‘Your call is really not that important to us’: waits of more than four hours on water and waste phone line

Some Winnipeggers have waited hours for a city billing centre to answer their phone calls, wreaking havoc with municipal efforts to improve customer service.

Sharon Schmidt said she waited about two hours to reach Winnipeg water and waste’s Utility Billing Centre on June 13, while a followup call on Friday took about three hours and 40 minutes to be answered.

“It’s terrible. I wouldn’t even say that it is customer service…. It just seems like you’re kind of trapped and have to play their game,” said Schmidt. “It’s just frustrating because my time is valuable, too, and it just seems unreasonable to wait that long.”

She called in June to report a water bill of more than $1,000, roughly twice what she normally pays. After applying for a water-leak credit, she waited nearly two months for a response before calling Friday.

“I thought, ‘I’m just going to call because I need to get some action on this’… and then, after a few hours, I just thought, ‘I’m just going to wait and see how long it takes them to actually answer,’” she said.

The head of city council’s water and waste committee said he agrees some callers have waited far too long.

“It should be minutes, not hours. It’s untenable and that’s the message I sent to (the water and waste department)… I’d get really agitated if I was on hold for a couple hours,” said Coun. Ross Eadie (Mynarski).

Eadie fears the lengthy wait times undermine city council’s goal to improve customer service, a key theme of its strategic priorities action plan.

“This is just working totally against (that),” he said.

Substantial fee hikes that took effect in the spring are fuelling a surge in billing inquiries that staff can’t keep up with, Eadie said, noting he personally continues to receive complaints about the added charges.

“People are quite concerned. I especially get calls from seniors on fixed incomes…. It is a big increase,” he said.

Eadie noted the fees are intended to help pay for major sewage upgrades, including a $3-billion overhaul of the North End sewage treatment plant.

On April 1, the city’s annual per-home garbage fee rose to $254 for 2025 (prorated to $190.50) from $93. The same day, the typical home’s sewer rate rose by $18.67 per month, which will add up to $168.03 for the remainder of 2025.

(Garbage fees are listed as a charge on Winnipeg water bills.)

Schmidt said the city noted the rate hikes may be partly to blame for the sudden surge in her bill.

Coun. Markus Chambers said he is also receiving complaints about the fee hikes.

“People are getting their water bills and they’re opening them up and seeing a higher amount than they’re used to. Part of that is the higher fee that was added,” said Chambers (St. Norbert-Seine River).

In an email, a city spokeswoman said the longest wait time for the Utility Billing Centre to answer a call this month was four hours, 17 minutes and 15 seconds, well beyond the average wait of 42 minutes during the first 10 days of the month.

“We are continuing to experience longer-than-expected wait times… depending on the day of the week and time, wait times can be quite lengthy,” wrote spokeswoman Lisa Marquardson.

Marquardson noted more than 100 people called the centre between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Aug. 5, leading to a wait of up to four hours.

She said there are several reasons why wait times and call volumes are up, including long-weekend closure days, staff vacations, higher water use due to dry weather and higher bills resulting from the fee increases.

Calls are also taking longer to complete, she said.

“Call-handling times have increased because our staff are spending more time explaining to customers why their bills may be higher,” wrote Marquardson.

She said the billing centre is also dealing with a staff shortage but will add four new hires “in the coming weeks.” The centre hopes to fill a fifth and final vacancy by mid-September.

The billing centre allows residents to ask questions about their accounts, water usage and payments, though bills can’t be paid by phone.

To avoid lengthy call wait times, the city has urged ratepayers to submit frequent readings, to help ensure their bills are accurate, and use the city’s MyUtility online portal as much as possible.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

X: @joyanne_pursaga