Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
- |
| Disadvantages: |
Flippant Customer Services, No Follow - Through on Problems |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
no |
Owing to the fact that Three Valleys Water are a water supplier, the only aspect one can really review is their customer service given that their actual product is a basic one of supplying water and universally the same as any other suppliers. But boy do I have a few pages to fill about their customer service…
Sat in front of me is a water bill splashed colourfully in pink by Three Valleys Water demanding the sum of £4,874.29. This bill states that if I do not contact them or make a payment for the balance outstanding they will take further action.
So how on earth did I rack up a bill for nearly £5,000 you ask? And why have I ignored this problem for so long? Well the answer to both of those questions is that I didn't.
My dealings with Three Valleys Water first began in June 2006 when I took over the tenancy of a small 2 bed flat for myself and my baby. I rang Three Valleys Water to inform them that I was the new occupier about a week after moving in and was told that the account would be transferred into my name; I was led to believe this was a simple process that I needn't worry or do anything about. Then about two weeks after that I received a bill addressed to "The New Occupier" demanding £938.24. Obviously I was horrified and rang them immediately in a state of panic. I was told that it was just a mistake and that bill was intended for the previous occupants. I was told that a new account would be opened up in my name. Okay I thought, that's an awfully high bill regardless, but then I just assumed it meant the previous tenants hadn't been paying it for a while. Three Valleys Water knew better however they at no point thought to mention that the water usage for the property had been exceptionally high prior to my account being opened up.
I then spent two months receiving bills addressed to the old occupants, many with large "FINAL DEMAND" headers on which I could see through the little envelope windows and I forwarded these to my landlord. I rang several times to ask why no account had yet been opened for me personally as I was very worried about falling behind on payments and finally in September 2006 I received a letter from Three Valleys Water stating that they were sorry they had been unable to open my account by that time and that they were awaiting a report from a company technician who had been asked to check my supply due to above average consumption readings being recorded. They didn't contact me again so I assumed the matter had been resolved. Afterall, during a telephone call I made after I received this letter, a customer
services representative informed me quite calmly that it wasn't unusual for meters to "play up" so I shouldn't worry about it.
I heard nothing back from them until I received an estimated bill for £160.40 (again addressed to "The New Occupier" despite knowing full well what my name is by that point) in February 2007 which I promptly paid. Problem near enough solved I thought. Wrong. In July I then received a bill for £929.71 so I contacted Three Valleys Water yet again to ask why I was being billed so much. I received a letter stating that a Customer Services Technician had visited the property 3 July 2007 (even though they then sent me the bill dated 9 July 2007) and found that there was a leak at the property. He had apparently stated that he had been unable to check any internal pipework because he couldn't gain access to the property - well he wouldn't have been able to given that I was at work and no-one had told me he was coming. The letter stated that I had to (yet again) call their 0845 number to make an appointment for another technician to come out so I promptly handed the matter over to my landlord who I believe should have dealt with this in the first instance anyhow but still.
A technician finally came out in August and it was confirmed that there was a leak. Now obviously this wasn't actually fixed at the time, oh no, this wasn't actually fixed until September though they are still asking me for money wasted during this time. I contacted the buildings maintenance company directly in October after the matter had still not been resolved and they filled in the leak claim form which Three Valleys Form had sent to me. So off this went to Three Valleys Water who then came back to me stating that "I" had informed them that "I" was claiming from "my" insurance company so they would hold off collections for one month but that "I" would need to contact them again if the claim had not been settled by that time.
What annoys me here is that I can't be the first tenant in the world that this has happened to surely? I am not responsible for pipe work maintenance and this includes water lost through leakage either due to lack of maintenance from the landlord or problems with the building in general. I cannot process any claim from "my" insurance company because I do not have insurance - my landlord does. I gave Three Valleys Water my landlord's contact details a year ago but they insist on dealing with me alone and chasing me for money despite knowing full well that I cannot possibly pay it or deal with the matter myself.
So now we're into December 2007 and they are demanding £4874.29. No explanation as to what period that covers either. Bit of a jump from the £900 odd they were asking for previously and that was BEFORE the leak was repaired too. So now it's been repaired they think they're owed nearly £5,000? I also note that on previous bills they have been trying to charge me as from several months before I even took over the tenancy and I've already pointed out to them that I asked them to open up an account and read the meter for me when I first moved in but they didn't bother for three months so I'm not prepared to pay a penny from before that date anyway.
Every time I ring them or speak to them I speak to yet another person and have to explain the situation from scratch which ebbs away at my phone bill as well as my patience. There is no one person that is prepared to deal with this matter and ensure it is resolved. I can't tell them at what stage the building's insurance claim is at because I'm not the one dealing with it - the building management company are. So why, with my expressed permission, can they not deal directly with them? Why do they insist on sending me letters demanding thousands of pounds every few months instead?
Not only did they fail to spot this leakage in the first instance and inform me when I first began my tenancy; but they went onto not bother informing me several months later when they DID suspect a leak and left me to assume that like their customer services representative had said it must have been a faulty metre. Then nearly a year later they expected nearly a thousand pounds for water lost through no fault (or responsibility) of a mere tenant. When you purchase a property for yourself - fair enough that sometimes bad luck strikes, and usually you would have insurance to cover this. But this is not my property, I'm just renting it from someone else on a short-term basis, and the pipe work is certainly not my responsibility. Nor is it my responsibility to pay for water bills dating from before I even moved in or water bills that accumulated through Three Valleys Water's irresponsibility from buck-passing technicians and uninterested customer service reps.
One thing's for sure and that's that I will not be paying this bill. Not just out of principal but out of sheer inability also. I will again refer this final demand over to the management company and my landlord and see if this matter might just get resolved at long last. In the meantime of course I have a ruined credit rating, the fear of being unable to give my 2yr old a drink one morning and the daunting prospect that debt collectors may come knocking at some point in the near future.
I appreciate here that the buildings management company and my landlord have not been overly helpful or speedy in resolving this problem - but then neither have Three Valleys Water. They could and should have had one person deal with the matter when it was first bought to their attention in June 2006. Instead they've done absolutely nothing to assist in ensuring the matter is speedily resolved and left it to drag on for eighteen months and nearly five thousand pounds.
I wouldn't recommend them if your only alternative was to bathe in bottled water. It'd probably have been cheaper for me in fact.
