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145 for the lost «loy of the period had been received and checked. However/ it would be possible for a shut off to be made after the bill is paid in case of payment during the waiting period. After the shut off/ it might be another day before the District would receive evidence of payment and, in addition, the turn on charge and possibly a deposit would have become due. The customer would have no legitimate basis for a complaint, since he had failed to pay the delinquent account-during'the time allowed, but could be expected nevertheless to mcdte much of the fact that the shut off had been made after the b ill was paid and that immediate restoration of the service is refused. Under conditions existing elsewhere, the number of such problems is generally not large enough to be of great importance. However, with our very high rate of delinquency fo rm a lly more than 2,000 accounts), they should probcfoiy be taken into account. Regardless of cost and possible problems. It is my personal opinion that the District w ill eventually be forced to follow the practice of the other utilities in regard to collection stations. If this is correct, it might be advisable, from a public relations standpoint, to go ahead without waiting for the pressure to develop. /s/ W . C . REN SHAW Attorney McNamee commented that the Telephone Company has found that the collection stations pose quite a problem especially where they have set a deadline for shutting off the service. For that reason, he had, as their Attorney, advised them to call the collection stations to find out if the bills have been paid before making shut offs. He recalled that there was a lawsuit filed against the telephone company because it cut off a phone and the customer had gone into a collection station and paid the bill in cash. He felt it would be necessary for the District to check with the collection stations before making a shut off or require that payments could not be accepted at a collection station on the day the service would be cut o ff. He pointed out that there would be a lia bility on the part of the District in the event of a mistake. Manager Renshaw advised that if it was necessary to check each one of the collection stations before making a shut off, it would be impractical. He explained that at present it was necessary to check all o f the stubs from the previous day on the morning the shut offs are toe b* made, and this 4n itself is quite a problem. T h e r e f o r e , i f ii essential to check all the. collection stations before making a shut off, he did not think it would be practical and would create a bigger problem. - v Attorney MeNamee felt that the District could be liable in the event of a mistake and strongly recommended checking all the collection stations before making a shut o ff. Director Fayle wondered if It would be possible to have the collection station call the District whenever a delinquent bill is paid. Manager Renshaw explained that it would be difficult to tell when a bill was delinquent, since the customer daps not always be ing in: the bill showing the arrears, but rather one of the previous bills which shows the current amount due. The collection station would have no way to check the latfflpr cards to determine if the bi 11 was del inquent. . There was a general discussion in which the Manager explained the procedure used in sending out delinquent notices, the time allowed before a shut off is made and the number of delinquent accounts the-District has each month, namely, between 2300 and 2700 accounts each month.