TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Highlands Today

SNL GM apologizes for water billing 'fiasco'

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOE SEELIG

Highlands Today

Published: October 29, 2009

SEBRING - Due to an unknown computer glitch, some Sun 'n Lake residents got up to three water bills for September and October while others got none.

To rectify the confusion, General Manager Al Grieshaber has waived all late fees for all unpaid water bills in the September - October billing cycle.

The wacky bills were sent out in mid-October.

Anyone receiving a water bill in the October - November billing cycle with a late charge is asked to ignore the fee and just pay the water bill.

"It was a fiasco," said Grieshaber on Wednesday. "It was a failure. Unbeknownst to us, we sent some out in triplicate; some folks got three bills. Some folks got no bill at all.

"We certainly aren't going to charge you a late fee for a bill they may not have gotten."

There were 3,300 bills printed, the number of water meters within the district. They just can't tell how many people actually got their bills.

So far, the complaints the district has received have been over the extra postage spent on three bills.

"People are saying, 'Man you're wasting our money on postage,'" Grieshaber said. "Some of that expense was probably offset by people who did not receive bills."

On Oct. 27, Grieshaber sent an e-apology dated Oct. 26 to district residents, regretting any inconvenience the fiasco may have caused.

"Please accept our apology," he wrote. "Just like you, we don't want to incur any extra costs nor cause extra work or harbor any inefficiencies. We want to be as productive as possible."

As best Grieshaber could tell on Wednesday, one of three things could have happened. First it could have been a human error or it could have been caused during a rebooting process during Microsoft upgrades, or there could have been a power surge that made the computers loopy.

"Once we realized the error, we had no way of knowing who got three bills and who got no bill," he said.
Grieshaber said even he did not receive a bill.

"I said print me a new bill and I paid it," he said.

The next bill is due in November.

"We have taken steps to correct the challenges and hopefully eliminate the possibility of another fiasco," Grieshaber said.

Highlands Today reporter Joe Seelig can be reached at (863) 386-5834 or jseelig@highlandstoday.com .

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT