National Exemption Service [NES]
Reviews and Complaints

Good afternoon,

I am a resident of the 34 Crestmont Apartment homes in Columbia, SC and have been a resident for the last seven years. It is currently under the management of Sunbelt Multifamily Properties.

I am contacting you with an issue that I do not feel is being treated in an expedited manner and it is affecting all of the tenants in this apartment complex.

I am one person living in an apartment. Our water bills, which include sewage etc., are billed with our rent that is due the first of the month with the latest payment the 5th of the month. My water bills normally run $55.00 or under and have done so for the last seven years. I always receive an email with my water bill prior to rent becoming due. They use a third party service to do the billing - submeter.

Recently, through email, I received a much higher than normal water bill - $165.86 for April 1st. Upon inquiry with my neighbors, other tenants - singles and families of four - were also receving bills of this much or highter - much higher than they normally pay. A family of four below me, who had lived on the property for the last three years, said their highest water bill was $60.00.

I reached out immediately to National Exemption Service - submeter, (The water billing company of this property) Sunbelt managers on the property, their corporate office, and also the city of Columbia. Management stated, through email to the residents, that they believed the higher cost was due to the new meters and an 8% uptick in water costs through the city.

That said, I called and spoke to a manager at the city of Columbia water department. I was informed that the meters were installed in October of 2020 and that the 8% increase was for the month of July 2021 - and that was the last rate increase. Therefore, the high cost of the water bills CANNOT be due to those two issues.

There is a billing error.

I have been in communication with management regarding all that I have stated here and also the city of Columbia.

I am contacting you as I am concerned not only for myself but the other residents who live in this property. We all have expenses that are increasing on a daily basis as well as other things to worry about - I'm a teacher and my husband is active duty military - and we do not have time to have constant issues with this situation.

If you would like other contact information here it is below:

Sunbelt Multifamily Properties 34 Crestmont Management Office - [protected]. Katie Torres is the head manager.

The numbers to Submeter - [protected] or [protected].

The number I called for the Columbia city water - [protected]

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline Williams

I purchased a Money Order for the full amount of the water/sewer bill & I was just informed that there is a "non-received" claim by this company.
I purchased the Western Union Money Order on 05Jul2017 & went about a 1/2 mile down the road to the united States Post Office to mail the item in a large manila envelope.
The only (2) mistakes that I have made in a very long time is *1 I moved into this apartment complex AND *2 I stayed there more than a year. They decided to go into cahoots with an out-of-state corporation for billing of the water & sewer utilities that were to be included in the rent.
I called N.E.S. this morning & they claim that there is no other office in Tampa, Fla which is where my correspondence & negotiable was mailed. I offered to fax copies of all paperwork that I have but was refused a fax number -
I am sure I found this 400 N Tampa St., Tampa, Fla address to mail the remittance.
If there is anything that can be done; someone please assist.
Any other phone number that I have tried will not connect.
These phone numbers being :
[protected] 999 9660 -----

I moved into my apartment complex last August. Up until yesterday every bill I have ever received has been at least $200! This is without late fees. I have complained about the high water bill seeing as how I do not have a washer or dryer, or dishwasher. I am a single female that works two jobs, so my water usage is very minimal. Last month my apartment complex came through the apartments to "change the battery in the water meter to ensure they were working properly" and what would you know my next bill was $17.74. I am livid. I have paid over $1, 200 to this company they have reported negatively against my credit and have caused major tension in my finances. Is there any action I can take? Because this is highway robbery!

Our company entered into and signed a contract with national exemption service (Nes) to provide meter-reading and billing services to our property in ohio. Nes notified our tenants that they (Nes) would be reading their meters and that tenants would be receiving their bills for water and sewer service from nes.

A nes rep visited the property (We thought to read meters) and several weeks later, no resident had received a bill. After multiple contacts with nes and getting the run-around I received an e-mail from teresa smetzer of nes telling me… & ldquo;upon review of the walk through, and the proximity of your community to the other accounts that we have, we find it is not feasible for us to provide the reading and billing service you need and deserve. & rdquo;

Apparently nes has never heard of google maps. The time to make the decision not to do business is before you enter into a contract to provide the service.

It seems nes has totally forgotten their contractual obligation to provide the service. I e-mailed ms. Smetzer to ask if nes had notified my tenants that they would not be reading meters now. No response. Not even a & ldquo;sorry we could not do what we said we would do”.

Any community contemplating nes for submetering should consider another vendor.