $13.90. Our Billing fee is $3.14. So, if a resident is gone from their unit for 30 days, the minimum bill would be $24.65.
Another concern is that the unit was vacant from 10/1/17 - 2/15/18 and yet Mr. was invoiced for consumption. Attached is the billed usage ledger on the unit from the time that he was invoiced from MSU. In addition, attached is a daily report from 10/2/17 - 2/14/18 showing the transmitter signals and the usage. The National Average for one person is up to 3,000 gallons per month. There are a couple of months in which the usage was over 3,000 gallons. Assuming of course that there was only 1 person in the unit. In looking at the account, there are no notes from customer service regarding any phone calls about high usage or to have the meter checked. MSU cannot explain the consumption that occurs in a unit. If a resident has a concern about their unit, they would contact our customer service department. We would research first to look at any billing errors. If no billing errors, the next step is to identify any excessive sources of consumption or possible equipment issue. One step to resolve a consumption issue is that we ask the resident to take pictures of the meter head and send it to us. If a resident sends us two pictures (at least a week apart), MSU will pull pulse counts on usage on the same days. This way, we can compare the meter head usage against the transmitter signal consumption. I am aware that our Operations team has been onsite at this property to perform unit entries to check the submetering equipment at the request of many owners and the HOA. In checking with our Operations department, Mr. unit was not on the list for a unit entry. We had not received a request to enter the unit to check the equipment. If we had been contacted, we would have gladly setup a day/time to check his submetering equipment. Since the unit was sold, we cannot perform the meter comparison or monitor his consumption to confirm any equipment concern.
It should be noted that we cannot comment on other unit accounts and their water bills. Each account has to be reviewed on its own merit. Every home/family has their own consumption habits. It must be noted that whenever a property switches from allocation to a submetering system, issues such as bad toilet flappers, running toilets, and leaks can and are found. A running/leaking toilet can waste up to 40,000 gallons in one month. Two toilets with issues can waste as much as 80,000 gallons. This is a lot of water. This is one of the reasons that a property will purchase submetering equipment, to cut down on excessive water consumption.
The last item to address is the deactivation fee. MSU and Barletta have a signed contract in which MSU provides billing services to the property. The contract states that MSU would charge an activation fee of $10.00 with the creation of an account. Likewise, a $10.00 deactivation fee would be applied in the event the account is closed. These fees simply cover the labor cost to open/close an account.
This information should address all concerns. If you have any questions, please contact me at XXX-XXX-XXXX.
unclear processing fee
I started service with Midway utility and received my first bill. I tried to pay it online. But the online system does not mention banking account bill pay at all. I have to choose to pay with my credit card. In the payment summary, I did not see any processing fee. Is is until I submitted my payment I realized I have been charged $3.95 for the processing fee. I called the customer service immediately to cancel the payment. But they told me the payment has been processed and I cannot cancel it. But my credit card account shows the payment is still pending. I am very unhappy with the online website. It does not mention any bill pay service and trick you to use credit card to pay. And it is not clear about the processing fee.
refund the processing fee
Contact Name and Title: James A.
Contact Phone: ***
Contact Email: ***@midwayutilityservices.com
My names is James A. and I am the Senior Account Manager with Midway Services Utilities. I am in receipt of a Revdex.com complaint filed against Midway Services. The concern is the $3.95 Convenience Fee that was charged to the resident account and credit card. The complaint states that the Convenience Fee was not listed on Midway's website at any point during the transaction. In an e-mail to the resident today, I provided a screen shot of a "sample" payment. I used a dummy number in order to move to the second screen in the online payment process. The $3.95 Convenience Fee is listed. In fact, the resident has to check the box to confirm approval of the charge in order to proceed. A copy of the e-mail response was sent to *** at the Revdex.com.
Midway Services online payments through the website are handled through a third party company. A few years ago, Midway switched to an online Billing software in order to provide better services to our properties and residents. One of the requested items was the ability for residents to pay online. With every resident that uses their credit card for payment, the third party company charges Midway a fee. As such, it is necessary for Midway to pass a Convenience Fee to any resident that uses the online payment option. In sub-metering, we cannot hide any fees. Midway's Billing fee does not reflect online payments. The Billing fee is for individual meter reading, invoice process and mailing, and customer service support. Online payments through our website or credit card payments over the phone with a customer service rep are considered alternative payment options. As such, there is a Convenience Fee for those payment methods. In each instance, residents are advised upfront about the charge and are asked if they desire to proceed.
An inexpensive payment option is to make arrangements through their bank to submit a payment to Midway. Typically, most banks do not charge for online payments.
I hope this information is helpful. If you have any additional questions, please let me know.
Midway Utilities is the worst customer service I've ever dealt with. I spoke with "Sarah" if that's her name and she was unapologetic and had zero sympathy for our water bill being 4 times what it normally is due to a leak we were unaware of during the hurricane. We first called last week and she said for us to call back in a week to have meters read again & see if something could be done; meaning some type of credit or waiver or something could be worked out. We called back & she was extremely rude, acted as if we spoke to another associate the first time so she wouldn't be at fault (which her supervisor, when asked to speak with him, informed us that we in fact spoke to her both times). We have to pay a $400 water bill with numerous ridiculous fees added on, AND have to deal with the worst customer service ever.
My name is James A. and I am the Senior Account Manager for Midway Services Utilities (MSU). MSU appreciates the customer feedback. Regarding Mr. comment regarding MSU, I can provide information regarding the complaint. Upon review of the account, MSU did not commit a billing error. Mr. had a confirmed toilet leak in the unit. MSU is not the water provider. We read the submeters on the property and invoice for consumption. The water consumed in the unit and the subsequent monies owed for water/sewer charges are reimbursed to the property. We are not able to give a credit on the account for water unless approved by the property manager or the property Board. The property manager confirmed that the monies were in fact owed. In situations like this, the property can approve a payment plan so that the unit owner can pay back the monies over a couple of months. The meters on this property are located outside and we always encourage a unit owner to verify our billing by taking actual meter reads. In looking at the *** account, they have a good payment history. We waived the $15.00 late fee that was applied in September. Should Mr. have an issue with his bill moving forward, he can contact our customer service manager Jose at 888-696-3837 ***.
online billing is a myth...
I try, every single month, to sign up for the online billing option. Every month, I am disappointed to find that their registration process is *** and I don't receive any type of confirmation email or link in the email address I JUST provided. I'm almost a year into my lease and there have been ZERO emails or follow-up calls to confirm my requests after giving them the exact info they asked for. I'm sick of having to spend time calling these people and waiting forever to pay a trivial waste ***. If they would actually follow-up with their customers, I'd be a little less irate at this point... but I've been dealing with this lack of customer interaction for close to a year and it's absolutely ridiculous.
I'd like for someone to contact ME instead of me having to call someone to pay my *** EVERY. SINGLE. MONTH. I work during their "normal" business hours and I cannot justify stopping my day for 15 minutes once a month to simply pay a *** that I could pay online in just 2 minutes.
My name is *** A. and I *** be responding to the complaint. I sent an e-mail to Mr. on 10/4. I have not heard back yet. So, I am responding to the complaint with the information that was provided to him.
we can certainly help him. In his complaint, he stated that he tried to register online.
***
He was provided his security code so that he can use that to enter as a first time login person. Once that his done, he can create a username and password *** his choosing. If he is experiencing trouble, he can contact me.
Once his log in information is established, he can access our billing site 24/7. He can receive his balance and/or pull invoices.
Suggestion:
Sign up for our E-*** notification. It is free.
He *** receive a monthly e-mail when the *** is ready. At that time, he can log on to retrieve your balance/invoice.
I can certainly understand the time consuming process of calling in every month in order to make a credit card payment over the phone. I can most certainly share in the frustration if you have tried to work with us in the past and we didn't call back? For my own research and coaching for the team, do you have any names and dates of CSR folks that he may have spoken with? The only notes that are listed on the account are various dates in which he called to make payments over the phone. So, I would like to help in this area if I can.
In the meantime, I would like to assist in providing some information on alternative payment methods that can help.
Payments through our website
Once your access is created, you can make payments through our website using a credit card. The convenience fee is $3.95. A third party handles the online payments for us.
ACH Payments
Attached is an ACH payment form that can be filled out and returned to us. The monthly payment would be automatically deducted from your account. This convenience charge is only $2.95.
This would save you time in making any payments online. This is becoming one of our most popular methods for residents to pay.
Payments through the Bank - No Charge
Of course, he can choose to log on to his bank's website and make an electronic payment through his bank. We do not receive the payment electronically, his bank *** have to
Cut a physical check. Please give the bank 2-3 days to send a physical check.
In light of his situation, I would recommend 1 of the 2:
1. E-*** and make payments through bank - no charge.
2. E-*** and ACH. Monthly charge of $2.95 for the payment.
It is just a matter of his personal preference.
Our customer service team is available Monday - Friday from 8 am - 5 pm (EST). The phone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX. The manager is Jose Acevedo-Gomez. Please feel free to e-mail him
for any issues that you come across. If you run into any delay, feel free to contact me.
***
Please know that we are here to help. I apologize for any frustration and hope we can get him setup rather quickly.
I have my water bill through Midway. My complaint stems from them promoting an e-bill service to pay your bills and hiding fees.
I moved to an apartment that signs me up for the water service through Midway. Midway sends me a bill and an e-mail urging me to sign up for the e-bill for easy access and also environmental reasons. I signed up for the e-bill and received a bill. However, when I go to pay on their website there is a button to check to pay through your checking account that does not work. There is no mention of why it does not work on the website. Midway forces you to pay online with a credit card (the only option working) which charges a fee of 3.95. When I called to ask why they would not let us pay through our checking account, they said too many people were inputting the wrong information. They would not refund me my convenience fee that I already paid. They are taking advantage of customers all over the country by promoting an e-bill that is charging a convenience fee to every customer that is told to pay online. There is no upfront warning about this and is not even mentioned until you call customer service. They explained to me they took down the checking account option due to errors on payment submissions. Customer service did nothing to be make me feel stupid for asking about it when I called. It appears to me that they took it down so they can charge people more money.
I want to be able to pay my bill online as promised without a fee attached to my bill already. I would prefer if my convenience fee of 3.95 that I already paid would be taken care of too. Every other utility company I ever paid bills through allowed you to pay without having a charge. I feel like they are taking advantage of people by promoting e-billing.
My name is James A. and I am the Senior Account Manager with Midway Services Utilities (MSU). I will be able to clarify important information as it relates to Mr. account concern.
MSU is a billing company, we are not the actual water provider. MSU is contracted with the property to provide the service of reading each unit sub-meter, invoicing the residents, collecting payments, and remitting water/sewer monies back to the property. The billing of water to the residents is a cost recovery program for the property.
The E-Bill notification option is FREE. There is no charge for any resident to sign up for the E-bill. It is an alternative to receiving a paper invoice. Once a resident is sent an e-mail, they have the option to go online and retrieve their balance and/or print their monthly invoice. E-bill is not linked to any payment method. A resident has to choose their payment method on their own accord.
Why is a convenience fee charged? Assessing a convenience fee is standard for many businesses. Any online payment ($3.95) using our website is handled by a third party company. They charge for their service. If one of our customer service representatives handles a payment over the phone, the charge is $4.95. The payment is being handled by a live person. We do offer an ACH payment ($2.95) method if Mr. is interested. For ACH payments, the bank assesses a charge for their service. We have to assess a convenience fee should any of these alternative payment methods are chosen. Sub-metering companies are not allowed to add monies to the water/sewer rates assessed on the invoices. It must be noted that the convenience fees are outlined before the payment method is chosen. MSU chooses NOT to increase our billing fee in order to assume that a certain percentage of payments are being handled online. This would be considered unfair for those folks that choose to mail their payments or handle payments through their bank.
In the past, MSU did offer an online payment with our website using a checking account. However, folks that would input their checking account number(s) incorrectly resulted in an NSF fee being assessed to MSU and subsequently passed to the resident account. During a span of time, MSU was assessed many NSF fees and residents refused to pay the NSF charges. MSU couldn't absorb the financial hits for these NSF charges, so this option was disabled.
Check/Money order
The traditional method of sending a check or a money order are accepted. There is no charge for remitting a payment in this manner. All checks/money orders received on a business day are processed the same day.
Online Bank Payments
A resident can choose to make a payment online using their bank. There is no charge for a resident using their bank. However, the bank will send a physical check. The payment is not accepted electronically at MSU. It would be wise to give the bank at least 2-3 days to mail the physical check to MSU. Even if the monies are deducted from a resident's account that same day, it doesn't necessarily mean that the bank mailed the check the same day.
In Mr. case, I recommend that he continue to use the E-bill option to obtain his balance/invoice and then use his bank to submit a payment no charge. This would give Mr. the desired effect he is seeking, to be able to pay online without a convenience fee. Unfortunately, since we are charged by a third party for online payments, we cannot refund Mr. $3.95. This fee was made known to Mr. at the time of credit card payment processing. However, should Mr. obtain a late fee in the future, he can contact me and I can have it removed with no problem. A late fee removal would be a few dollars more than a convenience fee.
I hope this information proves helpful. If you have any questions, please contact me at 727-***. Thank you.
I live in *** but I'm dealing with a company in Clearwater, which is Midway Services Utility Billing. We just received our final *** for water and sewage for an apartment we used to live in and there was a fee of $13 for disconnection. I don't know if this is a bogus fee or not and that's why I'm contacting you. They are just the billing company used by the apartment, not the utility company. It just seems kind of random and my wife and I disputed it with them and they said it's a legal charge and they kind of laughed at us. They also want to charge us their monthly billing fee for this particular final *** when this final *** was only for one day of service. The monthly billing fee is $3.75.
So I'm just contacting you to see if the disconnection charge is legitimate or not as we never agreed to it and they said it's in some sort of contract, and they said we did agree to it, and we asked them to produce that contract and they refused to produce it for us. Any assistance would be appreciated. Call anytime or email. Thank you.
So I'm just contacting you to see if the disconnection charge is legitimate or not as we never agreed to it and they said it's in some sort of contract, and they said we did agree to it, and we asked them to produce that contract and they refused to produce it for us. Any assistance would be appreciated. Call anytime or email. Thank you.
I am *** A. and I am the Senior Account Manager with Midway Services. On 7/18/17, I spoke with Mrs.. She spoke with our customer service manager Jose as well. The information in this response was given to Mrs. over the phone.
The read date for the property is the 29th of the month. The July *** was generated on 7/6/17 with usage from 5/30/17 - 6/29/17. The account was closed on 7/11/17 with a move out date of 6/30/17. Our Billing Team handled the move out. The property office notifies us of a resident's move out. If a resident contacts us regarding their move out date, we confirm the information with the property before the account is closed.
Since the July *** (see attached) was already generated and mailed, Midway performed the standard account closure using the date of 6/30/17. Whenever a final *** is generated, the Billing fee of $3.75 is applied. The account was invoiced for one day of consumption. The move out/deactivation fee charge is $13.00 (see attached final ***). This charge is in the contract between Midway Services and the property. The property has a copy of the contract. Midway Services does not supply a resident with a copy of the Billing Contract. The Billing contract is between Midway and the property. It is important to note that if the resident signed a lease agreement, there should be verbiage in the lease agreement that states that a resident is responsible for utility charges. This would include a move in/activation and a move out/deactivation charge. When this account was opened in 2009, a $5.00 activation fee was applied to the account and subsequently paid.
Since the charge is in the contract between Midway Services and the property, it is a legal charge. In my discussion with Mrs., she made it very clear that she didn't agree with the deactivation fee. While her point was understood, it was a legitimate charge. The Billing and the activation/deactivation fees are not pro-rated.
I hope this information helps to bring clarity to the situation.
Please let me know if you need anything else.
Company charges astronomical fees for upgrades that aren't needed but they tell the owner the the upgrades are needed to meet Code!
On February 7, 2017, I met with a Midway Representative named Shane to have my HVAC system replaced. He informed me that I would also need to, "replace my incorrect #10 conductor wire to a #8 conductor wire to meet Code" for the new HVAC system I wanted (Estimate Attached). I was told this wire exchange would cost $2,000. Since Shane informed me it was the incorrect wire size and didn't meet code I said yes to the exchange. I was under the impression this was an honest company with Technicians and Representatives with a comprehensive understanding of the National Electrical Code.
Soon after the install I had the Mechanical & Electrical Inspector for Pinellas Park come to my family's home to inspect the new HVAC system. Almost immediately both of the County Inspectors questioned why I would replace my perfectly correct and up-to-code #10 conductor wire. I told them how Shane at Midway told me I needed the upgrade to meet code. They felt terrible that I was taken advantage of and even helped me find several consumer protection groups who were eager to assist.
Shortly after, I called Midway and asked to speak with an Owner or CEO about the unneeded upgrade that I was told would be necessary for the install to meet code. The CEO didn't call me back but instead the HVAC Manager Jeff did. I told him I'd rather discuss the case with the Owner but he persisted. He told me he was going to call the employee and Inspector to verify. He only got a hold of the original technician who made the mistake, Shane, who assured him he wasn't wrong (makes you wonder how many other people paid the extra $2000 for the unnecessary upgrade...)
With newfound confidence, the manager Jeff called me back and told me that I wouldn't be worth the CEO's time, told me that the Inspectors would never tell me what they did, he kept rushing me off the phone saying that he didn't have time for it anymore. I have Autism and sometimes I mess up my words during a stressful situation, so the Manager started mocking me telling me to call the Surgeon General, NASA, and my other imaginary friends to be insulting. I didn't want him to tease me anymore so I asked again if he was going to do anything and he said there was no way any inspector would agree with me. I asked, "What if he does?", the manager then told me, "Then I would gladly give you a refund." We got off the phone at that point.
The first thing I do is call the Shane to inform him of his mistake. Almost immediately he says, "from a mechanical and electrical point I agree with you 100%. He then proceeded to tell me he only did it because the Inspectors make mistakes so he did it to be safe! I know that sounds insane. Especially as seeing the very opposite happened with the Inspector.,
Next I call the Inspector to verify everything again. He tells me how he just got off the phone with the HVAC Manager Jeff at Midway and that he had to correct the Manager (pretty scary that the manager there doesn't have correct understanding of the NEC). The Inspector even stated that the Manager was very upset and rude to him when he didn't hear what he wanted.
Feeling great that the Manager now has the truth I call him back. The manager hangs up on me. I still haven't heard back from the owner.
On May 2, 2017, I get a call from a General Manager for Midway named Steven K. The call starts off incredible with the General Manager admitting I was correct and promising to make the situation right. The manager tells me I *** get a refund but that he doesn't have any documents that show the upgrade for the wire cost $2,000. He made a good point so he told me $500 is fair because there's no proof of the $2,000. Luckily, not even 2 minutes after getting off the phone, I find the e-mail and recorded phone call with the HVAC Manager Jeff discussing how the new wire would cost $2,000.
So, I immediately call the manager back and let him know I found the pricing. He then proceeds to tell
I want a full refund for the upgrade that wasn't needed. I think it's insulting that the manager doesn't want to give me a full refund because they he claims they overcharged me! That's even more of a reason to pay me back the full refund!
Thank you again, as usual, for you immense help and support! The issues with Midway have been resolved.
God Bless