I should have checked Yelp prior to giving this company my business. If I had, I would have saved…read moremyself a lot of money.
We are a small office on Fort Bliss, and wanted to share the expense of having water delivered, rather than buying bottled water and throwing away 20oz plastic bottles at the rate of 20 or so a week. I searched for companies, and gave Sierra Springs a call. I was quoted $7 per 5gal bottle, and $3/month for the dispenser. That sounded more than reasonable, so I gave them my credit card, and set up a delivery date.
The first month seemed fairly reasonable. They brought 4 bottles initially, and the bill seemed to reflect that. Then, over the next couple of months, instead of replacing a bottle with a bottle, we had 6 in our office (we aren't always there when the delivery comes by, so the driver was taking liberties with that fact), then 7, and so on. Eventually, our idea of sharing the expense came down to just me and one other person using the service and paying for it. One month, there was only one person in the office for half that, but somehow our bill was over $50. It was then that we decided to end the service. I called and left a few messages to that end, but never got a return call. Since the credit card I was using was my "throw away," as in the card I use for online purchases, pizza orders, etc, and had a very low credit limit, I just canceled the card. Within a couple of weeks, the delivery driver was calling to set up a new drop-off. I met him and told him of our intent to cancel, and he loaded everything up and took it away.
BUT, let's discuss billing. That ONE bottle, at $7/5gal? Yeah. So, I was charged $7 for the bottle, and $6 for a bottle deposit, AND $5 per delivery for an "energy fee." Oh, plus $3/billing cycle for a paper invoice THAT I WASN'T RECEIVING. Horrible business practices, horrible customer service, and downright shady billing. My advice? Drink tap water before doing business with Sierra Springs.
