Dallas residents are reporting widespread problems with the city’s new water billing system, with some receiving bills as high as $10,000 and others waiting more than half an hour to reach the city’s 311 line for help.
The system, called DallasGo!, launched about a month ago and has generated more than 2,500 calls per day from customers struggling to navigate it. Average 311 wait times have climbed from 90 seconds to 35 minutes.
Complaints have reached members of the Dallas City Council, several of whom said their offices are absorbing calls that cannot get through to city staff.
Council member Bill Roth said the rollout has created particular difficulties for landlords and business owners, who must set up separate emails for a single account.
“This has been a disaster,” Roth said, Fox 4 KDFW reported. “We’re getting hundreds of calls to my office. They’re not going to your office because they can’t get to your office.”
Councilwoman Lorie Blair said she has been unable to access the system herself and was unsatisfied with the assistance offered to constituents, particularly those in her district.
“I’m going to speak from personal experience. I haven’t yet to get on it. I have tried to call, and I got the run around,” Blair said, per Fox 4.
Daisy Fast, director of communications and customer service for the City of Dallas, urged residents to try alternatives to the call center.
“So right now we are experiencing very long hold times, and we do encourage everyone to try and utilize the self-service options, whether it’s coming here in person or using the online features,” Fast said, according to Fox 4.
Blair pushed back on the suggestion that residents travel to a city office for help.
“District Eight is the furthest south that you can get. So for District Eight, it’s an insult to ask them to come down,” she said.
Convenience fees and billing errors
Council member Cara Mendelsohn questioned why a water bill required a tutorial at all.
“To say to go on a website and look at a tutorial, we’re talking about a water bill here. This should have been the easiest thing in the world. Just like when you get an iPhone, you don’t really need a tutorial. It’s intuitive. We’ve spent millions of dollars for the system that’s made it harder and more problematic for people,” Mendelsohn said, per Fox 4.
Customers have also raised concerns about a convenience fee of more than 3% charged to those using credit cards or debit cards. Customers can avoid the fee by setting up auto-pay using their checking account information, an option that some customers have met with trepidation.
District 6 council member Laura Cadena said constituents have reported bills in the thousands of dollars, leaving some afraid to authorize auto-pay.
“I’ve had several constituents that have gotten bills for $5,000 or $10,000. And so, if they use auto-pay, now they’re extremely worried that they’re going to be drafted more because there’s some kind of error that’s happening,” Cadena said.
During the transition, the city is not charging late fees or shutting off water service for nonpayment. Officials have not said how long the grace period will remain in place.
The City of Dallas has a webpage dedicated to helping water utility customers navigate the new DallasGo! system that includes a tutorial and two pages of frequently asked questions. The City is also extending its telephone customer service hours from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. through June 18 to handle the increased call flow. Alternatively, customers can request assistance with DallasGo! via email: [email protected]. Be sure to include customer name, service address, and phone number in the email.
