500 baht/month water utility bill in a condo..

[KittenKong]

we have been talking with the management but they are very ... 'firm' in their obvious racket they are running. The other rooms are paying similar outrageous water bills. We had them show us the meter, and one meter was OBVIOUSLY not checked; it was covered in dust. We wrote down the numbers, but we will still have to be checking BOTH of the meters, and paying BOTH the government rate and the 25 baht/unit rate, as we have no options besides running from a rental contract, losing the deposit, going through a large hassle of find a new place to live and location, etc. It is preferrable to be ripped off; but out of principle I would fight this if I can. The management, the first time we confronted them, with our 475 baht water bill, said they made a mistake and we would actually have to pay 500 baht. The time we asked to see the meter, they said they had made a mistake, and that we had to pay 375. They do seem to be giving in to our resistance somewhat, but I do not like being ripped off for even a satang. Is there anything I can do to force them to have to act legally, or is what they are doing legal?

It sounds as though you may have two meters because one is for city water and one is for well water. Possibly the dust-covered one just isnt used? Have you seen it go round? Have you tried turning the stop-cocks off and on and testing all your taps in your unit to see which meter runs?

As for bills that vary every time you ask about them, it may not be dishonesty as crass incompetence is par for the course in Thailand when it comes to condo office staff. I see it all the time in my building.

It is still the high usage that is the problem, not the rate per unit. Concentrate on the usage and forget about the rate.

[Ace of Pop]

Time to find a new Condo.

[godden]

Your landlords a thief, move pronto tonto.

[snowgard]

In Khao Talo the management of 3 villages rised up the water bill too and told the people they not use government water, they have a own well. The people from the village gone to the Consumer Protection Board (Pattaya City Hall, North Pattaya Road) and asked that the Management have the right to do it. The lawyer told they direct: NO WAY!!! They can't charge more as the government water price.

The Consumer Protection Board called the Management if they charge more again they bring they to court. And they instruced the villagers to pay the government price.

[nev]

Just paid my water bills here in khonkaen,two bills 1 45 baht the other 4 baht so a grand total of 49 baht.

We are on 5 rai, I do have a bore pump to water the garden.

[vogie]

Just paid my water bills here in khonkaen,two bills 1 45 baht the other 4 baht so a grand total of 49 baht.

We are on 5 rai, I do have a bore pump to water the garden.

I was happy with my 190 baht bill till I read your post. My wife is constantly watering the shrubs etc, but there again we have no well.

[nev]

Just paid my water bills here in khonkaen,two bills 1 45 baht the other 4 baht so a grand total of 49 baht.

We are on 5 rai, I do have a bore pump to water the garden.

I was happy with my 190 baht bill till I read your post. My wife is constantly watering the shrubs etc, but there again we have no well.

I really don't know why so cheap I just pay up. We have two houses and both have water pumps, I presume the more expensive bill is the house the washing machine is connected too.

[tigermoth]

You are definitely being taken for a ride. I rent a condo and the water bill is a standard rate of 150 baht a month regardless of the amount. There are two of us and we use the shower two or three times a day, wash our dishes, water pot plants, flush the toilet and boil the tap water to make coffee. This is all from the govt water supply.

[Cheesekraft]

thanks for the replies; but I do realize I am being taken for a ride. I want to know what I can do about it. I will take a photo of the meter, see if there are any leaks, and will ask about the date they check the meter; all great suggestions. Anything else I can do? I literally just moved in here, with a contract, and I do not believe the agency knew about this.

[dotpoom]

thanks for the replies; but I do realize I am being taken for a ride. I want to know what I can do about it. I will take a photo of the meter, see if there are any leaks, and will ask about the date they check the meter; all great suggestions. Anything else I can do? I literally just moved in here, with a contract, and I do not believe the agency knew about this.

Some great suggestions on here but surly "Snowgard" said everything that one needs to know about what to do...here it is again, it's just a few posts ahead of this one......

"In Khao Talo the management of 3 villages rised up the water bill too and told the people they not use government water, they have a own well. The people from the village gone to the Consumer Protection Board (Pattaya City Hall, North Pattaya Road) and asked that the Management have the right to do it. The lawyer told they direct: NO WAY!!! They can't charge more as the government water price.

The Consumer Protection Board called the Management if they charge more again they bring they to court. And they instruced the villagers to pay the government price".

I too was getting a bit bored after 3 pages of posts with comments like..."you're been ripped off"..."you're been shafted" etc., etc., etc., I think the OP got the message after about 3 or 4 people telling him that already and different terminoligy could have been used after that. It's as if some people (in a sort of gleeful way) like to hammer it home that one is being robbed.

Edited July 2, 2015 by dotpoom

[Ace of Pop]

I just got bored reading your post when aLike for Snowbird would suffice[emoji572]️

[Robert24]

I moved into a Bungalow (resort) and signed a contract for a year. I just checked my hand written bill. They are charging me 35 Bt. per Unit. This month 17 units=595 Bt. (Last month 18 Units-630 Bt.) I have a house in Bang Saray with a garden and plants that I watered daily. Sometimes when we have a wet month I paid for no water at all,(collected it in the tanks) just the meter standing charge of 85 Bt. (Company Rate). On average though that bill was less than 400 Bt.

My electricity bill here is charged at 7 Bt. Unit 1,553 Bt. this month and 1281 Bt.last month (I don't use Air/Cons

That's a rip off. The bill comes from the resort not from the government, similar to an apartment?

[Si Thea01]

Sounds like someone is having a lend of you. My water bill, for home use, not drinking is only B220 a month, however, with the current dry conditions is has risen to between B500 to B600 a month as I am using a lot keeping my grass green and garden alive, as well as clothes washing, two showers a day and then the dogs. Water for drinking cost B100 a month. My electricity account last month was B1900, three people in house, security lights of a night, air conditioning most days and nights plus all the other whitegoods. It has risen on occasions to B2500 but has reduced considerably since I replaced the two old refrigerators.

Now, I do not live in Bangkok but in Isaan and we own our home, do not rent. I see you rent, so the landlord, I'd say is not only touching you but also every one else living there. a Nice little earn on the side. Sorry but I have no idea who you can complain to and I'd say if you spoke to the landlord he'd tell you to if you're not happy,than look somewhere else. I'd do this anyway and check with the next property what those charges are before moving in.

[mercman24]

ME !! single guy i bed condo, water always 107 baht very month, ?? electric generally about 1500 baht,but this month 2300 baht as air con on at night, fan on in day time, usual shower twice a day plus washing machine once a week plus washing utensils

[mercman24]

re : post 73 - very suttle -- lol !!

[ldiablo]

You've being taken for a ride due to the color of your skin

Move out

[souwow]

View Talay 2A, Jomtien , Pattaya. Just raised the price of water without notice from 30b a unit to 40b on todays bill. Will have to look into this after reading above posts.

[lopburi3]

That might be in reference to the current shortage of water and a need to pay more by management - but it should be explained.

[blackcab]

We're not paying any more in Bangkok. Water for apartments here works out at about 16.2 baht a unit.

(We have to include the VAT in the calculation because we can't claim it back.)

[KittenKong]

View Talay 2A, Jomtien , Pattaya. Just raised the price of water without notice from 30b a unit to 40b on todays bill. Will have to look into this after reading above posts.

Apparently the information was made available a while ago: http://viewtalay2a.info/blog/

Looks like they have been re-selling water at a loss for 5 months, which isn't exactly in the best interests of the co-owners.

[boomerangutang]

selling water is weird in Thailand. At a club, a little bottle of water can be 60 baht. At a store in Thailand: Bt.15, at the airport: Bt.50, at a Burmese shop: 5 baht. a large 60 lb. bottle of water is 12 baht.

At my rural property, water is low-cost because I have solar panels and a good quality german pump. It takes any DC voltage, between 10 and 80, and crunches it down to 17 volts AC. I put in 6 17 volt solar panels and wired them in 2 pairs of three panels each, so I get 50 volts. ....around 600 watts altogether.

When the Thai crew with their truck rig came out to dig my well, they hit water at the standard 4 to 5 meters. They said, 'ok, we're done. Pay us the money.' I said, no, please dig deeper. They got to rock and wanted to quit. I said no, please dig deeper. they drilled through the rock and down to 27 meters. Now I've got very clean water and lots of it. And it's movement is powered by the sun's rays.

[Cheesekraft]

anyone know a lawyer I could casually email or call about this? Or a government agency? The water company did not provide any help, either. I think this would be the best solution; I am not getting any help from any people I am communicating with including the management, land lord, etc.

[KittenKong]

anyone know a lawyer I could casually email or call about this? Or a government agency? The water company did not provide any help, either. I think this would be the best solution; I am not getting any help from any people I am communicating with including the management, land lord, etc.

Over the last week several people have pointed out that your problem seems to be the number of units you have used, not the price per unit.

You need to check for leaks and also that the original and final meter readings were correct. If either reading was misread then that could explain your high usage.

[blackcab]

anyone know a lawyer I could casually email or call about this? Or a government agency? The water company did not provide any help, either. I think this would be the best solution; I am not getting any help from any people I am communicating with including the management, land lord, etc.

Do you want the lawyer to read the meter for you?

Edited July 8, 2015 by blackcab

[Cheesekraft]

 

anyone know a lawyer I could casually email or call about this? Or a government agency? The water company did not provide any help, either. I think this would be the best solution; I am not getting any help from any people I am communicating with including the management, land lord, etc.

Over the last week several people have pointed out that your problem seems to be the number of units you have used, not the price per unit.

You need to check for leaks and also that the original and final meter readings were correct. If either reading was misread then that could explain your high usage.

 

the meter seems to be correct as far as I can tell; the problem is they are charging for two sources of water, a much more expensive well water meter.

[KittenKong]

anyone know a lawyer I could casually email or call about this? Or a government agency? The water company did not provide any help, either. I think this would be the best solution; I am not getting any help from any people I am communicating with including the management, land lord, etc.

Over the last week several people have pointed out that your problem seems to be the number of units you have used, not the price per unit.

You need to check for leaks and also that the original and final meter readings were correct. If either reading was misread then that could explain your high usage.

the meter seems to be correct as far as I can tell; the problem is they are charging for two sources of water, a much more expensive well water meter.

You are still missing the point. Your 500B bill at 25B/unit indicates that you have used 20 units.

Normal usage in a condo would be perhaps 2-5 units per month, or a total bill of around 50B-150B.

I pay 40B per unit (ie far more than your 25B) but my bill is always under 150B per month.

As I mentioned your problem seems to be the number of units consumed, not the price per unit.