Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Enwin Customer Complaint
Enwin Customer Complaint
R. J. Potomski
Email: rjp@potomski.com
Re: Enwin
Dear Councilors,
I would like to be placed on the agenda of your meeting to be held on Monday,
November 17, 2014. At that time I will request the following:
1. Leave to be to be heard by City Council on a matter related to the abuse of the
power given to Enwin by the City of Windsor.
2. Leave to rebut any response to my position.
I understand that the boards/committees related to Enwin do not answer to City
Council, as such the may not be boards/committee of the Corporation of the City of
Windsor. Since its employees did not have Remembrance Day off, I assume Enwin is a
sub-contractor of the City. As such, I ask, if a conflict of interest needs to be declared by
any members of council in regards to Enwin, that it be declared.
BACKGROUND
1. On August 7, 2014 the water at a place I own, without notice, was turned off.
2. The electricity was not turned off.
3. As it was after hours I was not happy and made phone calls.
4. The water was turned on, after hours, conditional upon me contacting the office
in morning of August 8, 2014.
5. I contacted the Enwin office as agreed.
6. It was my understanding that the water was turned off as a result of the bill for
water, sewage and matters related to the water section of the bill in the amount
of $67.51 was past due.
7. Without confirming any figures, I paid the total Enwin bill to make sure the water
would stay on and there would not be a problem with the electricity.
8. I later found that the outstanding water usage that caused the turn off on August
8, 2014 was not due until August 11, 2014.
9. The outstanding water usage that caused the turn off was $5.15.
10. When I sat down to pay the next bill I noticed that there was a $65.00 Collection
Charge that was added to the bill for the collection of the $5.15 bill that was not
overdue.
11. I made several calls to Enwin to enquire on their dispute resolution process.
From the phone calls I understood there was not a process and that I was to pay
the bill.
12. Since my phone conversations did not result in a process, I sent a letter1, dated
October 16, 2014 to Mr. M. Zalev. I explained what had happened and asked that
the Collection Charge be removed from my account.
13. At the second last paragraph of my letter2 of October 16, 2014 I wrote:
If you are unable to or choose not to remove the Collection Charges, I ask
that this matter be placed on the agenda of the next Board meeting held in
public.
14. As of todays date I have not received a written response on my dispute from Mr.
Zalev or his designate.
15. I sent a letter3, dated November 5, 2014, to Mr. Zalev and copied to Council
stating that I felt by ignoring my dispute he was abusing the power given to him
by the City.
16. By copy of my letter4 of November 5, 2014, I requested that I be able to speak to
Council on the issue tendering the outsourcing the management of our utilities as
was done with garbage collection and parking enforcement.
17. Neither Mr. Zalev nor his designate, to date, has responded, in writing, to my
dispute.
18. For the record the Enwin services were not turned off nor was there a notice of
immediate turn off when the payment was made on October 16, 2014.
19. On November 8, 2014, 30 days after I paid my Enwin bill on October 16, 2014, I
paid my next Enwin bill, less the disputed amount.
20. On November 10, 2014, Mr. Zalev did respond to my letter of October 16, 2014
by turning off the electricity on my account, the having his manager demand
payment of the disputed amount before it would be turn on.
1
See attached the letter of R.J. Potomski, dated October 16, 2014 to M. Zalev.
See the second last paragraph of the letter of R.J. Potomski, dated October 16, 2014 to M. Zalev. with copies to
council
3
See attached the letter of R.J. Potomski, dated November 5, 2014 to M. Zalev. with copies to council.
4
See paragraphs 7-11 of the letter of R.J. Potomski, dated November 5, 2014 to M. Zalev, with copies to council
2
21. After writing several letters5 on November 10, 2014 to Mr. Zalev and much
discussion with management at Enwin, the electricity was turned on.
22. After it was agreed that the electricity would be turn on, without paying the
disputed amount, I received an email from Enwin that said as follows:
The standard reconnection fee of $73.45 will appear on your next months
invoice.
23. Effectively Mr. Zalev has taken the position that is shown by his actions, that a
customer requesting a process to dispute a bill is going to receive more
collection/reconnection charges.
24. The result is that, as a monopoly, Enwin does not need to be concern about
customer service.
SUMMARY
When Bell Canada held a monopoly on our telephones, their attitude seemed to
be that if you dont like it go elsewhere. Of course there was no other telephone
companies, then.
Even with that attitude Bell Canada treated its customers better than Enwin does
its customers. Bell Canada had at least two things that Enwin does not allow:
1. A dispute process that said any disputed amount does not need to be paid until
the process is completed.
2. A bill is not due until one month and 14 days after the date of the bill.
I believe the adding another $73.45 to my bill just because I am trying to dispute
a $65.00 Collection Fee is an abuse of power. I ask City Council if it condones this
type of actions against its citizens
I ask that this letter and the attached letter be included in the material placed
before City Council at its meeting of November 17, 2014.
I trust this is satisfactory and unless I am notified to the contrary, I will be in
attendance at your meeting of November 17, 2014.
attach
5
See attached three letters of R.J. Potomski. dated November 10, 2014.
cc City Clerk
clerks@city.windsor.on.ca
Drew Dilkens
ddilkens@city.windsor.on.ca
Ron Jones
rjones@city.windsor.on.ca
Fulvio Valentinis fvalentinis@city.windsor.on.ca
Alan Haberstadt ahalberstadt@city.windsor.on.ca
Ed Sleiman esleiman@city.windsor.on.ca
Jo-Anne Gignac joagignac@city.windsor.on.ca
Irek Kusmierczyk irek@city.windsor.on.ca
Bill Marra bmarra@city.windsor.on.ca
Hilary Payne hpayne@city.windsor.on.ca
Al Magnieh amaghnieh@city.windsor.on.ca
Fred Francis fred@votefrancis.ca
John Elliot johnelliottforcitycouncil@gmail.com
Rino Bortolin rino@rinoforwindsor.com
Chris Holt no contact info- Clerk, please forward
Paul Borrelli no contact info- Clerk, please forward
Tel: 519-800-3995
R. J. Potomski
Email: rjp@potomski.com
I told Kirk that I did not have time for someone to call me back. I asked him if the
only way to resolve matters with Enwin is to issue a statement of claim, within the court
system. He did not say no to my question.
If the only way to resolve my dispute is the court/legal system, please advise as I
will start the process immediately. If you feel that my dispute can be resolved without a
legal process, please read the following.
A brief synopsis of what happened includes but is not limited to the following:
1. The water was shut off, without notice, under the above referenced account on
August 7, 2014.
2. The outstanding amount, including water and waste water charges, was $67.51.
3. The water was turned on and the Enwind bill of $153.86 was paid.
I believe that being a monopoly should not allow Enwin to take advantage of its
captive clients. It is outrageous for any business to charge a collection fee of about
100% of the amount due that is less than 60 days old. I would consider this fee not
different than interest paid on an outstanding bill.
I have paid the entire Enwind invoice, dated August 8, 2013, less the $65.00
Collection Charges. I ask that the $65.00 Collections Charges be removed.
If you are unable to or choose not to remove the Collection Charges, I ask that
this matter be placed on the agenda of the next Board meeting held in public,
I trust you understand my position and I will await your position on this matter.
Tel: 519-800-3995
R. J. Potomski
Email: rjp@potomski.com
November 5, 2014
Mr. Maxwell Zalev,
Enwin Utilities,
P.O. Box 1625,
Station A,
787 Ouellette,
Windsor. Ontario N9A 5T7
Email: mzalev@enwin.com
Re: Account #XXXXX040
Dear Sir,
As of the sending of this letter I have not received a response to my attached letter of
October 16, 2014. The email that was sent to you with my letter did not bounce back as not
deliverable.
I understand that you and your company have been given a monopoly over the utilities
used by the citizens of Windsor. From your lack of response to my concerns I take it that you
consider what the City of Windsor has given you and your company a right and not a privilege.
In a competitive world, no matter the size, companies address customer concerns. From what I
see, people at Enwin, are not familiar with this concept.
From what I see your company makes a profit by charging more than 100% of a water
bill as a collection fee.
In this case, referenced in my attached letter of October 16, 2014, the water bill was
$31.89 that included only $5.15 for water usage. Your collection charge was $65.00 dollars to
collect $5.15.
When I sent you a letter disputing the collection charge, you ignore me.
The water situation in Windsor is worst than anything that has happened in Detroit.
By copy of this letter I ask the City Clerk to place me on the agenda of the next City
Council meeting and that these two letters be placed before the Councilors.
By copy of this letter I ask that City Council to outsource the management of our utilities
in the same manner it used for Garbage Collection and Parking Enforcement.
I would think a competitive bidding process for our utilities management would improve
costs and service for the people of Windsor.
Again, by copy of this letter and its contents, I ask to be placed on the agenda of Council
for the City of Windsor.
Tel: 519-800-3995
R. J. Potomski
Email: rjp@potomski.com
I told Kirk that I did not have time for someone to call me back. I asked him if the
only way to resolve matters with Enwin is to issue a statement of claim, within the court
system. He did not say no to my question.
If the only way to resolve my dispute is the court/legal system, please advise as I
will start the process immediately. If you feel that my dispute can be resolved without a
legal process, please read the following.
A brief synopsis of what happened includes but is not limited to the following:
1. The water was shut off, without notice, under the above referenced account on
August 7, 2014.
2. The outstanding amount, including water and waste water charges, was $67.51.
3. The water was turned on and the Enwind bill of $153.86 was paid.
I believe that being a monopoly should not allow Enwin to take advantage of its
captive clients. It is outrageous for any business to charge a collection fee of about
100% of the amount due that is less than 60 days old. I would consider this fee not
different than interest paid on an outstanding bill.
I have paid the entire Enwind invoice, dated August 8, 2013, less the $65.00
Collection Charges. I ask that the $65.00 Collections Charges be removed.
If you are unable to or choose not to remove the Collection Charges, I ask that
this matter be placed on the agenda of the next Board meeting held in public,
I trust you understand my position and I will await your position on this matter.
Tel: 519-800-3995
R. J. Potomski
Email: rjp@potomski.com
cc City Clerk
clerks@city.windsor.on.ca
Drew Dilkens
ddilkens@city.windsor.on.ca
Ron Jones
rjones@city.windsor.on.ca
Fulvio Valentinis fvalentinis@city.windsor.on.ca
Alan Haberstadt ahalberstadt@city.windsor.on.ca
Ed Sleiman esleiman@city.windsor.on.ca
Jo-Anne Gignac joagignac@city.windsor.on.ca
Irek Kusmierczyk irek@city.windsor.on.ca
Bill Marra bmarra@city.windsor.on.ca
Hilary Payne hpayne@city.windsor.on.ca
Al Magnieh amaghnieh@city.windsor.on.ca
Fred Francis fred@votefrancis.ca
John Elliot johnelliottforcitycouncil@gmail.com
Rino Bortolin rino@rinoforwindsor.com
Chris Holt no contact info- Clerk, please forward
Paul Borrelli no contact info- Clerk, please forward
Tel: 519-800-3995
R. J. Potomski
Email: rjp@potomski.com
cc City Clerk
clerks@city.windsor.on.ca
Drew Dilkens
ddilkens@city.windsor.on.ca
Ron Jones
rjones@city.windsor.on.ca
Fulvio Valentinis fvalentinis@city.windsor.on.ca
Alan Haberstadt -
ahalberstadt@city.windsor.on.ca
Ed Sleiman esleiman@city.windsor.on.ca
Jo-Anne Gignac joagignac@city.windsor.on.ca
Irek Kusmierczyk irek@city.windsor.on.ca
Bill Marra bmarra@city.windsor.on.ca
Hilary Payne hpayne@city.windsor.on.ca
Al Magnieh amaghnieh@city.windsor.on.ca
Fred Francis fred@votefrancis.ca
John Elliot johnelliottforcitycouncil@gmail.com
Rino Bortolin rino@rinoforwindsor.com
Chris Holt no contact info- Clerk, please forward
Paul Borrelli no contact info- Clerk, please forward
Tel: 519-800-3995
R. J. Potomski
Email: rjp@potomski.com
cc City Clerk
clerks@city.windsor.on.ca
Drew Dilkens
ddilkens@city.windsor.on.ca
Ron Jones
rjones@city.windsor.on.ca
Fulvio Valentinis fvalentinis@city.windsor.on.ca
Alan Haberstadt -
ahalberstadt@city.windsor.on.ca
Ed Sleiman esleiman@city.windsor.on.ca
Jo-Anne Gignac joagignac@city.windsor.on.ca
Irek Kusmierczyk irek@city.windsor.on.ca
Bill Marra bmarra@city.windsor.on.ca
Hilary Payne hpayne@city.windsor.on.ca
Al Magnieh amaghnieh@city.windsor.on.ca
Fred Francis fred@votefrancis.ca
John Elliot johnelliottforcitycouncil@gmail.com
Rino Bortolin rino@rinoforwindsor.com
Chris Holt no contact info- Clerk, please forward
Paul Borrelli no contact info- Clerk, please forward