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City staff investigating erroneous disconnection and autopay notices sent after billing-system change
Summary
East Point officials say notification messages that told customers with $0 balances they would be disconnected were sent in error after the city switched to a new cloud billing system; staff apologized and said the vendor is working to fix parameters and that a public clarification would be issued.
City staff told the council on Aug. 18 that a batch of erroneous utility notifications — some telling customers with $0 balances that their service was subject to disconnection, and others telling autopay customers their payment had been returned — resulted from configuration problems after the city moved to a new cloud billing system.
Michelle Adamson, customer service manager, told the council that when the city migrated to the BS&A cloud billing system staff did not set parameters correctly for autopay customers. She apologized to residents who received confusing messages and said the city had been working with BS&A since the problem appeared on Friday and Saturday to correct the issue.
Council members asked for immediate outreach to residents, including direct email and posting a clear statement on the city website. Council member Leah Ziegler asked whether staff could identify who received the notices so the city could notify them directly; staff said they were working with BS&A to get exact counts and the mailing list and planned to issue a public correction and apology within 48–72 hours. City staff also said they would post the corrected guidance on the website and run communications through utility bills and neighborhood associations as needed.
The council requested an update at the Sept. 2 meeting on what went wrong and how the city will ensure customers on autopay are not disrupted. Staff said the city did publicly post a notice on Aug. 4 about resuming disconnections after Aug. 1; migration to the new system complicated the timing of that outreach and contributed to confusion. City staff said they would test notification routines in the future before a system-wide send.
