Man notices water bill is higher than usual. The company admits making the number up: ‘Can I sue?’

Are water companies scamming people with inaccurate readings? That's what Phoenix, Arizona-based marketing director Noah Osborne (@notnoahosborne) believes may've happened to him after seeing his July 2026 water bill.

The increased amount struck him as odd. Not only was he being charged more than he ever was in the six months of being a customer with the utility provider. But he, theoretically, should've used much less water, seeing as he was gone for nearly that entire month.

And after hopping on the phone with the company to clarify the issue, he was left with more questions than answers. Specifically because the business effectively admitted to just making up the number as they saw fit without any prior notice.

Water Company Makes Up Bill

Osborne begins his clip by speaking directly into the camera.

“Y'all, I'm about to freaking crash out. Tell me why I just got my water bill, right? I hate being an adult, by the way,” he says. “I got my water bill and I noticed it was higher than usual. So I was like, what's going on here?”

This prompted him to perform a bit of research.

“So I started some investigation, if you will. I pulled up all my water bills from the past months of this entire year. Since I've been in service with this specific company. I look at all the water bills. And I noticed that this one is higher than usual,” he says.

He shares that he was out of town for about three and a half weeks of the entire month.

“So there was no reason why this water bill should've been higher than usual, right?” he adds.

Equipped with this new data, he decided to give the water company a ring.

He continues, “I go to look at it, I call the company and I say, ‘Hey. What's the deal here? Why is my water bill much higher than it usually is? I don't understand.'”

“We had someone come by and take your water meter reading, but, they couldn't read the water meter. So they just estimated based off of the usage of this month, last year. And that's what we decided how much water that you owed us in money,” Osborne says the company told him.

‘That Doesn't Make Any Sense To Me'

The content creator then went on to tell the water provider that this method of guesstimating his water usage was inherently flawed. That's because he had only just started purchasing their services and wasn't living in that unit the previous year.

He informed them that they were pulling data from an entirely different customer's water usage from the prior summer. Additionally, he told them he couldn't understand why they didn't inform him that they were unable to get a reading of the meter.

What's more is that Osborne states that he called his roommate to double-check the water meter usage. And they were able to get a clear reading of the meter. As it turns out, the reading was easily discernible.

After relaying that information to the water company, their reply only further added to his confusion. Osborne says the rep on the phone informed him that the readings aren't done in person. But rather, they're gathered electronically from employees who scan the meters while still inside their vehicles.

“Why didn't you tell us?” Osborne asked before continuing, “This is the kicker. [They said] by the way, we could send someone to go out there and manually look at it. However, it's gonna be a $25 charge to have someone come and look at it. Excuse me?” he says, astounded, before the video comes to a close.

‘This Is Fraudulent Billing'

Throngs of people who replied to Osborne's video were equally miffed by the water company's response to his inquiry. One person said the incident was a clear cut cause of fraud and he should refer it to his local Attorney General's office.

Someone else summed up the water company's approach to how they decided to bill Osborne. “We didn't do our job so we imagined a number to charge you,” they said.

Another person wrote that Osborne shouldn't be penalized for the company's inability to perform an accurate reading of his water usage.

“When they drove by and it didn't read, that should indicate they need to get out of the car and do a manual reading.”

And this TikTok user also urged Osborne to pursue legal action: “That's illegal. Contact a lawyer.”

Phoenix, Arizona Water Utility Class Action Lawsuit

SanTan Valley reported in February of 2022 that a $10.35 million settlement was reached with Johnson Utilities and its customers. A class action lawsuit was served on the business, which alleged “Johnson Utilities and other defendants unlawfully increased water and wastewater utility rates.”

The article clarifies that culpability wasn't determined as a result of the settlement. But rather “the parties … agreed to a settlement to avoid the expense and risk of continued litigation.” The amount factored in billing periods between October 1st, 2011 and December 14th, 2021. Marking more than a decade of alleged overcharging chicanery.

And these kinds of H2o shakedowns don't seem all that uncommon. One irate water utility customer asked for help in an Avvo legal forum post. Like Osborne, they were bewildered by their utility service provider's water usage estimates.

They first caught wind of the billing discrepancies after noticing a flat rate fee being applied to their utilities each month. As it turns out, the water company was charging them for 5,000 gallons several months in a row.

Following this, they decided to call the water company to dispute the charges. Moreover, they provided proof, like Osborne, that they were using roughly half the amount being quoted on the bill. In response, the water company tried to negotiate a 4,000-gallon charge. Unfortunately, they said their state utility commission wasn't much help. They were simply told to try and work it out with the company, which drew a hard line at the 4,000-gallon charge.

@notnoahosbrne Calling all lawyers — HOW IS THIS LEGAL??? #adulting #legaladvice ♬ Classic classical gymnopedie solo piano(1034554) – Lyrebirds music

Subplot has reached out to Osborne via email for further comment.

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