Bills, thrills and general frustration in a city on strike Some of you may have heard that all Toronto city workers (with the exception of firefighter, police and ambulance workers) are on strike at present. When I received an... interesting... water bill today, I wasn't sure where to turn.→[More:]

When I called the utilities office, I got a recording telling me there was no one there to take my call. So I fired off the following email to their office. I think I laid out my concerns quite succintly:

Hello,

I received my second quarterly utility bill today and was taken aback to read that the amount you claim I owe for the past three months of water and waste management services is $5,221.50. Also according to the statement you sent me, my water meter, which read 439.50 as of January 6, 2009, read 3193.50 as of May 5, 2009. Since I have not begun hosting daily hot tub parties for the entire Maple Leaf Hockey Team roster in the interval, I can only assume your office has rather dramatically screwed up in calcuating my meter reading.

I'm aware your office is on strike as of writing, and I don't know how soon this matter can be corrected. If the amount billed can't be corrected before the automatic bank account withdrawal date on July 13, 2009, I will have my bank block the scheduled $5,221.50 withdrawal from my account and arrange to pay the amount I actually owe after your office resumes work. And though it is standard procedure for you to charge an administrative fee and take away a client's automatic payment plan discount when their automatic payment fails to clear, in this case I expect not to be penalized for my stoppage of payment, since this overcharge is so patently a mistake that you have made.

Sincerely,

Orange Swan
Swan's End
Toronto, Ontario

I promptly received an automated email reply informing me no one was in the office to read my email, but they did provide a number for me to call. I called the number and was delighted to get an actual flesh and blood city employee on the other end of the line. He said, "Whoa!" when he heard the amount of my water bill, took my name, address, client and account numbers and promised that he would have someone look into it.