I started using home serve as a plumbing insurance as recommended by sjw...makes me wonder if they (sjw) gets paid for doing this...it's a company with just 2 stars and seems to be a bit of a rip off. They bid me double on an issue even though all online indicators say that it should not cost more than xxxx....double which then exceeds my limit so I have to pay....something is fishy here. Water rates are ridiculously high...not at all helpful that the utilities commission charges a few...leaving California and all this craziness behind read more

I am extremely disappointed with San Jose Water Company's service and billing practices. My water bill has been outrageously high despite barely using any water. The amount they charge, along with all of the added fees, is becoming completely unaffordable for people who live in this area. What made this experience even worse was having my water shut off. I paid my past due balance just two minutes after the technician left my home. I immediately called customer service, expecting that they would simply contact the technician, who was literally just down the street, to restore my service. Instead, I was told they would create a work order and that it could take up to 24 hours to have my water turned back on. How is it acceptable for a customer who has already paid their bill to be left without running water for up to 24 hours? That means no access to drinking water, no ability to shower, cook, or even flush a toilet. It is hard to believe this is considered an acceptable level of customer service. Once a customer has paid the amount owed, restoring an essential utility like water should be treated as a priority. Waiting up to 24 hours is unreasonable and shows a lack of concern for customers' basic needs. Between the excessive bills, outrageous fees, and incredibly poor customer service, my experience with San Jose Water has been frustrating and unacceptable. The company needs to reevaluate its billing practices and implement a much faster process for restoring service after payment. No one should have to go without running water after they've done what was required to get their account back in good standing. read more

The service fee increases without any notice and is absurdly high. They claim it's all set by the state utilities commission but there is zero transparency in what the fee is covering. I currently pay $260 every 2 months in service fees alone. My usage charge is ~$15 every 2 months. It is damn near impossible to get a hold of anyone, particularly after hours. The website glitches often and looks like something out of 1990. What a joke of a company. read more

My first review was in 2017, and even though new people have taken over, the policies haven't changed. The new CEO wants people to love this company, so she is putting out a monthly feel-good newsletter. It's not working because the 1.6 YELP ratings haven't changed. However, one thing would make a big difference. West Valley recycling bills every three months, and you have two months to submit your bill before it is considered late. San Jose water bills every two months, and your bill is late after 19 days. This makes no sense because they can't take any action until 76 days have passed. All they have to do is increase the payment period from 19 to 30 days. That will decrease late notices because many of us pay when we get our checks on the first of the month. It would also increase the company's image. Of course, they could always hire more intelligent people, but that probably won't happen. read more

******DISPLACED 100+ TENANTS FROM THEIR PARKING***** (INCLUDING THE ELDERLY FROM HANDICAP PARKING) I am a tenant at Cedars Apt in Campbell. SJ Water is dragging their feet in completing our driveway (they have a long open trench) which is preventing us from being able to park in our parking spot(s). They are displacing tenants who are elderly (since they have taken away handicapped parking) and other mobility-challenged tenants. The Owner/Property Manager cannot do anything about this, since the SJ Water needs to do their part. I hope you are happy with displacing all 100+ tenants. read more

Horrible new payment platform. NOT user friendly and I am very tech savvy. To add, the phone system to make a payment is ridiculous. I was calling from out of the country to make a payment (only checks offered - really, in 2025??!!) and the phone prompt wouldn't even take a check payment for no reason provided. The AI recording states unable to make a payment and indicates to call back to make a payment, but doesn't indicate operating hours. Who the heck developed this new site?? One would think a company located in Silicon Valley which has implemented a new payment platform in 2025 would have a better system than what is posted on their ridiculous "SJ WaterHub" platform - pathetic for what we are all paying for! read more

They are increasing service fees every single month. We were not home for much of October and we just received our two month bill for almost $300. Water usage was less than $60 and over $240 for service fees for a two month period. Politicians, CPUC need to get involved and if they don't, then they are sleeping with the water company, which is a for-profit organization. It is asinine that for under 1100 ft.² with no yard and only one working bathroom, that our service fee would be almost $250 for a 2-month billing period. read more

Pathetic service You are unable t speak to an employee in person. You are unable to get a reading on water usage daily, this is criminal! Your rate have risen every year without getting an accurate audit for people to review and verify spending. This company has zero accountability for failure to perform. read more

worst water company possible. if i could give 0 stars I would. Customer service is not helpful. Don't know why it says 24 hour customer care on their website if it's clearly not true. Paid a ridiculously high amount to still not have water for the rest of the day. read more

More trainings for workers that are out side they are rude and des respectful to others and they like to block driveways and work entrences and whe you ask them to move or not to block they turn violent and rude they need more trainings they are not educated at all read more

I feel sorry for any customer trying to explain their issue to San Jose Water Customer Service. They are so rude, they hardly listen & just assume. It's doesn't take a lot of time to just listen & be humble, especially to the customers who are just trying to get an answer. read more

I'm so upset of this company being the most expensive one in California. I have the minimum water usage and no yard, my latest bill is $137.16 and the service charge is $116.54!!! My usage on monthly base is less than $11.00 - They over charge me because I don't have enough usage! Neighbors, who have 5 times bigger homes than mine pay the same amount of service charge as I get billed!!! Where's state control over this company? Water bill should be based on houses' square footage and water usage. Instead of awarding families who have minimum usage and help in saving water, they charge us more for saving water!!!! I hate this company and do not even deserve this one star to begin with! Maryam. read more

I had a leak. I paid $13,500 to fix the leak because they had to cut through the cement to get to the pipe. I filed for the $500 adjustment. They said they approved me for less than $300. And I had high bills, one was over $800. Another was over $500. San Jose is one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with. It's run by crooks And whatever you do, don't drink their water. They should rename their company like their water, San Jose Shit Company. This is what happens when we have a monopoly in San Jose. Our city should file lawsuits against this company. I will contact my city representatives to file formal complaints against San Jose Water company now known as San Jose Shit Company! read more

There's a limit on amount one can pay at once in their new system. Practically, it's NOT possible to pay your bill if it exceeds that amount. Credit card - NO, PayPal - NO, .... Nothing works! One needs to ... pay sub-amount and then revisit that new "improved" portal to make another payment next time. What a stupid design\limitation. read more

We moved into a new house and got a massive first bill. I called in to the number on Monday morning and waited and waited, multiple hang ups and issues. I asked here and the Sharon Wheatley responded. She was easy to communicate with. Wrote me with my meter location and gave me insights on what I should do. She also explained that Mondays are very very busy days to call as lots of bad things happen on weekends. Following her advice, I called in for a conservation use report. Someone came by in 2 days. Found my meter (it is far from my house). Could not find any reason for a massive use, but saw the use dropped drastically since the last bill. She gave me advice on what to do. Called SJ Water, based on the advice. Appealed the bill, they realized my allocation maybe to low. They will investigate. I don't know what's going to happen, but I can say the interactions are helpful and positive. If you have issues call on Wed or Thursday. If you use Yelp to then there maybe some good interaction from Sharon or her team. read more

costumer service is so bad they don't care of your needs only making u pay or eles they will shut off water seems like girls work there hate there job read more

How do I give 0 stars? I wish I could. The online payment system is broken. They state that the customer service line is 24/7 and I've been unable to reach them for the last hour. Why state that you can pay online, if the system doesn't allow you. Why state you have 24/7 customer service when you don't. I even went to a last resort to try and create an account, (I'd never had one before) and after 3 attempts of entering my account number email and phone number, still an "error message" try again later. Give me a break. read more

Inspector Robert Moitoso visited our home today to inspect our water line. Robert was prompt, courteous, and HIGHLY knowledgeable. His exceptional manners stood out, even helping my mom down a step with care. We had an issue where Robert felt it would be helpful to escalate to his manager, Emanuel Giangreco. After their call, we felt confident we were in good hands in getting things resolved. We are very happy with SJW. read more

Brown water started running from all our residential faucets today. We let them run hoping the water would eventually clear; it did not. I noticed a SJWC crew at the end of the block working on a fire hydrant. They had recently flushed the hydrant and had dug a square hole around it. I was actually happy to see them, concluding that they had something to do with the brown tinged water and it was not just a problem with our plumbing. I asked whether something they did caused the brown water. I told them I had flushed our system but the brown water was still flowing. One man who claimed to be senior said, "you have galvanized pipes. Our house had galvanized pipes; we changed them and solved the problem." He said this without asking any questions. Understanding that he was just blowing me off I went to the SJWC website where it describes possible causes of brown water. (By this time a neighbor told me that her faucets were running with brown water too.) There it mentioned if the fire department or other entity has opened a fire hydrant nearby, it could have stirred up sediment in the main. One would hope that a SJWC crew could refer people to this section of their website if they were too busy or too dull to explain it on their own. I know this review will be of little use since we have no choice in what company we use to provide water to us. 'Just another example of a company that doesn't care how they are perceived because they know we don't have a choice. read more

Ive tried to be patient with the SJ water company and I don't like handing out one stars. But this is well deserving as I've had an issue with my water bill for a few months now. I refuse to pay until I get an understanding of why my water bill is still higher than my previous bills that are on average of $160-$190. Our last bill was $423 and I called in to see if this was a mistake in November. SJ watwr said they would send someone to review my meter, which was logged incorrectly. So they found the issue but never told me what amount was corrected and never sent a revised bill in December and January. I raised issues via email and calling a few times and they said it was busy because of end of year and that my next bill will reflect the new pricing for two billing cycles. So I get my new bill now with a credit of $112 but a total of $438. I'm still not going to pay it until I find out what was corrected on my last bill. $423 with a credit of $112, leaves a balance of $311 for my last billing cycle. Still seems high, doesn't it? And then this new billing cycle is $127. Why is there such a high discrepancy in meter readings? And, until I get an explanation and some proper customer service then I will not provide the company with a payment until someone reaches me directly. I do not want to waste 1.5 hours of my day on hold to get someone live for a mistake that was done by the water company. That is exactly how long I waited until someone picked up last time. If someone does read this, please provide me a manager contact or have them reach me directly, because I just want to pay my bill off with the correct amount. read more

Currently Writing this review from outside the office in San Jose off Taylor. I wish there was half star cause oh man, Called and was on hold for an hour. And then I said May be I'll try again later. Then I did and here's a screen shot of me currently waiting on hold AGAIN. I called this morning around 9:30 am ish = 1 HOUR HOLD. Calling right now 1:00 pm = currently on hold 36 mins. By far the WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE. (If a customer service from San Jose water reply to this. Pls don't give me a LONG history of your company like you copy and paste it from your website....instead can you actually help us? Thank you) I can see there's a lot of bad reviews on here. Wow. I'm not surprised. read more

San Jose Water - Currently on hold 36 mins - Utilities Near Me - San Jose, California

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No stars here! I need help! I've been trying to reach someone by phone for three weeks, sent emails too! I have two disabled people in my home and a child and being threatened for water shut off. How can I pay or make arrangements when no one responds? I need help today Update: I received a call from Sharon and she was an angel! She helped me get my bill straightened out! So grateful for her! But the water company still needs to get their customer service together! Sharon should teach them and get a big fat raise! Grateful for her. read more

San Jose Water responded to my Yelp review, and I called to speak to a manager there. What I found out was that the company has stopped offering the service of sending e-bills to their customers' banks, and they currently have no plans to resume this service. When a company sends an e-bill to my bank, I AM IN CONTROL of my money. I am "pushing"my money out to the company. But San Jose Water's new automated system now wants me to give THEM free rein to PULL whatever money they desire out of my bank account. I WOULD NO LONGER BE IN CONTROL OF MY MONEY -- they can pull any amount of money they want without my permission. Customers need to push back against this abuse of power, and not give companies free access to our bank accounts! Keep control of your bank account, and refuse to use their automated service! read more

Been struggling to get assistance or talk to anyone from sj water regarding a $2800 water bill. From the beginning of service we noticed our bill was higher than normal and after a few months we received a 2200 water bill. Immediately we called out sj water and plumbers to search for any leaks or causes or water issues. Sj water said they found no issues. Plumbers found minor small leaks but nothing that would use that much water. After 6 months they finally settled and removed $600 from our bill for "adjustments but stated we're still liable for the rest. In the mean time out dishwasher and water heater both failed and needed to be replaced. Just recently now our neighbor was experiencing similar issues and a high bill and called someone out to check the water. Not sure if it was someone from the city or sj water but whomever it was stated that they found out that the water pressure entering our units was WAY to high which is what damaged our water heater, sink, and was causing leaks. I immediately again sent out an email (phone customer service is a joke. I've been hung up on 3 times in the midst of talking to someone and have waited on hold for over an hour without anyone even picking up) and have yet to receive a response from them but did notice a drastic change in water pressure which means someone has made adjustments but will not respond to me. Over the course of just one year I believe we've been wrongfully charged and when bringing it up we're just ignored. If you have an option to not use SJ water please take it. I would strongly avoid them at all costs read more

HOW CAN I PAY YOU? hello?!! My bill wad past due because I filled a leak incident report the moment I received my water bill and was waiting for SJWC to get back to me. After hearing a response after 24 days (!!), which caused my bill past due, I wanted to pay the bill. I have tried to call the number 408-279-7900 more than 10 times at different hours but it wouldn't go through (no one picks up or just disconnected after holding for more than 40mins). When I tried to pay online, it says don't pay online for past due bills, so I'm stuck right now not being able to pay and worried that my water might get shut down any day. Could you help me out here please? How do I pay the bill? and is the phone number even working! ??? read more

Fernando came to do the annual service and clean for my water filter system and he was friendly and efficient. He did a great job!

Hello Sharon, My automatic bill payment says "unavailable" and my bill was due on 6/29 as of today it is 7/6. I am trying to be a good customer and pay my bill. I have called numerous times an have been on hold for 30 plus minutes with no answer. Today I drove to your location on Taylor street and signs says the business has been closed since March. I was hoping to talk to someone in person to get my issue resolved. Can you please message me and advise on why my automatic payment is not being processed? Thanks! read more

Customer support, Joseph Young, contacted us to let us know that we have a continuous water leak as shown on the new smart meter. He was extremely helpful and very professional. Another SJW employee, Joanne came and inspected our property for leaks. She was friendly and courteous. At last, the continuous water leak is solved. Thank you. read more

They overcharge and unfortunately, no one can do anything about it. When the house was occupied with 5 people the bill came to $118.16. Now that is vacant for the past month it came to $96.36! Why?? I'm sick and tired of California stealing people's hard earned money. read more

Hope Matt Mahan finally get's rid of Sharon Whaley and her corrupt team of boomers. $102 in service charges... and a bill of $160, when I've been out of town since January - and no automated watering systems. San Jose's water is on par with Flint Michigan's water; nobody drinks it. Morgan Hill and Gilroy don't seem to have these outrageous bills. It's time for a change. read more

Hey all, please make sure you read your bill. They keep increasing the service charge: 10/2022 $80.85 (normal), 12/2022 $105.31 ($20 increase), 2/2023 $115.85 (another $10 increase) I called customer service a few times and Waite a very long time and couldn't reach them. Email them, they don't reply/answer. This is the worst service ever and they are ripping us off. We send less water and keep having to pay more because they keep increasing service charge. read more

Helped me quickly through email. After I talked to their representative through yelp contacts and she helped me quickly to resolve the problem. read more

Horrible customer service. I've tried calling their supposed 24 Hr Customer Service Phone Number listed on their website (408) 279-7900 tens of times over the past several months during business hours and nobody ever picks up the phone. The reason I'm having to call them is because there was no acknowledgement of the paper form I had to mail in to sign up for automatic payments in SEPTEMBER of last year. If I could use another water provider, I would, but I have not choice since they have a monopoly. read more

The customer service is a joke, the system disconnects your call every time, even you are in, waited one hour without any one answering. I am trying to de-enroll my auto payment, I tried to call them, email them and no response for weeks. I tried to submit online request and got a confirmation says it was done, However I still cannot pay my last bill, it still in auto pay. We pay very experience water bill and the company has no customer service at all? read more

Is there less than zero stars available? Is there something less attractive than a star? Perhaps an image of a dog taking a dump on a water meter? Customer Disservice is more accurate. Over 4 hours on hold over an 8 day period, several unanswered emails! I finally went to 110 W. Taylor only to find the building completely locked up during business hours with a little "Closed" sign purchased at a hardware store taped to a window next to the door approximately 18" above eye level (I'm 6'3") I walked to the metal gate securing their underground parking filled with cars and trucks. I started banging on that gate with a metal object creating a cacophony of dissonant sound that would wake the dead. After 7 minutes of constant banging they sent a sacrificial lamb down the stairs to see what was what. She told me to call Customer Service...to which I replied emphatically, "NO! I wish to speak with an actual human being!" She looked as if she was about to panic when another woman who identified herself as Melissa, got out of a parked vehicle (she had been sitting in it the entire time) and said she would help me. I explained the situation and showed her the bill in question explaining that I just want to pay my share. She took a photo of the bill wrote down my phone number and told me that someone would be calling me directly. That was last Tuesday...zero calls from anyone affiliated with San Jose Water. So today I sent one more email explaining that I no longer care...and I truly don't. What an 'effed up company. How do they even get water into a cup with the level of incompetence exhibited? Collectively they could walk into a raging downpour and not get a drop of water on them. read more

Terrible!!! no stars If only I could give no stars I would reserve it for a business like SJW. These guys and their unethical business practices are the poster child for everything that is wrong with privately owned utilities. I am in complete disbelief after speaking with their so called "customer service" rep. what a joke! Maybe Bob D. can explain why they shut off paying customers who are not only current on their bill but actually have a credit on their account!???? WTF? after realizing the water had been shut off I call customer service. I figure this must be some sort of mistake because I had paid in full 10days prior. Antiquated payment system they said was to blame. How is it possible they have the funds to purchase other out of state utility companies? By gouging the residents of San Jose with some of the highest rates in the country while refusing to upgrade their ancient payment system that's how. If you don't like it what are you gonna do live off collected rain water? read more

Worst utility company ever! I've just went over with a "SUPERVISOR" over bloated water bills that I thought were caused by a leak on my property, it turns out (after a few thousands of $$$) to be water pressure from the utility company which was 138 PSI, while it should be no more than 80 PSI to not damage water pipes, irrigation systems and so on. I'm going to contact my lawyer for the next steps - maybe a class action type, we'll see. SJ Water won't tell you to install pressure regulator on your property - I learned this the hard way... so please check and install on your property before you get damages read more

Does San Jose water only have one call representative for the entire city? I have called multiple days around different periods of time and NO ONE picks up after being on hold for 2+ hours. This is ridiculous. ZERO stars if I could. San Jose Water really needs to do something about this poor way of communication. Every time I've called they say "they are upgrading their phone systems..." LIES. read more

Been trying to confirm by phone that my service was transferred as my family moved last month. Been on hold for over two hours and after three email inquiries to this same issue I have YET to receive any type of confirmation or response. What is the deal? PG&E and Waste Connections have their act together, are quick and response. SJ Water's customer service is abysmal. ABYSMAL. And they have a monopoly on the local utility. It's very frustrating to say the least.... read more

How do i get hold if someone to talk to about a suddenly high bill. I tried calling their number and it didn't even ring the first 4 times i called. The fifth time it rang and ive been on hold for a VERY LONG TIME... i'm still on hold while i'm writing this... read more