Was this a WSSC "Shakedown" for $1,167.02? Does This Happen Often? Oversight, Hello?

Dear Office of the Inspector General, WSSC,

Let us state, here at the outset, that our own grievance is resolved, but only because we acted assertively. We questioned an enormous WSSC bill and demanded a written explanation.

We wonder …

(1) How widespread are WSSC billing “errors” immediately after a meter upgrade?
(2) Does OIG have a method of tracking anomalies in customer bills and identifying these “errors”?
(3) Did we experience attempted fraud? Does WSSC occasionally shake-down its customers?

Here are some details.

WSSC notified us that our water meter needed to be upgraded, so we arranged for the new meter to be installed in our basement. After the technician left, we noticed that the meter was installed upside down. We had to use a mirror to read it. A month later a technician arrived and successfully swiveled the meter 180 degrees, so that we could easily read the dials.

That was a minor problem, compared with what happened next. WSSC claimed that our “water usage increase” jumped “293%”, and our water bill increased by more than one thousand dollars. We paid the total bill immediately to avoid harm to our credit rating; not everyone can afford to do that.

We have learned this practical lesson: Take a photo immediately before and after a meter is changed. Indeed, the WSSC technician should do that, and provide both images to the customer. Those photos would provide basic data to protect both the utility provider and the customer from misunderstandings, errors, and possible abuse – in either direction.

Over the course of two months, we questioned [in emails, so as to have a written record] the huge bill and the accuracy of the usage numbers. A plumber checked for leaks in appliances and underground pipes, and found none. We monitored our use of water, and found it matched the weekly average of the previous year.

WSSC employees, over the phone and in person, offered tentative explanations, such as ...

* A “meter / remote discrepancy” might have caused the remote device to underreport our water usage over months, or even years.

* A faulty meter might have under-measured our water usage, and now we had to catch up, and pay for water we had used.

We accepted none of these explanations, and insisted that WSSC provide a written explanation for why our bill was so large. After a month of this nonsense, we received a phone call that we would receive a refund. Two months after that phone call, we received a check (#679344) for $1,167.02 from WSSC. We also received a letter “adjustment Case Approved,” but we never received an explanation for the (clerical? technical?) error that appeared on our bill. Perhaps WSSC's Office of the Inspector General would like to pursue that explanation, as well as contemplate the three questions above that impact, potentially, many thousands of customers.

Sincerely,

Steven Sellers Lapham, Gaithersburg, MD 20879

NOTES
1) On March 23, 2026 we emailed the letter above to
WSSC's Inspector General
Email: officeoftheinspectorgeneral@wsscwater.com
and
Montgomery County's Office of Consumer Protection
Email: OCP.CALMS@montgomerycountymd.gov
and we will share any responses (here on PATCH.com) that we receive.

2) WSSC Water is a for-profit company. During my lifetime, Americans have witnessed UTILITIES (electricity, water, roads) and traditional government responsibilities (education, local government, safety) get "sold off" to companies that make a profit by squeezing money out of the system rather than investing in repairs, training, modernization, and quality service to the people. Perhaps it is time for – more than a reform – for a nonviolent revolution. UNSTOPPABLE: The Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State, by Ralph Nader (Washington, DC: Public Affairs, 2015).

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