‘Always that busy tone’: LRS customer deals with double charges amidst complaints to Attorney General

NORTH LIBERTY, Iowa (KCRG) - Imagine paying twice for trash pickup - and still not getting consistent service.

That is just one example of frustrations LRS customers have shared with TV9 in recent months - and with the state Attorney General’s office.

North Liberty couple deals with extra charges

For Kyle Delveau and Mikala Cicalo-Delveau, who moved right outside of North Liberty limits about seven years ago, an expansive yard has meant time spent together taking care of the plants.

Lately, Delveau said he and his wife have had to pick up neighbors’ fallen-over garbage as LRS misses weeks of pickup and storms hit.

“They would hit some of the houses,” he said of the inconsistent collection. “But it seemed like they would kind of miss our side of the road where we live.”

He also began received automated messages.

“I started getting these voicemails that seems very scam-like,” he said. “It would just say, ‘we’re calling you about your missed payment.’“

When he called, LRS said it didn’t have billing information, but he said the charges were going through to his account. He gave a debit card just to clear things up.

“The woman I was speaking to on the phone then said, ‘Oh yeah, I can see this account here,’ which was confusing because they just said they didn’t have an account, or they didn’t have information to bill me properly. But then we’re suddenly finding it,” said Delveau.

He said they told him they couldn’t just change it back to the account -so Delveau felt more confused when the April and May bills came in double-charged and with a non-sufficient funds fee when the account was in the clear.

So, he called both corporate and the North Liberty lines.

“It was consistently the busy tone. I’d call back an hour later the same thing I’d call back the next day and really for probably two weeks, I was calling every day to every other day,” he said. “And it was just always that busy tone.“

Office of the Attorney General receiving complaints

This frustration isn’t his alone.

Customers across Johnson County have complained to their cities, to the company, and now the state is involved.

The Attorney General’s office said it has received complaints - the most recent on July 1 - and is working through its process for resolution.

It encourages other unhappy customers to contact the Attorney General’s office or file a complaint online.

In a statement to TV9, LRS said it is cooperating with the Attorney General’s office.

Previously, TV9 reported that LRS is giving all residential customers within North Liberty one month of free service.

Going forward, Delveau asked for more communication.

“I would just like to see some continuity in how the services are taken care of,” he said. “If you could bill me once per month, that would be kind of ideal.“

Delveau said there has been some progress as they received money back for June’s service. Even still, he got conflicting messages from different employees about either a one-month or two-month refund.

“It seemed like no matter what we couldn’t get any clarification on why these charges were happening, and in trying to reach out to different people, every person we spoke to would give us different information,” he said. “Nobody could seem to find the reason why these bills were happening. So it’s really just frustrating.”

Statement from LRS in full:

“LRS is committed to accurate billing and responsive customer service. We’re unable to discuss or identify an individual account without the customer’s information, but we would welcome the opportunity to resolve any billing concern directly. North Liberty customers can reach our dedicated line at 224-233-1711. Additionally, LRS is providing all North Liberty residential customers with one month of free service as a goodwill credit, applied through the City’s utility billing system. We are cooperating with the Iowa Attorney General’s office to ensure any complaints are resolved.”