Glitches slow rollout of Raleigh Water’s new billing system. What’s going on.
The city of Raleigh is asking for patience as Raleigh Water customers experience delays and technology glitches while signing up for the city’s new utilities bill portal.
Raleigh Water customers were encouraged to sign up for the new utilities billing payment portal this week after the city upgraded its system to improve security and add customer support features.
“We ask for people to have a little patience and, honestly, wait a little bit,” said Kimberly Holmes-Iverson, spokesperson for Raleigh Water. “And, even if they wait until the beginning of next or even later in the month, that is OK.”
“We have waived late fees,” she said. “We are suspending disconnections through this transition period for everyone to make sure that everyone still has service, everyone still has water and will continue to have water.”
Residents are now being encouraged to wait to set up accounts, but there were a “record number” of people creating accounts on Wednesday, the day the new portal launched.
The city’s call center received about 2,500 calls on the day the new portal launched, compared to an average call volume of 800 to 900 calls a day. They normally see about 200 emails but received 1,600 on Wednesday.
Customers had difficulty verifying their accounts via text or email, Holmes-Iverson said. Either an email or text wouldn’t be sent to the customer, or the customer would get multiple codes after clicking the link multiple times.
The issues with verification codes sent via text have been fixed, she said, and codes sent via email should be fixed by early next week.
“We are not hearing reports of anything else,” Holmes-Iverson said. “And so, as frustrating as that is, that’s the one thing that we’re really focused on. Once people get into the site, it seems to be working, which is good news.”
An update to the city’s billing portal has been in the works for a while.
“It’s really all about security,” Holmes-Iverson said. “In the age we’re living in, we want to make sure that everything is as secure as possible, especially when you’re dealing with an online portal and online system for the municipality.”
In addition to the new security additions, there are “cool new features” that improve the customer experience in the portal including an online chat function and ability to easily share account information, she said.
Need help setting up Raleigh Water’s new billing portal?
Raleigh Water customers do not need to sign up for the portal for one-time payments, paying in person, paying by mail or paying on the phone. But autopay users must re-enroll and new accounts require a phone number.
People can email questions to RaleighWaterSelfService@raleighnc.gov.
In-person help sessions are set for:
- 10 a.m. Monday, Nov. 17, Chavis Park, 505 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
- 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, Five Points Center for Active Adults, 2000 Noble Road
- 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, Marsh Creek Community Center, 3050 N. New Hope Road
- 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, Raleigh Pathways Center, 900 S. Wilmington St.
