I reside in Lumberton in Robeson county North Carolina, however I am employed as a government contractor in Bogot Colombia. As a result, I am required to travel frequently. Specifically, I work for 6 weeks in Colombia and then return to Lumberton where I remain for 6 weeks before returning to work in Colombia. Due to the frequent travel, I have to pay my bills online over the internet either directly to the billing company or by getting the amount of the bill from the company's internet site and then paying the ill through my credit union's online banking. This has never presented a problem for all of my bills except for Robeson County Water Department which has only a very basic page on the internet providing little more than points of contact.
I late April I sent an e-mail to one of the contacts listed or the Robeson County Water Department Lisa Locklear (Billing Clerk) requesting the amount of my bill so that I could pay it through online banking. Lisa Locklear never responded to that e-mail, however, I was later able to get the information from my wife when she received the bill in the mail.
In July, the situation was a little different. I was in Colombia from June 18th to August 3rd. My wife and family traveled to Panama on July 13th. I traveled directly from Colombia to Panama on August 3rd where I joined my wife and family. We later returned to the US on August 16th. Due to the above, there was no one home at our residence from July 13th to August 16th.
Once again, I sent an e-mail to Lisa Locklear on August 1st requesting the amount of my bill and again she failed to respond. Due to the lack of response, I sent a third e-mail addressed to all of the contacts listed on the water department's we page; Lisa Locklear, Carole Locklear (Director) and Nicole Brooks (Assistan Customer Service Director) on August 2nd. All three recipients failed to respond. I continued to check e-mail from August 4th to 16th, but never received any response.
When my family and I arrived at our home on the night of August 16th, we found that the water had been shut off. The following day (August 17th), I carried a copy of the e-mail that I had sent to the Robeson County Water Department to demonstrate that I had acted in good faith attempting to get the information I needed to pay my water bill. I spoke with Mrs Locklear who demonstrated a total lack of professionalism and extremely poor customer service skills. She had no interest whatsoever in the proof I presented of my attempts to acquire the information I had needed to pay my water bill.
In fact, throughout most of the conversation she talked incessantly and tried very hard to let me talk at all. The one-sided conversation quickly escalated into a shouting match. One of the most shocking statements made by Mrs Locklear was when I asked her why they had not responded to my e-mail requesting the amount I needed to pay my bill. She responded that it was against their policy to provide that information. Against their policy to provide the information a customer needs to pay his bill?
It was at this point that the fraudulent intent of the Robeson County Water Department became clearly evident and I realized that it was impossible to hold an intelligent conversation with this belligerent woman. I asked if there was anyone else I could talk to. They referred me to Mr. Kenneth Windley (County Manager). I went to Mr. Windley's office and explained the situation to him. He picked up the phone and called the Robeson County Water Department and apparently spoke with Nicole Brooks.
I was once again shocked upon seeing that Mrs Brooks was telling Mr. Windley a different story. Previously Mrs Locklear had told me that they did not respond to my e-mail requesting billing information because it was against their policy. Now Mrs Brooks was claiming that she had responded to the e-mail, however she failed to provide any proof to substantiate her claims (which would be difficult to do since neither she nor anyone else in the water department ever replied to any of the three e-mails that I sent). Mr. Windley stated that he was powerless to rectify the problem despite the overwhelming evidence that I had done everything in my power to get the information needed to pay my bill and the total lack of evidence of any response from the water department.
For reasons of sanitation, I had no other choice but to go along with the water department's fraudulent scheme and I paid the twenty-five dollar reconnect fee. I have never before seen this level of corruption from a public utility and such a blatant abuse of their right to disconnect a vital public service supposedly for non-payment of bill and then charge a reconnect fee after steadfastly refusing to provide the customer the information needed to pay the bill.
This matter needs to be investigated and corrected. Since the water department and its management have their own barriers in place to frustrate or prevent the effective resolution of such complaints from customers, I feel the only way to resolve this matter is to ensure it receives widest dissemination to ensure it reaches those who are willing to make a change for the better.
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