Kisses™ and Volkswagen To The Rescue!

Kisses and Volkswagen“Can a Kisses™ or Volkswagen initiative save Dade County Water & Sewer?”
asks Vivian Greene pictured at a Warner Bros Display
International Licensing Show, NY.

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I wonder if an initiative of Volkswagen could help me solve my problem with Dade County Water & Sewer?

Cram the entire Customer Service into a VW? No, not exactly.

But VW reminds me of what has created my success all along. And maybe…maybe…it would work with Miami Dade Water & Sewer.

You see they keep billing me hundreds of dollars for a leak they claim I had last year. I never had a leak. At least, that’s what the plumber and their own experts who kept coming out to my house said after I called the mayor in desperation.

I mean…I use purified water, and I can shower at the local Spa, but I do prefer a toilet to kitty litter.

When I paid a monthly $100 which I agreed to do while we explore the problem, they came to turn off my water anyway. They claimed they had not received my $100 good will payment. Funny. They cashed the check.

The nice Mayor’s office got DCWS to change the meter. Then DCWS said, I still owed more money. Thanks for fixing the leak.

There was no leak. I didn’t fix anything. They turned off my water again last Thursday.

Maybe Volkswagen can help me. God knows, I need a car too. And the message of the Volkswagen initiative and mine are just about the same.

The VW initiative is about FUN. They’ve shown that FUN can change people’s behavior. They must not be having enough fun at Dade County Water and Sewer. I must think of something and save them.

Truth In Lending came to my rescue. They paid the alleged Water bill. The water was turned back on late Friday afternoon.

Are we having FUN yet?

No. Now DCWS wants another $160 by December 7 for “penalties.”

Goodness, they must not have any fun working at DCWS at all. They should learn a thing or two from Volkswagen.

VW has shown that FUN changes the behavior. If you haven’t seen Piano Stairs yet…take a quick peek at this:

So what next? How can I get to Dade County Water & Sewer and make their life more fun so they have better things to do than this silly (and costly) stuff? Do I go dance on John Renfrow’s desk? I think he should personally answer my letter. Maybe I should send it daily – hundreds of copies:

July 10, 2009Mr. John Renfrow, Director
Miami Dade Water & Sewer

3071 S.W.38 Avenue
Miami, FL 33146
Assistant: Alicia 786.552.8089
Customer Relations 305.665.7477

Dear Mr. Renfrow,

“Imagine if you walked into a grocery store, chose the food you want (no price tags), took it home and then, at the end of the month, got the bill in the mail. “

Marc Gunther who writes for FORTUNE began a column that way, and I thought, that is exactly how Dade County Water & Sewer operates. Only DCWS takes what you paid for away, refuses to send any accounting or reason for the charges, and says pay whatever we say or go to arbitration and suffer. We don’t make mistakes. And we don’t care.

I might be willing to help you change this system. You claim you are “consistently looking for ways to provide quality service.” You need cooperation with the customers you service – and a customer like myself who has been through the ringer with you to really know what to do. I feel like I’ve been talking to people who teach you how to swim without ever being in the water themselves.

I am out of pocket more than a thousand dollars for an “alleged” leak, and thousands more in lost time and medical bills because of DCWS malfeasance.

I have asked, offered, begged to assist in fixing the “leak” IF there ever was one since December of 08. I cannot even get a copy of my bills from previous years for comparison, nor have I received the recent bills for my home of 35 years. Nor have I received  a copy of the reports.

When I asked why I had high water bills, I was told “We’re not plumbers”

Thanks to the assistance of  Mayor Alvarez office, the meter was changed. The meter seems to have been the problem in the first place, since the last meter reading is back to normal.

Where is reimbursement for all those charges? Why am I asked to continue with a payment plan? Why can’t I obtain copies of my bills and reports?

And WHY would MDWS refuse to assist in resolving a problem if there is one? If this is the MO it severely hurts the people and the environment.

I would not only like to resolve my own situation here – I would be willing to help you help others. Please let me hear from you.

Vivian Greene

Why is DCWS so anxious to go to court? I’ve tried so hard to avoid this. Let’s face it, Miami Vice has more demanding problems than my toilet.

But if I must go to court, and pay $700/hr, I’m still going to ask the judge to order DCWS to have more fun. They must be suffering from LackofFunitis.

That must be the problem. Because there is no leak. Because there is no reason to be this inefficient. Because there is no censured censured censured. Imagine how many people Dade County Water and Sewer have offended. Stress is toxic. You give it out, you breath it in.

I’d like to save Dade County Water and Sewer. I’d like all the money this has cost me back so I can share some fun and steward the money for good, like I do with all my work at www.VivianGreene.com. I’d like to see a world full of Volkswagen drivers with flowers on their cars.

Everyone should have more fun. Dance, eat, drink, and remarry (renew vows or new partner or new water meter). Like my book says: Just Get Up And Dance!

What a court order! Give Dade County Water and Sewer a sentence of 30 minutes a day to dance Disco con Salsa.

Maybe Gloria Estefan, or KC (he lives in my neighborhood) can help me? Volkswagen has the right idea. And as Marie McDonnell from Truth In Lending said, “The city has it wrong.”

As I always say, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

My thanks to Volkswagen for their shining example. I hope Kisses™ can save Dade County Water and Sewer.

Kisses and Volkswagen
Kisses® are drawn with their eyes covered because
“All that is real is seen with the heart.”


Kisses™ and Volkswagen To The Rescue!

Vivian Greene
Invest In Love inc
“All that is real is seen with the heart.”

 

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