I am writing this article to renew my call for another private water distributor in Tyler and Smith County! We have toiled under the heartless, dictatorial, monopoly known as Southern Utilities for far too long. I have never seen a private company treat its PAYING customers so poorly as Southern Utilities. It seems the company labors under the misconception that it’s merely collecting taxes owed not accepting payment for services rendered. But why should they show concern for their customers? Where else are they going to go?
In all seriousness I am pro-business. I’m not looking for a handout, and I’m not expecting someone else to pay. What I am looking for is a modicum of appreciation for my business as well as an attempt at true customer service. Southern Utilities has no website, accepts no credit card or debit card and won’t take payments over the phone! In short they do nothing to improve the customer’s experience. It’s interesting to watch a company go about its routine without any acknowledgement of changing times or technology. In fact, it often seems like they’re spending money in order to make my life more difficult.
Doing business with southern Utilities is like doing business with the Internal Revenue Service, except for the fact that the IRS has friendlier agents. I swear their execs cannot wait to withhold service and are slow as molasses to either restore it or except any kind of responsibility for mistakes. If there was an award for the worst area business of the last forty years or so, Southern Utilities would have a monopoly on that too. But don’t take my word for it, read a few customer reviews.
Come Tyler, we can do better! There must be some way for a better water company to break into our market. I know there’d be business a plenty!