SAN DIEGO — Have you received your San Diego water bill lately? You may want to check because one man received ten months' worth in the past two days.
San Diego City was scheduled to send water bills out every two months, but Birdland resident Ben Jarboe hadn't received one since April last year until they all came at once.
"All these bills….it's just crazy," said Jarboe.
Now, he's on the hook for more than $1,200 and wonders if this is also happening to other customers.
“How many other people got all these bills at once,” asked Jarboe. Four of Jarboe’s bi-monthly bills arrived by mail in one envelope, followed by a fifth one the following day.
“It's added up to $1,208," said Jarboe.
You may wonder how Jarboe didn't know his water bills hadn't been paid for so long.
He told CBS8 his wife usually takes care of it, but have received nothing in the mail - she didn't notice. That is until a neighbor mentioned he hadn't received a water bill.
"He asked me….he said, have you received a water bill? I said no. He said I haven't either, and I thought, wow, that's strange," said Jarboe.
Coincidentally, the bills came in a week after that conversation all at once.
There were no late fees attached and no explanation.
"They should have sent a letter explaining everything. Right? You would think," said Jarboe.
Aside from the billing issue, Jarboe also wondered if his water meter is being read, telling CBS 8 it's covered with dirt and all his bills are about the same amount.
"Why is the average $249 on every single bill? Do you follow me? Something doesn't seem right," said Jarboe.
This isn't the first time the City's water department was questioned about bills.
A 2018 audit revealed 2,000 customers received inaccurate bills due to human error, some of which involved employees guessing water usage without actually reading meters.
In this case, Jarboe called the City but couldn't reach anyone.
CBS 8 reached out to city officials, who released the following statement:
“City of San Diego water bills are based on water usage, measured by a water meter. The vast majority of our water meters are manually read every two months.
The water meter read for (the address in question) for the billing period ending June 6, 2022, was not in line with historical usage, so the system held the bill. The same occurred in subsequent periods. When staff researched the account, it was clear that the water meter was misread. The team then corrected the misreads and released all of the bills. The meter is also on the meter replacement list, as it is challenging to read.
There were two other misreads on that street in the past year, resulting in delayed billing. We apologize for the errors and remain committed to improving our service. Additionally, please note customers can pay off their accounts over time with no penalty or interest charged.”
CBS 8 followed up by asking if other parts of the City were impacted.
The same spokesperson said:
"Situations similar to this case can happen from time to time, and City staff works to resolve the issues as quickly as possible."
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