(WSVN) - He paid his water bill online. It began with a typo that ended with an unbelievable bill for stopping payment. To find out if he was sunk, he turned to Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
A pool in the backyard. Great for the dog.
A lake behind the house. Not a bad view for Norman and his family.
Norman Crews: “You get the birds flying in, the fish all jumping in the lake, feeding. Kids love to get out and do a little fishing.”
Norman loves to drink it all in. And then water became an unexpected problem.
Norman Crews: “Had a water bill come in, and I made an error using my online bill pay.”
Norman paid the $222.47 bill, but a decimal point got left out.
Norman Crews: “And so my $222.47 water bill, I sent out a check for $22,247.”
Norman didn’t notice till his credit union notified him his payment was way above the normal water bill.
Norman Crews: “I panicked. I got on the phone immediately with my credit union, and they told me there was nothing they could do for that check. It was already sent out.”
Norman thought he solved his problem by stopping payment on the check.
Norman Crews: “Absolutely. No worries at all.”
Oh, no. Stick with us on this. It gets worse.
Norman Crews: “I got a letter from City of Sunrise that said I needed to provide them with a full payment of the check, as well as a fee for $1,112.35.”
Norman couldn’t believe he was told to pay the $22,247 for water.
Norman Crews: “I can’t understand it. It was just a mistake.”
And the utility said he had to pay $1,112 for stopping payment on the water bill.
Norman Crews: “And for them to charge me $1,100 for a stopped check seemed ridiculous to me.”
Norman called the Sunrise utility department about the overpayment and the $1,112 charge for stopping that payment.
Norman Crews: “They told me that it was a fee that their bank charges them, and that they were going to charge me that fee, and there was nothing I can do about it.”
Talk about feeling swamped.
Norman Crews: “It’s hard to sleep. It’s hard to think straight, because it just doesn’t make sense.”
Well, Howard, obviously Norman doesn’t have to pay the $22,000 water bill plus the $1,100 stop payment fee. Or does he?
Howard Finkelstein: “No and no. There is no $22,000 water bill, so that is null and void. As for the stop payment, the city does have a right to charge a reasonable fee, meaning $20 or $30, not $1,100. In this case, it appears someone was not watching the computer-generated letter.”
The Sunrise Water Department broke a Help Me Howard record. I emailed them at 11:26. Thirty-eight minutes later, at 12:04, they responded, writing, “Our team was able to track down the letter to this customer, and we see the error that was made. Mr. Crews only has to pay his original bill.”
Norman Crews: “I was very surprised that it turned around so quickly once Patrick reached out to them.”
Norman had already paid the regular water bill, and the city isn’t going to charge him a stop payment fee, leaving a happy customer.
Norman Crews: “I am totally glad I called Help Me Howard. This just lifted a huge weight off my shoulders.”
Thank you, Norman, for calling us, and I am also impressed with Sunrise. They made a mistake like we all do. They admitted it and fixed it, which some people don’t do.
If you have a problem with a government agency, and can’t solve it at customer support, start calling the people at the top, or call us.
Soaked by problems? Don’t want a watered-down solution? Go online and contact us. We will help you tell them to go jump in the lake.
With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
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