Pay attention to this story — especially if you didn't pay attention to mailings from Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) and Seattle City Light about new account numbers.

Before they changed their antiquated billing systems in April, the water and power companies sent letters to customers who pay electronically, telling them to be sure to alert their banks about the new numbers.

If customers don't recognize they have new account numbers and file their bill via the Internet or pay by phone with the old numbers, it wreaks havoc with the utilities' new billing system.

"Change brings certain bumps on the road, and this is one of the bumps," said Patricia Colson, head of customer service at SPU. "It's a hassle for our customers, so it's a hassle for us."

Since May, the city treasury, which handles billing, has been inundated with payments arriving with incorrect account numbers. These payments are from banks whose customers neglected to update their account numbers.

Bills with incorrect account numbers have triggered extra credits to be made to some accounts and have put others in arrears. Some late notices have been sent to those who thought they had already paid their bills.

No payments have been lost, but several have been posted to accounts late because treasury employees have to match payments with names and account numbers.

Electronic billing accounts for a small portion of payments — from about 5,000 customers, less than 1 percent of the more than 500,000 accounts managed by the city Finance Department for sewer, light, water and garbage bills.

But since individually verifying account numbers is so labor-intensive, a small percentage of mistaken payments becomes a large workload for the city treasury staff.

"Customers assume it's a very simple electronic transaction," Colson said. "But it's more complicated than that. The system is susceptible to breaking down."

Despite bringing new people into the department and working overtime, the treasury has seen backlogs of more than 1,000 unprocessed accounts nearly every week.

The treasury office suggests that those paying their SPU or City Light bills electronically contact their online provider or pay-by-phone bank to make sure they have the correct account numbers.

Check both billing statements because City Light and SPU have separate account numbers. If they don't have the numbers on your current bills, the treasury won't receive the electronic payment.

If you believe you already made a payment that did not show up on your utility bill, double-check your statement with your bank. Call 206-684-3000 to check with the customer-service office to see if your payment has been processed.

"When you make major changes on things that have become habit for people over a number of years," said SPU spokesman John Tyers, "a certain percentage of people don't get the message the first time around."

Seattle Times

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