UPDATED BBB Information FYI

It is absolutely amazing that such a sleezy business has an A+ rating. I have written to the Chicago BBB to point out that they are so bad that Panama City Beach, Florida had to amend their ordnances so that AUM could no longer rip off residents of Stone Harbor Apartments. The BBB simply ignored this and does not list it as a 'government action'.

Feb. 8, 2013

Mr. Steve J. Bernas - President/CEO

sbernas@chicago.bbb.org,

BBB of Chicago & Northern Illinois
330 North Wabash Avenue, Suite 3120
Chicago, IL 60611

 RE: American Utility Management (AUM)

Dear Mr. Bernas:

I am writing to you with copies to other Chicago BBB workers who may be interested in this topic.

I and other consumers are entirely disappointed with your continuing to rate your member company AUM as A+.

I will direct you and other readers to a long standing blog site I set up when I found this 3rd rate utility was simply 'making up' billings for my condo. If you read far enough in this blog you will see that this firm simply invented bills and I found that I was being billed for excess water usage during many months that I was NOT even in residence at my condo.

From my extensive dealings with AUM I found that the only 'honest' people they employee were in their tech services area, they were able to look back 90 days worth of billings to verify that there was no water usage and with this information I did get 2 credits to my bill.

The Internet has many examples of complaints about this shoddy utility billing firm and some are incorporated into my blog site.

I have said for many years that this firm is running a scam and a racket and they are defrauding consumers in apartment buildings and condos all across the country. I note that I have yet to be sued by them for defamation or liable, that alone should tell you something about the firm.

 Previously I had written via email to half a dozen of your staff with information about how the City of Panama City Beach (Florida) had complaints from renters at Stone Harbor Apartments, an AUM serviced complex and after looking at how these people were being ripped off the City put through an amendment to their ordnance to prohibit such outrageous billings.

At the very least this information should have been added to your site under 'government actions'. It was not.

 If the Chicago BBB will not now take steps to warn consumers about AUM and their fraudulent practices then I will have to contact other branches of the BBB and Chambers of Commerce in Northern Illinois to alert them to how the Chicago BBB is letting down consumers and not accurately reflecting the problems with AUM.

My blog site is found at: http://aumsucks.blogspot.com/ and I will incorporate two posts in this email FYI.

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A Calif. Class Action Filing Against AUM

American Utility Management (AUM) does business all across the country.

Here is the case of  Nekole Rucker v. American Utility Management it is a class action suit in the Central District of California (ie: Los Angeles) which complains that AUM violated various State and Federal laws including the Fair Debt Collection Act by posting notices on Ms Rucker's front door, visible to all passing by, falsely stating that failure to pay the alleged debt to AUM would result in the apartment complex to refusal to accept her rent and then to evict her, and also the turning over of the account to a collection agency with subsequent damage to her credit.

These tactics by AUM were allegedly done with malace and to embarass Rucker into paying the alleged debt. The request for class action would open AUM to many such claims, all to be heard together. 

The 10 page complaint can be found at the end of this blog via direct click on link and another 11 pages have been updated on 2/23/13:  http://aumsucks.blogspot.com/2013/02/posted-by-picasa.html