Today Birmingham Water Works (BWWB) resumed shutting off water service for nearly 28,000 delinquent accounts after what they say is a return to normal billing operations. But BWWB customers across the metro say they are still receiving bills that are anything but normal.

BWWB first announced the decision to resume disconnections in their last meeting of 2022 and reiterated it in a Monday press release.

The utility is urging customers to contact BWWB customer service to make payment arrangements to avoid having their water turned off.

“To our customers who are having payment problems, help us help you,” said BWWB spokesman Rick Jackson in the release. “Help is available. We don’t want anyone to be without water, period. Our concern is for low and moderate income customers to maintain their service.”

“Help is available on our customer hotline and there are also many nonprofit agencies in the area who also offer payment assistance. We want to hear from anyone who has problems with payments. Customers can call Birmingham Water Works Customer Service department via phone 205-244-4000 or go online at www.bwwb.org.”

Complaints about BWWB’s customer service line have been ongoing since last year but representatives for the utility have repeatedly said this is something they are working to improve.

Last month BWWB’s customer service line extended their hours until 7 p.m. on weekdays and opened drive thru services until noon on Saturdays.

Iris Fisher, BWWB’s assistant general manager for Finance and Administration previously said the extended hours, a fully staffed call center, additional customer service training, and new call scripts were all intended to improve customer experience.

However, when a reporter for The Lede called BWWB customer service multiple times on Feb. 14, the call was immediately redirected to an automated message saying the caller was unavailable.

In December BWWB attributed the decision to resume shutoffs to a fully staffed utility and said that 99% of BWWB customers were now receiving timely bills after the utility discontinued mass estimations, an assertion they continue to hold as of last week’s meeting.

As The Lede previously reported, BWWB stopped shutting off service to delinquent customers during the pandemic and while the utility was estimating bills and not delivering bills on time. The estimations and failures to deliver bills on time also contributed to bills larger than many customers could pay, leading to widespread criticism of the water works, scrutiny into its operations, and significant personnel changes.

Starting in December the utility said that these problems had been resolved. Some customers disagree.

“…They haven’t fixed diddly,” wrote Joseph Baker, group admin of Facebook group I Believe in Birmingham following the utility’s announcement. The post received 14 likes and two comments in agreement.

“I’m still receiving 2 monthly bills on the same day with different amounts,” commented group member Lyfe Deetra.

Hoover resident David Blackwell said in an interview that BWWB cannot in good conscience resume shutoffs after one of his parents’ most recent water bills was over $1,000 in the same month they received a bill for just under $50.

“They sent out that letter saying, ‘Hey if your bill’s delinquent by the 15th of February we’re going to cut off your water,’” said Blackwell. “How in good conscience could they even do that if the billing is so screwed up?”

He said it would be impossible for his parents to use $1,000 worth of water even between the two of them but added that this was even more unlikely due to his mother being in the hospital for the last two months.

Blackwell said due to the size of the water bill, he had his parents’ home inspected by multiple plumbers and received certification that there weren’t leaks. He said he attempted to receive assistance from BWWB’s customer service line with no success. Blackwell said he then paid a physical visit to BWWB offices on behalf of his 90+ year old parents who were unable to go themselves.

“I called them up and tried to talk to a supervisor and that’s like throwing mud on a wall, it didn’t go anywhere,” Blackwell said. “So, I said [to customer service] ‘Please, can I take this somewhere to take this up?’ So, I went up there and showed it to them and they said okay and took a copy. They said they’d send it to a supervisor, and you’ll get a call in 24-78 hours.”

“This was on a Friday two weeks ago [Jan. 27] so I expected to hear back by the following Wednesday. Never heard anything.”

At the time this article was published Blackwell said he still had not heard back from anyone at BWWB regarding the bill. He said he also had not seen the $1,000 bill credit a customer service rep told him would appear on his father’s water account.

Even if they $1,000 had been returned, that would not would not recoup the difference for several $300-$400 water bills his parents have paid over the last few months, Blackwell said.

“Will we ever recoup that [money] or is that just lost?” said Blackwell. “Something is just seriously wrong.”

At last week’s BWWB meeting Fisher said there were around 28,000 delinquent accounts but added that this number was hard to keep track of due to new accounts coming in as others were being cleared.

Jackson said in the Monday release that it was in part due to this high number that the utility had made the move to resume shutoffs.

“Our increase [in shutoffs] helps enable us to continue bringing the highest quality drinking water to nearly 800,000 people in five counties every day of the week,” said Jackson. “That’s why we have to take this step. Our hope is for no interruptions to that service at all.”

Fisher said there are payment plans available for those who cannot afford to pay their total delinquent amount but want to avoid service disconnection.

Payment plans run from one month to 36 months depending on how much customers owe. Fisher said last week that since January, over 100 accounts had signed up for a payment plan and added that once customers sign up for a plan their accounts are protected from disconnection.