Several years ago, a customer of a municipal utility in Florida made the news for paying her $493 water bill all in pennies. This was, in her words, a “peaceful protest” of her high water bill, for which the utility told her she likely had a leak, but a plumber failed to confirm.

Who is really impacted?

The article goes on to explain that it took the utility staff more than three hours to count all the pennies. So, who did this “peaceful protest” really impact? Certainly not the utility’s management who are responsible for establishing the rates, as acknowledged by the customer.

The obvious burden fell on the customer service staff who had to count the pennies. These employees likely had more productive things to be doing with their time than counting nearly 50,000 pennies!

Loose coin policy

Would your utility be able to keep something like this “peaceful protest” from happening in your office? If your policy manual includes a loose coin policy, you would!

Some utilities have a policy in place that requires loose change to be rolled if the number of coins presented totals more than the amount required for a roll of that denomination. For example, more than 50 pennies would have to be rolled.

If you do accept loose change, consider requiring the customer to wait in your office until you finish counting the coins to ensure the amount equals what they claim to be paying. This customer might have been less inclined to pay in all pennies if she had to wait in the office while the staff counted them all!

Have a “peaceful protest” story?

Has your utility faced a similar situation with customers paying in all coins as a form of protest? If so, please send me an email with the details.

Are your policies up-to-date?

Would your policies prevent a customer from doing the same thing? If not, if they are otherwise outdated, or if you’re unsure, please give me a call at 919-673-4050 or email me at gary@utilityinformationpipeline.com to learn how a business review could help you update them.

© 2024 Gary Sanders