Brickbat: All Wet

When Atlanta developer Jeff Raw had a water meter installed on a vacant lot he owned, he wasn't expecting to get a bill until he put a house on the property. But one month after the water meter was installed, before site prep had even started, he got an $8,899 bill for 305,184 gallons of water. Bills like that kept coming in for five months, totaling almost $30,000, and only fell to a reasonable amount after the house was finished. In the meantime, Raw kept complaining. An inspector sent by the city even verified there were no water lines and no leaks on the site, but officials insisted that Raw pay those bills. At one point the utility sent Raw an email admitting there was a leak in its part of the system. But he soon got a call saying that its legal department had gotten involved and he still had to pay. He then appealed to the Sewer and Water Appeals Board but was denied; FOX5 Atlanta reports that the board denies 80 percent of appeals. Raw must now decide whether to take the city to court.

Comments

[Stuck in California]

Raw must now decide whether to take the city to court.

No, Raw must take the city to court. I will never say this anywhere else, but I'd rather give that money to a lawyer than the government agency.

[Nazi-Chipping Warlock]

Indeed.

"Yeah, if you guys were going to be dicks about it, you really shouldn't have sent me the email admitting it was your fault."

[Ajsloss]

you really shouldn’t have sent me the email admitting it was your fault.

The first time I rented a car, Thrifty tried to fuck me over some dents and a key scratch (only $600, not $30k). After siccing some collection agency on me, they provided their evidence... showing that they knew about the damage prior to renting me the car.

[HeathMiracle]

Making every month extra dollars by doing an easy job Online. Last month i have earned and as3 received $18539 from this home based job just by giving this only mine 2 hrs a day. Easy to do work even a child can get this and start making money Online. Get this today by follow instructions
.
.
On This Website—>>> http://Www.Bizwork1.com

[Rev Arthur L kuckland]

The people on the board the voted no should be taken to civil claims. They deserve bankruptcy. But qualified immunity makes this nearly impossible

[Adans smith]

That's 30,000 reasons why the board is all wet.

[Don't look at me!]

It’s a pipe dream.

That’s what he gets for spouting off.

[Its_Not_Inevitable]

Sounds like he got a Raw deal.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It's hardly the city's fault that its workers fucked up the line.

[John F. Carr]

My water meter is inside my house. If there is a leak between the town's shutoff valve and my house I do not pay for the water. The town can demand I fix the leak or they will shut my water off. In the short term that would be an idle threat. The town doesn't know where its shutoff valve is.

[Social Justice is neither]

Now we just need the city to claim he's defamed them by pointing out they lied so Reason writers can celebrate a multi-million dollar judgement while wiping away the water bill because he's innocent.

[Kyle T]

Suit against the city and each board member individually. Tie them in knots for intentional harm in an obvious case.

Sounds almost as bad as tin plated wanna be generals with delusions of grandeur that run HOAs.

[AT]

Bet you he doesn't install the water meter next time until he has to connect to a water line.

[Davedave]

I once had the gas company tell me that a large amount was owing for gas from a capped-off supply. I told them the supply was capped-off, and there was nothing connected to it. They insisted the gas had been supplied; I said in that case there is a major gas leak they need to attend to - which, of course, there wasn't. I called the body that deals with gas leaks, who listened to the story, agreed that if that amount of gas was really leaking the building would have blown up by that point, called the supplier, and told them to stop fucking around. Bill was cancelled pronto.

So the real question here is: where is the water? 300k gallons a month for 6 months would fill multiple Olympic-size swimming pools.