Conno Twp. water customer frustrated by lack of help
A water shut-off valve that began leaking a few weeks ago in the basement of Kimberly Bloom’s home would have been an easy repair for her late husband, who died more than a year ago.
Bloom, of Connoquenessing Township, couldn’t fix it herself, but remembered she has been paying $9.99 per month for a protection program that would repair water equipment that is not the responsibility of the water company.
The customer service representatives at the American Water Resource call center she reached after discovering the leak were difficult to understand, she said, but she eventually understood them well enough to hear that a repair person would call her before coming to her home to fix the problem.
No one called or showed up, so she called the customer service number back.
Communication issues continued, and some representatives hung up on her, she said.
Others promised someone would call, then come to repair the valve, but no one did.
American Water Resources is not affiliated with Penn American Water Company or its parent company, American Water, since being sold some years ago by American Water.
However, American Water Resources retained the customers who were signed up for the protection plan.
At its worst, Bloom had to empty the five-gallon bucket under the leak every one-and-a-half hours, which was a problem at night.
One of Bloom’s friends then connected and taped together a number of shop-vacuum hoses she had hanging around so the leak was funneled to her basement’s floor drain.
She said had the leak gone untouched, it would have flooded her basement.
Still getting no help from American Water Resources, Bloom said she paid a plumber $140 to reduce the leak to a slower drip.
Now, Bloom doesn’t have to empty the bucket as often, but remains extremely frustrated that she has been paying monthly for a service that she has not been able to use.
“I hope that’s not what they’re doing to everybody,” she said.
On Good Friday, when she contacted the Eagle regarding her problem, Bloom said she now is in fear that the valve is going to let go and cause major water damage in her basement.
After a call from the Eagle to American Water Resources to inquire about Bloom’s problem, a man who would not identify himself called the Eagle to get Bloom’s contact information so he could see to it that her valve is repaired.
The man said the call centers are sometimes third-party vendors in other countries.
He said if customers do not get the help they need from the American Water Resources call center, they should call their water company and ask customer service representatives to contact American Water Resources.
He would not answer questions on how repair appointments are made for customers who call the American Water Resources customer service number.
Bloom said she called Pennsylvania American Water, but customer service representatives told her all they could do to alleviate the leak was shut off her water.
She reported that a representative of American Water Resources from Illinois called her Friday afternoon to say she would be reimbursed the $140 she spent on repairs, and that a repair person will fix her valve.
