Another Exorbitant Bill Story

[AndThePickles]

99-Year-Old's Water Bill Jumps Almost 4000%WASA: 139,876 gallons went into Northwest house

By MATTHEW STABLEY
Updated 2:41 PM EDT, Fri, Jun 19, 2009

WASHINGTON -- Stop complaining about your utility bills. Jeannette Cohen's water bill jumped almost 4000 percent.
99-Year-Old's Water Bill Jumps Almost 4000%

An elderly Northwest woman usually pays $30 per month for water, but her March bill was almost $1,200.

The 99-year-old northwest Washington woman insists it must be a mistake. Usually, her water bill is $30. In March, she did a double take.
"I got my usual bill and opened the envelope and looked at the amount," she said. "Huh? I looked again."
It was $1,181.
Cohen complained and had plumbers check her house twice. Usually, she uses about 3,000 gallons of water per month. D.C. Water and Sewer Authority's records show that 139,876 gallons went into her house that month, and they insist she must pay for them.
"It's just so obvious that, as the plumber said, 'You couldn't use that much water,'" she told News4's Tom Sherwood.
Ellen Cohen is worried about the stress this could cause her mother in law. Jeannette Cohen has lived in the same, modest house in the Tenley Circle area since 1955, and in December she turns 100.
"She would never dodge something that she owed, but she's also very fair and she has a real belief in justice," Ellen Cohen said.
Jeannette Cohen has a hearing scheduled for June 30.
"Well, I have hopes," she said. "I would love to have it fixed just because it is so stupid and so wrong."
WASA told News4 it reconfirmed its records but is concerned, too, and will investigate further.

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/lo...000.html?yhp=1
I'm not usually one to post news stories, but come on. This poor old lady is almost 100, and clearly couldn't have used that much water. Looking at her picture in the article's link makes me sad Watch the video on the website...she's such a cute old lady.

[bullets]

Yeah she kinda has that " Oh Drats , I left the water hose running " look to her.

[The Guard]

That's not bad at all for that much water.

[Metamorpho1977]

Leave the woman alone. That could kill an old lady like that.

[Majic Walrus]

Would it even be physically possible for her to use that much water, even if all of her facuets ran for an entire month?

[Metamorpho1977]

She reminds me of Granny from Sylvester and Tweety.

[Eric Brooks]

Originally Posted by Metamorpho1977

Leave the woman alone. That could kill an old lady like that.

truth

[Nirvana]

Wow, it must have been a mistake. Poor old lady.

[C. Lee]

I worked for a water deptartment for over 20 years....if someone's bill went up like that, WE would check for leaks, and if none were found we would then pull out the meter and test it to see if it had gone bad. Once we found that a next door nieghbor of someone with a huge bill was hooking his water hose to their house and watering his yard while they were at work. There's always an explanation.