They couldn't get it together to send someone out to read my meter after 3 months so finally they just asked me to do it for them. This doesn't seem like my job. Also, it's wonderfully hilarious how many of us have come to Yelp to complain. As if it matters. If you live in Seattle and want Water/Sewer/Garbage or Electricity, this is your only option! read more

Three week ago, on Sept 10th. They took my yard container, cause the guy hit it so hard when dumping yard waste and broke the container. I called the following day. The Cus. Rep. said it will arrive in 5 business days. It didn't. I called again, the following week. The rep. said it will arrive by Friday before 6. It did not. Now it is the 3rd week, called yesterday.The rep said it will arrive tomorrow Sept24,2025 (yard pick up) the truck just passed my street, still no yard container....Thank you so much for your service. read more

Seattle public utilities garbage truck took one of my two 96 gallon containers without a note. Filed online for a replacement. Replacement can never delivered. Called again and they said order cancelled by contractor and also a note that order was cancelled. Called direct and asked about a credit for no pickups on the missing can,and Rep actually laughed, and said no. No straight answers. Corrupt incompetents. read more

Consistently miss garbage, yard waste and recycling pickups. When scheduling missed collections never show up and pick up missed collections. Given the rental cost for the bins, wondering what they point is for inconsistent service. read more

So.... mostly it's been a good and easy relationship. If you call them, you might have to be on hold for about 5 minutes, which isn't so bad. The one issue I've had is in regards to one electric bill that was huge because we've been having to heat the house since it's cold.... and they didn't read our meter last time (estimated from a previous reading?) and then learned that it was supposed to be more the previous month, so they added the extra cost onto this last bill. We got a payment arrangement set up so that was all good.... until we chose to use the automated phone service to pay part one of the bill. There are two of us, so we figured we'd just split the amount between us and make the payment with two different cards. He called in and did it on both cards. A week goes by. He says his payment has gone through, but I notice that my portion still hasn't appeared on my card. This was my first transaction since my WAMU credit card became a Chase card, so I figured it was just Chase taking forever to process. About 1.5 weeks after we made the payment I call up SPU and ask them about it. Turns out that apparently my payment is nowhere in the system and their system "doesn't have a mind of its own" so that means we didn't make our payment on time, the payment arrangement is broken, and now the rest of it is considered a late payment with a $10 extra fee. WTF???? We tried to make a freaking payment AND called it in on time. How is it our fault that the system hiccuped (or whatever happened)? I also learned that, after "breaking" a payment arrangement (which we didn't even freaking do) we can only have one more that year. I was also kind of mad at this point because we TRIED to pay them and to do it on time. Anyway. My recommendation is that if you're going to pay by phone, you should probably do it with a customer representative instead of using the automated system..... unless, perhaps, you pay it very early and can try again if it doesn't go through the first time. Online payment system: We're not using it in this instance, but I've had good experiences with it. Otherwise... Garbage/Recycling/Yard waste pick up has been good. The only gripe I've had with that is when we downgraded to a smaller garbage bin and it took them a couple weeks to get us our new one because (the first time) they somehow managed to not see the old one even though it was sitting on the curb (where they asked us to put it). read more

Totally ridiculous!!!! My whole block was missed in garbage pick up day ... we called , the day after , they said it'll get picked up before 6 pm ... this was on a Tuesday ... it's now Saturday and the garbage is piling up on our block !!!!! Like they say , city workers are the laziest most non professionals to deal with ... after 5 calls and the same " it'll be picked up by 6pm " answer ... now I see why people just dump garbage anywhere ... they better not charge us for extra bags .... read more

Received a huge power bill (no surprise, they bill every two months and they raise our rates every winter by 4-5%). Called to make a payment arrangement splitting it over two months to soften the blow. Received an accepted payment plan. Paid exactly as expected (on the date I indicated I would, the amount I indicated I would). Received the NEXT bill, also huge - to also find a $3.30 late fee attached. Despite their statement indicating "to avoid late charges pay on time or make payment arrangements". UM, what?? And the account representative indicates they cannot waive these. Tried to get me a supervisor who was OF COURSE unavailable. Transferred me to their voicemail - and then the system indicates that person doesn't have voicemail or hasn't set it up. And then it transfers me to the operator which says there is no alternate contact for that person please redial directly the person you were trying to reach. And then it hangs up on me as I can't indicate this is a life threatening emergency. This is just one more in the LONG line of terrible customer service practices by Seattle City Light. I am so very glad that I am currently in the process of purchasing a house OUTSIDE their district, so that I no longer have to put up with them. Also, just something to think about Seattle City Light - you bill bimonthly, ensuring large bills for a lot of people, and the bills are Net 15 days (meaning you have 15 days to pay it in full). It might make more sense to go with Net 30 days (like the rest of my utilities) to give people a chance to at least split it between two paychecks. read more

Recent move to west Seattle( 3/2017)and have been trying to contact SPU by phone for 2 weeks at various times of day and day of week. After 10-20" minutes in hold each time I have memorized there recording of how much they care about my call. Just appalling how poorly they service their customers-- even new ones wanting to pay them. So used to utility company in former city that answered calls within short reasonable time frame. SPU exhibits bureaucratic operations not concerned at all about profit motive. No threat to their jobs by providing poooooor service. read more

Had winter weather and SPU texted yes TEXTED to let us know that waste pick up is delayed by a day. Went and checked the website and the information was on the homepage. Very pleased with their direct communication regarding this situation. read more

They is good, and I likers them when I calls they bill every two months I no understand u want bill me or u want kill me xd update: I talked to the insurance company and they said they didn't need the money but I said if I don't pay u how will u eat :d read more

I used to shake my fist in anger at you SPU, but no longer! For over a year, you refused to pick up the recycling for our building more than bi-weekly. Even though bi-weekly was clearly inadequate and there were piles of overflowing recyclable materials all around the dumpster, your inspectors denied multiple requests for additional pickups. Also, I think you literally have retarded folks manning your customer service line. I had to spell my name 18 times for the nitwit who answered the phone. And then I even had to spell out "Belmont" for Chrissake. Really? It's not phonetic?? After all that, the idiot still got my name totally wrong. The letter I got in the mail was addressed to "Janet F." and the handwriting on the envelope looked like it was written by a 10-year old. As a board member for my condo, I decided to take matters into my own hands and tapped the resources of a friend who works for a certain Councilman, who gave me the contact info of some fairly high up person in the Inspection department. Once I told him that Councilman so-and-so had referred me, I got a flood of phone calls from the supervisor of ALL the inspectors, the inspector himself, and a representative from CleanScapes, all of whom were kissing my ass and apologizing, saying we should've been getting weekly pickups all along and that this never should've happened. And yesterday, we got our first weekly pickup! I was so happy I peed my pants. Moral of the story: name dropping always, always works. read more

1. Star cause I like to be able to see at night and I like to cook food and I like when my house is warm. 2. Star cause I forget to pay my bill for months at a time and I am still able to sit in warmth as I eat the dinner I've cooked after sunset. 3. Star cause it's pretty fucking cheap. 4. Less a star for not having the paperless billing that would prevent me from forgetting to pay my bill for months at a time. 5. Less a star because I am writing this review in the clothes I was wearing yesterday, having not washed my face, having not applied my special, special, lotions and creams and things, having not confirmed that my cats are alive, having not completed any of the tasks I had planned to last night.....because I had no power which for me and all my neighbors means we couldn't go home, because we couldn't open the gate to our complex. Because there was a power outage. I haven't been involved with a Walk of Shame scenario in 10 years or so. Fuck you Seattle City Light , for reminding me how dirty it feels. read more

I wish you were better about actively communicating with us. When the snow stops you, don't tell me to put out my garbage and then it sits there for over a week. I also really wish you'd hire people to talk to me on the phone that didn't tell me rudely to slow down, I was going to confuse them. I do like that you don't ever REALLY shut me off when I forget to pay my bill. You know I will pay you, I just forget and wait for the angry one to come and then do it online. What I also like is you offer green option, which I pay more for. What I don't like though is that your water/sewer prices are really high. read more

That is one massive price increase. 13.8%...really? Seriously? Our power bill was huge. But what other options do we have? I guess you're in a pretty sweet position, Seattle City Light, when people can either choose to pay your gross, incredibly high prices and have light and heat and clean clothes OR they can NOT pay you and live in the dark and cold in their dirty undies. Well, I've chosen clean undies but I'm pissed off about it. I'm 13.8% MORE pissed off about it than I was in 2009, too! read more

RE: Garbage pick-up Nothing fucks my day up more than coming home from work at 8am to see all of my neighbors' empty garbage and recycling bins on the curb, while my six-weeks-full garbage and recycling bins are tucked safely up next to my house. SPU, STOP CHANGING THE DAY THAT YOU PICK UP THE GARBAGE! It really chaps my hide! (Granted, they changed my pick up day months ago, but how am I supposed to remember everything, all the time? I was just getting used to the old schedule!) Four stars though, for making it really easy for me to recycle, and for always picking up all that shit lying NEXT to my garbage can, when I DO remember to take it to the curb, because it hasn't been emptied in about a month. read more

These people have the worst customer service, it is almost just as bad as Comcast's customer service line. I called May 1st to close my utility account because I moved out of Seattle April 30th. A week later I called back to check on a bill & the lady on the phone tells me my account was never closed. She said she would handle this for me. A week later I called back to make sure it has indeed been closed and still It had not been closed. Finally got my account handled weeks later, but a check was suppose to be sent out to me & it is now July 13th& still have not received a check. I have been calling once a week every week only to get a rude person on the phone "helping" me each time. They get an attitude with you, cut you off & don't let you speak. They will get smart with you & belittle you as well. I have been calling the manager for days now & have not received a call back even though they say he will return your call within 48 hours, that is a big fat lie. I am so happy to be out of Seattle & not apart of their utility services. They make way too many mistakes & are unapologetic about it. They hire the most ghetto people to work for their customer service line. Theyre all unprofessional. read more

When we moved into our new apartment in August, we figured we would recieve a power bill like every other normal place. We didn't recieve one until we finally called in NOVEMBER. No one called, no letters to the resident, nothing. It all added up to about $500. Then in December, they came into my home and changed my light bulbs without permission from me. I liked my light bulbs, as another girl said, I cant see in my bathroom anymore. No one ever gave them permission to enter my home. The kicker is, they ACTUALLY LEFT THEIR KEYS IN MY DOOR. I came home to a master complex key in my keyhole! According to the paper left about the change, they had come in at about 10 AM and I got home at 6. They invaded my privacy and my space, and then left my home vulnerable for eight hours. Unbelievable. I seriously feel invaded, I don't know what gives them the right to act like that. Someone needs to implement some new home-entry laws. read more

They are terribly organized and horribly behind on things. If you don't follow up with them, you will get screwed in the end. I moved into my apt more than a month ago and my account still hasn't been set up. I called them to see what was going on - if I didn't call I would have in a mess. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth. read more

Dear City Light, recently I purchased a new refrigerator from Lowe's to replace my old one. The $50 rebate was a big incentive to by. Now I realized, that your program is not working! I received a letter back (reference# 0636966) asking for a serial number on the bill. Typical catch 22 because Lowe's receipt does not contain a serial# and, according to the sales department, never will. I can drive back to the store, where they can hand write a number (what I did on the original receipt) and which was not accepted by the Seattle City Light. All this will of course burn gas and negate the idea of saving the environment. What are you proposing or, maybe, you should just scrap this rebate idea as not working. read more

We pay them to have garbage and recycling emptied. They have endless looping routes which double and triple trips down streets. Imagine if they thought about the routes and reduced their travels and use of gas. Imagine if they emptied on schedule!!!!!!! read more

I'm going to make this short, and not so sweet: 1) You posted my 400$ payment on someone else's account... 2) I pay my bill when it is due and yet you say I have a past due balance.. 3) When I proved I had paid the 400$ you then say I need to pay my bill that is currently due as well.. OK TIME OUT!! 4) I need water so I go back the next day at 4:30pm to pay ALL that balance (600$) and you then say "I can turn it back on myself.." because there was no lock on it (why wouldn't there be a lock if they shut my water off? Definitely not following their protocol) 5) I called my husband to check to see if he could turn the water on and guess what, we have a lock on our street meter.. 6) "ALL (I emphasize all because there is close to 5 area servicers in each seattle metro area) have left work for the day at 4:00 PM (what about the average 9-5 worker ? they have to wait until 10am??) WHAT IS GOING ON! They totally have taken advantage of Seattle people by not communicating our billing situation, by not knowing how to work the billing system, disrespecting an on-time customer and then lack of protocol. I serious cannot believe the ignorance that Seattle Public Utilities has put me through (I am a renter who still has the "Owner" name on my bill, so therefore they can jerk me around because I"M the one paying the bill, NOT the owner (FYI if you do not know it is law that you CANNOT have your name on the Utilities if you are NOT the OWNER of the house!!).. Needless to say I feel helpless at times because I have been doing as expected but I think the owner of my house may have a past of bad utility payers and I am getting the riff-raff for it.. I need to call Jesse! read more

When I think of Seattle City Light, part of me thinks that I would be alright living as a communist. Think about it - great, reliable, service. No monopolies (since no private companies allowed), low cost, and looking for alternative resources for energy. I've lived in Ballard for about 8 years now, and up until a few weeks ago, had NEVER had the power go out. A few weeks back, a wayward raccoon jumped a bad line, and caused an outage. An hour or so later, power was back. Yesterday, some idiot down the road hit a live wire with one of those huge concrete pourer things. Less than an hour, power is back. Their website is chock-full of helpful tips and resources for saving energy. You can even dedicate part of your bill to wind energy for a few extra dollars! We have already signed up for that! With all the complaints I hear about privately owned power companies outside of here, I just smile, and thank Seattle for being so proactive with what they do. read more

Whenever you call these people, BE SPECIFIC! I called to shut off power in my name at my then current home as of the last day of the month and simultaneously start service at my new home. I figured when I said "I'm moving on the 31st from ... to ... and want to transfer my service," that I was being clear. Apparently what the person on the phone heard was, "I want you to stop sending electricity here and instead send it there. As for the bill, please keep sending it to my current address. My account's service address has changed, but no need to worry about updating my mailing address. Nope, I'm just doing a friend a solid with some free electricity, since I've discovered I don't need any myself." Unfortunately, I am on the bimonthly billing schedule so it took three months to notice and square away. To the credit of Seattle City Light, it only took one call to correct. I explained that I was confused as to my lack of billing and was informed that I received power in one place and bills in another. One minor freak out and sarcasm laced dialogue later, the problem was corrected and they agreed to knock off the late fees. Now I always make sure to talk as slowly, specifically, and redundantly as possible when transferring service. I'm sorry if I annoy anyone down at SCL, but dammit, I will not have a repeat performance of that move. read more

I love me some Seattle City light! This is what every power company should be about-electricity so cheap that you're GLAD to pay it! How little do I pay, you ask? Well, something like this: in the 8 months I've "been on" Seattle City light, my bills, in total have been about $80. But, that's only $10 a month; that's unheard of! No, it's NOT unheard of, you just heard it! (and ask other customers, too, they'll tell you). Woohoo, this IS as good as it gets! read more

It doesn't even deserve a star. How to report this? They can't bully us like this forever! They billed wrong and did not take responsibility for that. "Deal with it, not my problem" attitude. Is this company belong to the city? read more

Terrible customer service. They claimed that I went online after three years of auto bill pay and requested in 2011 that four years later, in 2015, auto pay would stop. He didn't even find his statement ludicrous and justified the fact that they showed my auto payment to be ongoing with the comment that online information is often wrong. When I asked him why no one sent me a notice in six months his reply was that I had paperless billing so they weren't obligated to and that my email notice probably went directly to junk mail. No apology...no reimbursement for turn on fee...no concern. After all it is not like I can take my business elsewhere. Guess that's why they call it a Power company. I attempted to restart my auto pay but now I get a message that I can only pay by credit card? read more

Moving into a new home, need to get power service started. I was on hold for 45 minutes until someone answered my call -- and this is to buy a new service! They should seriously consider offering a callback service if wait times are so large. However once I was on the call, the representative who answered my call was very polite and helpful. We got everything set up quickly. read more

Be prepared to be put on hold if contacting Seattle Public Utilities by phone, though on the bright side you probably won't have to wait as long as you normally would with Comcast (evil empire). I had a fantastic transaction when closing my electric service account at our condo, but had a less-than-fantastic transaction when trying to fix my solid waste bill for our home. More specifically, the employee handling my account closure was professional, quick, pleasant, and helpful, while the employee handling my solid waste readjustment made me wait while she finished up "with something else" before listening to me, was rude, and she coughed loudly into the phone more than once (ouch, my ear hurts). I suppose one can expect inconsistency and employee burnout from a government organization. read more

I'm the onsite manager for our apartment building. Recently, we had our building refitted for new energy efficient lights and faucets. Seattle City Lights "Powerful Neighborhood" program to the rescue! The installers, Satish and Hung were AMAZING! Polite, funny, charming and very well informed. They did the job quickly and professionally. In the days of complaints and "I'm not happy" with customer service, it is a pleasure saying that my personal experience with them was really remarkable. I wish that everyone took pride in their jobs and performed to the level that these 2 gentlemen do. Applause, applause! (cue the audience standing, clapping wildly and cheering at the top of their lungs.) read more

They could not put up more barriers to reaching a live body - the final is being transferred (after 10 minutes of listening to prompts, making numeric selections, listening to more prompts with interruption messages stating "...or visit our web site at double-you double-you double-you... " and then finally reaching a person who doesn't know how to work the phone and disconnects the call. Her name was "Geraldine", I'm pretty sure it was Flip Wilson come back to haunt us. My only question was asking how the hell can they determine my water usage if they don't read the meter - it's buried under 5" of solid hard-caked mud dried to the consistency of sandstone and has been for at least 5 years. These bitches don't seem to realize that we paying service subscribers actually own their damn company. Public. Get it? Anyone interested in a class action lawsuit? read more

By far the worse utilities company I've encountered and I've lived in 12 different states in the last 7 years. Response time for outages is ridiculous. Customer service had a terrible attitude when we called for an ETA on power restoration. Engineers or techs worked at a snail's pace when they were down the block working on the outage. It took them nearly 9 hours to restore power because of a piece of bad equipment. I'd say because of lack of knowledge and lack of experience on the engineers they send out to the field. If you can get PSE, do so!!! Unfortunately, we are stuck with them. read more

It's true, you call...you wait....up to 30min at times....budget cuts, yo. But, if at all you go in person to set-up, resolve a bill dispute, you just may be pleasantly greeted and surprised by the level of quality service you get. It's all in person, from now on. One star off for the frickin' maze that is the Seattle Municipal Building. However, they do have all those neighborhood centers if the DT location is not convenient for you. Remember face-to-face customer service? It's a GO! read more

Currently dealing with a billing problem for a family member. Monthly bills were running about $107 until the latest: $1300! Still trying to understand which months were estimated, though SPU claims the previous months were accurate and detailed readings. Hmm, then why the sudden 1115% increase! Looking to get to the bottom of this... read more

CleanScapes became my garbage service provider a while ago and since then I haven't had a single problem. I'd say the biggest thing I'm looking for in a waste hauler is to be consistent, and CleanScapes is incredibly consistent, their trucks are no where near as loud as the last company and the drivers are courteous. Very happy with CleanScapes, keep the ball rolling. read more

Their customer service agents are rude and unprofessional. They know nothing about their job and how to help customer. I had submitted online transfer application on 17th March but my account was not closed till 19th April. And I came to know this when I had received new bill for my old apartment. I called the customer service to know why my account was not closed. She was so rude and inattentive. I had to repeat myself so many times that at one point, I felt like it's not worth to explain her. The problem is still unresolved. read more

Really surprised by the prompt responses and service Seattle City Light provided me with an odd situation.There was a security light for the 7/11 next to my apartment, on a pole directly outside my window. I lived in my apartment for over a year and it never turned on once, so it didn't bother me. But one day, it started going on every night at sundown, and it illuminated my whole apartment through the night! It was very annoying and bothersome, and I had no idea what to do. I emailed my building manager and they totally ignored me (Pearl apartments). I then decided to send City Light an email one sleepless night at 2am, and the next day received a reply from Maneet who promptly put a service rep on the case. The service men emailed me through the whole process with updates, and within 1 week, the light was moved to a different pole and out of my life forever. All I know is i never even expected anything to come from my plea for help to a city electric company, so what came of it totally surpassed my expectations. I supposed it's sad to have that mind set and be surprised when someone actually helps you! I lived in Tampa, FL prior to Seattle and I'm pretty sure TECO wouldn't have done crap about this. So 5 stars. And my bill is inexpensive. read more

I'm a glass-half-full kinda gal, so I'm basically really happy that my garbage does get picked up weekly, that water comes out of my tap, and that, when I flush the toilet, it goes away. I have had good experiences with their customer service and also with the people who pick up our trash. In 7 years, I have not had a bad experience. Thank you, Seattle Public Utilities! read more

My girlfriend and I bought a house. Our first utility bill was over $1000 because of a mistake with previous owner not closing out his bill. We contacted them and were told they would fix the error. We kept getting bills with amount we didn't owe on it, but were told to ignore that until it was resolved. We started getting notices that our utilities would be shut off unless we paid. Once again, we were told that is automatically sent and not to worry about it because they had noted the issue in our account. One day we came home from work and our water was shut off! And we didn't find out until after they were closed so we had to wait until the next day to resolve it! When we called we were told we had to pay the account off in full. Finally, after escalating the issue to management and threatening litigation, we resolved the issue and got our water turned back on. WHAT A JOKE! read more

I work with utility providers in my day job, including SPU. While their conservation people are great, their customer service and billing department are borderline fraudulent. I moved into my house in April of 2016, but performed a studs-out remodel upon purchase. The water was off and no one was living in the house until July. The garbage man saw a trash can in front of my yard in early May when we were demoing, and decided to turn the service from vacant to occupied. They didn't pick up my trash or provide water service until mid-July, but they still billed me for normal trash service and flat water rates for May, June and July. I called, literally, a dozen times this year to resolve. I have spoken to multiple managers, account reps, customer service people, etc. Ultimately, their position is that you put trash cans out, and therefore you started service. Even though they didn't pick them up, they saw them, therefore, I started my service. Right... This is the problem with monopolies- state run or private. I have no option to leave SPU, and therefore they get to charge me whatever they want, whenever they want. And if you try to fight, they just threaten to turn your water off. Thanks SPU, you truly are in the business of serving the people that fund you. read more

Our power got shut off. We paid the bill literally 5 minutes after shut off. They said power would be restored within 24 hours, which I guess is reasonable. But, it is now day 3 with no power. All of the food in the refrigerator and freezer has gone bad. We just spent $100 on groceries, and since we spent all our money on paying the bill, we now have no means of getting food. I've called SCL 6 times pleading and begging them to call someone to come out and restore the power. They keep saying the same thing, "the ticket has been issued...your power will be restored within 24 hours." and "It looks like your power was restored..." It has not. I have been nothing but polite and understanding on the phone with them, which has only been met with off-putting scripted responses, and agitation. Our power still has not been restored after 80 hours. My wife is 38 weeks pregnant, and we have a 3 year old. We have no hot water, and we have no food. It should be illegal to shut off power to someone's home. read more