(1) If a water
company receives a complaint or dispute from a customer or an applicant for
service it must:
(a) Acknowledge the
complaint;
(b) Investigate
promptly;
(c) Report the results of
the investigation to the complainant;
(d) Take corrective action, if warranted, as
soon as appropriate under the circumstances;
(e) Inform the complainant that the decision
may be appealed to a higher level representative at the company, if
any;
(f) Inform the complainant, if
still dissatisfied after speaking with the higher level representative, of the
commission's availability for review of the complaint; and
(g) Provide the complainant with the
commission's address and toll-free telephone number.
(2) Applicants, customers, or their
representatives, may file with the commission:
(a) An informal complaint against the company
as set forth in WAC
480-07-910 (Informal complaints);
and/or
(b) A formal complaint
against the company as set forth in WAC
480-07-370 (Pleadings --
General).
(3) When
commission consumer affairs staff refers an informal complaint to the company,
the company must:
(a) Investigate and report
the results to the commission consumer affairs staff within two business days.
The commission consumer affairs staff may grant an extension of time for
responding to the complaint, if requested and warranted;
(b) Keep the commission consumer affairs
staff informed of progress toward the solution and the final result.
(4) Each water company must keep a
record of all complaints concerning service or rates for at least one year and,
on request, make them readily available for commission review. The record must
contain:
(a) Complainant's name and
address;
(b) Date and nature of the
complaint;
(c) Action taken;
and
(d) Final result.
