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Century Getting Tougher On Delinquent Water, Gas Accounts
March 6, 2015
The Town of Century is getting tough with people that don’t pay their utility bills — and now they’ll be spending at least one night without gas or water.
Mayor Freddie McCall says it’s taking too much time and money to provide same-day restore services to those who have been disconnected for non-payment, and pulling town gas and water employees off other jobs throughout the day. So now, all service reconnects will be done once per day each morning , the day after payment is made.
Century water and gas customers currently receive a bill that is mailed the first of the month, followed by a late notice and fee on the 15th and disconnect on the 25th. There is a $20 reconnect fee for gas, and a $10 reconnect fee for water.
McCall said about 40-50 customers are regularly disconnected for non-payment each month.
Century’s gas territory currently extends to portions of Byrneville and McDavid.
Comments
5 Responses to “Century Getting Tougher On Delinquent Water, Gas Accounts”
Well, I have been turned off on the 25th day. No if’s and’s or but’s.
@ Heather–I can only guess you would be trying to pay the bill over the phone using a credit card. Try paying for your tag/DL/or property tax with a credit card and you’ll be charged an additional fee. The card companies charge the person accepting the credit card a fee so they pass it on. Most states allow gas stations to charge two prices— one for cash and and one for credit/debit cards. The state of Florida has a law on the books that does not allow this. There were some new stations that opened in this area that tried to charge two prices—that was corrected in short order.
25 days should be more than enough time for anyone to pay their bill. Try not paying a credit card or bank payment and see what gets added to the charge.
I have mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, it’s the customer’s fault for not paying the bill in the first place. There are consequences for that.
On the other hand, this is part of the territory when you have a monopoly. Charge fees to reconnect, that should be punishment enough. You don’t need to leave some poor, old person without water and heat when you have the personnel available to turn it back on.
It’s taking too much time and money? What Freddie McCall isn’t telling you is when you call to pay your bill over the phone, they charge you $3 to take the payment over the phone or $6 if your bill is over $100, on top of an additional fee if your bill is over a certain amount. Plus, there is a late fee for paying after the 10th and an additional late fee for paying after the 15th. So where is all the “additional” money going?