Caroline Armell Halstead: Mother was treated rudely by city of Modesto

A recent experience with the city of Modesto Water Department was both disconcerting and rather ridiculous. My parents have faithfully paid their monthly water bill for over 60 years, but in September, for the first time ever, a payment was lost, putting their account into a “late” status. After receiving the October bill, which still indicated the “late” status, my mother called to resolve the situation.

Not only was she told (rudely) that she was days away from having the water disconnected, but she was not allowed any information on the account as the service was in the name of my deceased father. Changing the account to her name would cost $150.

Hearing this, I accessed the far-more-pleasant automated voice prompt at the Water Department via cellphone and entered a credit card to pay the bill in full. Isn’t it ironic that a veritable stranger, from out of state can pay the bill while a faithfully paying customer (for over 60 years!) was rudely told she was days away from having no water and that she could get no information about her account? Let’s re-examine the term, “customer service.” There is great room for improvement.

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 7:11 PM with the headline "Caroline Armell Halstead: Mother was treated rudely by city of Modesto."