Hum Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 The suburban village of White Plains, N.Y., was feeling more Grinch-like than Santa-like this month, sending out fake water bills of more than $1,000 to dozens of residents "just to get their attention" because it hasn't been able to gain entry to read their meters, the Associated Press reports. "It seems to be working," said Abe Zambrano, treasurer of Croton-on-Hudson. "About half the people have called already and we just sent the bills out on Dec. 15." Zambrano, who said he thought up the gimmick, said Tuesday that the bills were sent to 34 homes "where we had gone two or more years without getting the actual readings." "We have sent notices, we have sent letters," he said. "None of these accounts responded. We tried to be very flexible, we offered weekend appointments, but nothing." They did not make telephone calls because "It's hard to reach these people during the day," said village Manager Richard Herbek. To get precise rather than estimated readings, village workers have to enter homes to read the meters. They also need access to complete a village-wide upgrade that will enable them to read the meters from outside and check them more often than semiannually. "This is good for the people, because the way you know you have a leak is if the water bill goes way up," Zambrano said. "If we check more often, they lose less money." He said he wasn't worried about people fainting ? or worse ? when they opened the fake bills because "It's not an amount that's so large. Some people really do have $1,000 water bills if they do a lot of watering." He also warned that after years of estimated bills, the actual bill could be a good deal higher than residents are used to and might even be near $1,000. The typical semiannual bill is a few hundred dollars, he said. So far, he said, "Most people are calling in, saying, 'What's this?' and when we tell them there's no problem, they feel it's a good way to get their attention. They're saying, 'Well, you certainly got me.'" On the other hand, "We had one individual who called this morning, he wasn't happy about it, he was upset," Zambrano said. If anyone pays the inflated bill, Zambrano said, "We will hold onto it, try to contact them again. Maybe send a certified bill." source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diffused Mind Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 The water company dolt that read my meter last time read it upside down and we got a bill for $315,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitebread Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 The water company dolt that read my meter last time read it upside down and we got a bill for $315,000. LO:laugh:h:How long did it take them to realize something was amiss? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diffused Mind Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 LOL :laugh: How long did it take them to realize something was amiss? They didn't. I had to call them up around three times to get them to send a new grunt down to read it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitebread Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 They didn't. I had to call them up around three times to get them to send a new grunt down to read it. ****ty:blink:k: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePitt Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 NY is expensive all the time. Even with jokes like this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hurmoth Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 The water company dolt that read my meter last time read it upside down and we got a bill for $315,000. [/quote:o:o Wow-- what a huge mistake that is. Wonder if the guy got fired? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitebread Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 :o Wow-- what a huge mistake that is. Wonder if the guy got fired?Probably not.... Seems like an honest mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hurmoth Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 Probably not.... Seems like an honest mistake. Tell that to the person who got the $315,000 bill. :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitebread Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 Tell that to the person who got the $315,000 bill. :p Yah, but it was obviously an error :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APH-Alex Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 I just decoded the binary code in hurmoths sig for nothing. All it says is: Hurmoth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitebread Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 I just decoded the binary code in hurmoths sig for nothing. All it says is:Hurmoth What binary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis W. Veteran Posted December 27, 2006 Veteran Share Posted December 27, 2006 The water company dolt that read my meter last time read it upside down and we got a bill for $315,000. LMFAO! How is that possible for a house:rofl:l: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APH-Alex Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 What binary? In his signature, it says Hurmoth and then beneath that it says 01001000011101010111001001101101011011110111010001101000 Which means: Hurmoth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MightyJordan Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 In his signature, it says Hurmoth and then beneath that it says 01001000011101010111001001101101011011110111010001101000 Which means: Hurmoth Well spotted. I never saw that the 1st time I looked at his sig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitebread Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 @APH-Alex: I didn't even see that! :rofl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yuxi Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 In his signature, it says Hurmoth and then beneath that it says 01001000011101010111001001101101011011110111010001101000 Which means: Hurmoth Now I see it :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dave164 Subscriber¹ Posted December 28, 2006 Subscriber¹ Share Posted December 28, 2006 Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to Where is that from? I remember seeing it in a film a while back i think it was. Garnett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitebread Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 Now I see it :D I didn't see it at first, either :cool:. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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