Charlotte man gets $308K water bill

A restaurant owner got billed more than $308,000 and it was for just 13 days of service.

"We all were very, very worried," Faraz Syed told Action 9 investigator Jason Stoogenke. "I'm worried. I can't sleep properly. The whole family can't sleep properly."

He said his restaurant, Lazeez Mediterranean Grill, wasn't even in business yet, so he was only using minimal water.

"I was like very scared. I was like, 'Oh my God, I have to open this restaurant right now,’” Syed said.

He said he hired a plumber to make sure there were no leaks and that there weren't any.

He believes the bill has a typo.  He usually uses about 3,900 ccfs of water, but the bill says he used more than 39,000 ccfs.

He thinks Charlotte Water put in an extra digit by mistake.

"I called them, 'Hey, what is this? What kind of bill is this?'" he said.

Charlotte Water promised to correct the bill so he didn't pay.

He said he couldn't afford to even if he wanted to pay it.

The utility shut his water off Wednesday and left this note saying it's because of nonpayment.

"What do we need to do? Do we really have to pay it? How is it possible for 13 days, we have to pay [more than $308,000]?" Syed said.

He complained and got it turned back on, but said it took three hours through the lunch rush costing him 17 customers.

"They understand that it is not our problem, but it's still not good for business," Syed said.

After Action 9 got involved, Syed said that city officials are going to resolve the issue.

"The city called me just now, they said they [are going to] fix this issue," he said.

Cox Media Group