SAN DIEGO — Renters in San Diego are fired up about Conservice, a third-party utility billing company, saying they're seeing unexplained costs and can't get answers.
Conservice is a utility management provider, and they're responsible for billing for utilities like water, gas, trash, and, in some cases, electricity.
Some tenants say they'd rather pay the bill to the utility company themselves - instead of paying Conservice to pay the bill for them. Another problem tenants we talked to today said is that when they get bills from Conservice, they can't prove how much water or electricity each tenant uses.
Tenants complain about those who conserve or overuse; they’re all splitting one bill with no answers to how much each person uses or what each person owes.
Mr. Crawford, who asked only to be identified by his last name, said he's been frustrated with Conservice billing issues for a while now. "It's a bully tactic. They're putting everything on me, and it's stressful and driving me crazy. When I moved in, my Conservice bill was less than $100. It went up to like four or $500. It said the 'gas and electric' rebill fee was $50. So, I'm looking at the word rebill. I didn't know what it was."
But when he went to get answers, first from his apartment complex, then from SDG&E, he was redirected back to Conservice with no real response. Crawford explained, "Conservice had taken over my SDGE bill, paying it and charging me a rebill fee. I didn't want any of this. I was more than capable of paying my bill." When Crawford tried to get his bill broken down for his apartment, he says he hit a brick wall and that’s when he was just told to pay up. "If you want me to pay the bill, shouldn't you show me the meter and the bill sent to you by SDG&E. What do you guys want me to do? You keep giving me this, but you're not giving me any justification."
Jimmie Parker is a local attorney who has filed a class action lawsuit against Conservice. Parker explains, "Landlords can give reasonable estimates for use among all the property tenants. However, they're supposed to disclose that in their leases. They're representing that this is the amount owed pro rata per person, and it's not subject to any upcharge."
CBS 8 contacted Conservice late last year when we started looking into utility bills.
In an email to CBS 8, Conservice told us they work with tens of thousands of properties nationwide and support over 850+ residential communications and over 100,000 residents.
We reached out to the company today but haven’t heard back.
Meanwhile, Crawford said he and tenants like him need answers. "We deserve to have a consumer report on what is going on with these fees."
The next court date for the class action lawsuit is set for November.
If you're a Conservice customer, there's nothing you need to do right now to join the lawsuit; It's still going through the legal system.
Conservice customers will be contacted about the next steps if it moves forward.
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