One for the price of two

A man sought our help in getting money back from his municipality for a nonexistent water line. He told us that when he bought the property, he was told there were two water lines, and he would be billed for both. He said municipal staff assured him the second line was there, even though it was not connected to a meter. Two years later, during a construction project, a municipal engineer discovered there was only one water line to the property. However, the municipality only offered him a partial refund for the two years’ worth of fees he had paid.

Result: We made inquiries with municipal staff. After we intervened, the municipality agreed to give the owner a full refund of more than $6,000.