Scammer
Banned
PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. - High utility bills; we've all had them, but nothing like this! A $2,643.47 water bill, for a Pacific grove couple! The Parise family typically uses around 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of water a month. But, their Cal Am water bill last month showed they used over 70,000 gallons of water. That's equivelent to at least 5 swimming pools.
"To have a leak of that size, I would have to have like a pond out at the front of my yard, and that would be pretty obvious," said Mike Parise.
Gravel mostly surrounds Mike Parise's home in Pacific Grove. He said this is proof, they hardly ever use water on their yard. But Cal Am told Parise a leak could be to blame for the high water bill.
"If I had five swimming pools full of water leaking, why wouldn't somebody see that and why would it stop suddenly after they came back and rechecked the meter," said Parise.
Parise brought in two plumbers, both from different companies to inspect his home for leaks, but they didn't find anything. Now Parise thinks Cal Am's new electronic meter, a meter the company recently installed this year, is to blame.
"The only thing that's changed is this new electronic meters that they put in. I find it even hard to believe that common sense would tell you that our water usage has gone up that much and then magically it's gone back to normal usage without us doing anything differently," said Parise.
And after multiple phone conversations with cal am to sort things out...
"So regardless you have to pay this bill?" asks Central Coast News Reporter Susanne Brunner.
"That's what they're telling us, that they'll work out a payment plan for us to pay off this bill," answered Parise.
Cal Am officials told me they're going to have to conduct an investigation.
"This is the type of situation where we need to go out and look at what's happened. If there is a leak, we can work with the customer to create an adjustment to their bill," said Catherine Bowie, Cal Am Spokesperson."
Cal Am will work with the family Thursday to resolve the issue.
"To have a leak of that size, I would have to have like a pond out at the front of my yard, and that would be pretty obvious," said Mike Parise.
Gravel mostly surrounds Mike Parise's home in Pacific Grove. He said this is proof, they hardly ever use water on their yard. But Cal Am told Parise a leak could be to blame for the high water bill.
"If I had five swimming pools full of water leaking, why wouldn't somebody see that and why would it stop suddenly after they came back and rechecked the meter," said Parise.
Parise brought in two plumbers, both from different companies to inspect his home for leaks, but they didn't find anything. Now Parise thinks Cal Am's new electronic meter, a meter the company recently installed this year, is to blame.
"The only thing that's changed is this new electronic meters that they put in. I find it even hard to believe that common sense would tell you that our water usage has gone up that much and then magically it's gone back to normal usage without us doing anything differently," said Parise.
And after multiple phone conversations with cal am to sort things out...
"So regardless you have to pay this bill?" asks Central Coast News Reporter Susanne Brunner.
"That's what they're telling us, that they'll work out a payment plan for us to pay off this bill," answered Parise.
Cal Am officials told me they're going to have to conduct an investigation.
"This is the type of situation where we need to go out and look at what's happened. If there is a leak, we can work with the customer to create an adjustment to their bill," said Catherine Bowie, Cal Am Spokesperson."
Cal Am will work with the family Thursday to resolve the issue.