United Utilities were formed when Norweb & North West Water merged just over 10 years ago. They are responsible for the supply of water & electricity in the North West to approximately 7 million people. Every day 2000 million litres of water flow through their pipes - now that's a lot of water!! ... Read review
Advantages: Constant, clean water supply Disadvantages: Terrible customer service & lack of action to rectify problems
United Utilities were formed when Norweb & North West Water merged just over 10 years ago. They are responsible for the supply of water & electricity in the North West to approximately 7 million people. Every day 2000 million litres of water flow through their pipes - now that's a lot of water!! In addition to the supply of water, they are also involved with waste water treatment, servicing a number of sewer networks throughout the North West. ...United Utilities supply so many people with water, that bad experiences are to be expected, but my story has been going on for 6 years!! I will try to be objective throughout my review - please make allowances if I slip into "I hate United Utilities mode" !!
Are you sitting comfortably? Then let me begin……..
As I said, my story started about 6 years ago when we moved into our current house. It was a newly built ... more
United Utilities were formed when Norweb & North West Water merged just over 10 years ago. They are responsible for the supply of water & electricity in the North West to approximately 7 million people. Every day 2000 million litres of water flow through their pipes - now that's a lot of water!! In addition to the supply of water, they are also involved with waste water treatment, servicing a number of sewer networks throughout the North West.
I suppose you could argue that as United Utilities supply so many people with water, that bad experiences are to be expected, but my story has been going on for 6 years!! I will try to be objective throughout my review - please make allowances if I slip into "I hate United Utilities mode" !!
Are you sitting comfortably? Then let me begin……..
As I said, my story started about 6 years ago when we moved into our current house. It was a newly built property, all of which were supposed to be fitted with a water meter prior to residents moving in. Unfortunately, our meter wasn't fitted when we arrived, but we were assured that this had been logged and would be sorted out as soon as possible.
After being in our new home for a few months, we had not heard from the water company, so I contacted them by phone. Unfortunately, this was not as straight forward as anticipated as we were put through to a call centre where the staff did not speak very good English. The outcome of the conversation was that someone would be in touch to arrange for the meter to be fitted.
Several months after this, we received a large water bill, quoting a water meter reference number which had apparently been noted down when the United Utilities member of staff had been to our house to take a reading. This was rather puzzling as our water meter was still on the floor in our garage in a cardboard box! I immediately called the helpline and again was put through to the call centre. Fortunately, this time the customer service representative was more fluent in English and was able to understand me. I explained that it would have been impossible to read the meter as ours had not yet been fitted and it was in the garage, in a box. I was spoken to very sympathetically by the operator, who obviously thought that I did not know how to tell whether the meter was fitted or not. I had to explain in detail that the meter was NOT in the cavity in the pavement outside our house, it was NOT connected to any pipes and was NOT infact fitted!! Unfortunately, this was not sufficient for the person on the phone, who insisted that a member of staff visit to check whether the meter was fitted or not. This was very irritating, but I accepted the offer as I wanted the matter sorting out as soon as possible.
So, the United Utilities member of staff visited and I showed him the meter in the garage, not connected to anything , and he checked the cavity in the pavement and agreed that we did not have a water meter fitted. I was told that he would log this when he returned to the office and that we would have a meter fitted within 6 weeks. The six weeks came and went. The bills continued to arrive and I continued to call the company. This scenario went on for approximately 2 years and seemed impossible to get sorted out. I didn't want to risk not paying the bills, so continued to pay, but nothing seemed to be happening with regards to getting our meter fitted! Eventually, after many calls and letters….and bills….our meter was fitted…..and fitted in the wrong place!!! This is where I get a bit lost as my husband has sussed this one out! Apparently, there are 2 holes in the pavement outside our house and the hole that you would expect our meter to be in, contained next doors meter, so our new meter was fitted in the ground outside next door. We did not think this would cause too many problems as all water meters are assigned a number which should be checked when the reading is taken, how wrong could we be?? To this day, we are receiving bills quoting the wrong meter number……..but it's not even that straight forward as the number we are quoted does not relate to either of the meters in the ground outside our house!! The current situation is that we have to wait 6 weeks for someone to pay us a visit to confirm that we are indeed telling the truth and not deranged!
I honestly find it very difficult to say anything positive to say about United Utilities. The customer service is shocking, with staff that cannot understand what your issues are. Their lack of response to letters is appalling - I wrote several times and did not receive a single reply or phone call. They seem to be incapable of updating their computer to explain what the problems are with our meter as every time I call I have to go back to square one……..am I slipping into "I hate United Utilities mode"??….I'm sure you can understand why though?!
Getting back into objective mode - I do admit that we have never been without water in the 6 years of living in our house. Infact, we have never really had a problem with the actual supply of the water, and I am sure that if the initial problem with our meter had not happened, I would not have a bad word to say about them. They do say that it's when things go wrong that you get to experience the true calibre of a firm or company - that is definitely what has happened in this instance - and I can tell you - I'm not very impressed!!!
Advantages: not applicable Disadvantages: not applicable
I also work for united utilities and as much asi can understand the last point of view that has been posted by a staff member, i also appriciate the points of view that YOU a customer have. I hope u find my advice useful?
Yes United Utilities Staff do read your comments. I work for UU and will provide you with some usefull information, but please bare in mind, most errors on accounts, are infact the result of information provided by customers........
... ...account. I Owe United Utilities Money.. Do the care that i can not afford the cost of living?.. Yes we do....
Unitied Utilities - Payment Assistance Team. Arrears Allowance Scheme & Water Direct
This scheme, which is managed by United Utilities, is there to support ongoing payment of water charges by matching a customer's commitment to their arrears. Its aim is to help people solve their water charge arrears and get back on track in making consistent, ...
UUAdvice 09.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of United Utilities
Advantages: x Disadvantages: Incompetent and careless or manipulative liars?
When I moved into my flat, I received a large bill addressed to the previous tenant which UU told me to disregard. They then sent the bill AGAIN next month addressed to "The Occupier" and then AGAIN the following month with my name on it!
When I told them that I wasn't living there during this period, they disagreed and told me they had my moving in date on record as April 4th (I moved in on April 11th). I have no idea where they got this date from ... ...large amount of money.
When I moved out, I payed the amount for the period which I lived there and refused to pay the amount for the other period and my estate agent sent them my tenancy agreement with the date I moved in (April 11th).
They got back to me months later and said that I still had an outstanding bill and that it was for the period that I had already paid for! I'm still waiting for them to respond to this but it just feels like I'm ...
AlexGreenwood 12.11.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of United Utilities
Advantages: I won Disadvantages: A lot of hassle from the big boys.
United Utilities are an appauling company, and I would go as far as to say ringing the Zoo would get a much better response, I have spoken to about 30 people at UU and they are all lacking in manners and intelligence and try to pass the blame to anyone but themselves, my window was cracked by shoddy work directly outside and the guy who checked the work outside my house tried to blame the accident on a pot hole some 15 yards away from the problem, ... ...the fact that they did this I would class this as a GUILTY act on behalf of UU. I was about to pursue court action against them and asked for a director's name and email address, as I thought it was only fair to let a Director know what was happening before they got a court summons and hey presto they have agreed to pay up in full plus a little compensation..........it just shows when you think you are in the right don't be fobbed off no matter how ...
KRAMER594 13.06.2009 (05.07.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of United Utilities
Advantages: Process the water provided by nature Disadvantages: They have a monopoly on water provision
United Utilities charge what they like and there isnt a thing you can do about it. They issue bills based on the 'rateable' value which was set back in the late 90's. So if you are in a building that was since converted to flats, each of those flats are subject to the SAME rateable value as if it was one building. I am a single person in a flat in a building that was converted along with another 2 adjoining buildings. The occupants of the other buildings ... ...it their bills are less? United Utilities say there is NOTHING that can be done since the department that looked after assessing bills by rateable value no longer exists. They will NOT provide a refund and the only way to reduce future water bills is to get a water meter fitted. But I'm moving out at the end of this month anyway. If there was competition for water provision you can bet your a$$ that department would be re-opened! ...
kaybarella 14.11.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of United Utilities
Advantages: water Disadvantages: big bills when they realise how they've messed up
We've had a similar experience to the above member. When we moved in to our house we were told we were on rateable value billing..even though we have a water meter in the front garden..they would not believe us and sent a person out to check. Sure enough we are on a metered system and looking at what we pay compared to the RV system we save about £200 per year.
Trying to get a bill is another matter! They come and read the meter every few months ... ...we'd managed to get it sorted out last year after 2 years and Offwats involvement but NO we're still not getting any bills....trying to contact them is pointless as you just get through to someone in India who couldn't care less and even the UK number is worthless as they seldom answer it. I'm just waiting for the big bill. USELESS COMPANY LIKE ALL OTHER UTILITIES!!!! ...
sharrytaylor 03.05.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of United Utilities
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Pleas read my letter below and you will see why I ma totally disgusted with british gas
I am totally disgusted by the way I have been treated by your company.
I had am appointment to have my gas meter changed from a pre-payment meter to a quarterly billing one, on 03/04/07 between the hours of 8.00 am and 1.00 pm. By 1.30 pm the engineer had still not arrived so I phoned your customer services department who said they would put me on hold and check with unitedutilities what had happened. I was told that there had been a few emergencies, but an engineer would be with me within an hour. When the engineer had still not arrived by approximately 3.30 pm I again rang customer services who told me that my appointment had been changed to 17/04/07 and that the lady I had spoken to previously should have seen that when she said she?d checked ...
lozloz 27.04.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of British Gas
Advantages: Learn about North West Water Disadvantages: only really useful to the North West region
So the advert goes, North West Water or UnitedUtilities as they are now known, supply us with one of lifes main essentials to living...Water.
Due to the current monopoly on Water, we can't switch suppliers as you do with your gas or electric or your telephone. At least, not until 2005 anyway. So, if you're in the area supplied by this particular company you're stuck with them, good or bad. They're regulated by Ofwat, who step in if there are any major complaints that can't be resolved by the company themselves. I happen to think the service provided isn't all that bad, considering the area covered which is huge...2.9 million properties in north west England receive their water from UnitedUtilities!
Should you have a water meter fitted to your property? This depends on two factors. Firstly, if your property was built after ...
mrs_dodger 26.10.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of North West Water
Advantages: Clean, cheap, safe - what more can I say Disadvantages: No choice for tap water at the moment
UnitedUtilities ? The former North West Water supply customers from Crewe to Carlisle and over to the North Wales border. I have lived in both Liverpool and Manchester and my water has always been fine to drink from the tap and I never had any problems with drainage or blocked sewers though I know someone who has, they seem to have been dealt with in a quick no messing about manner. I cannot think of many countries in the world where that is the case. Even in the US the water can taste ?bleachy? and my family who live in VA. buy bottled water.
The company advertise that their service costs typically 60p a day and I don?t think anyone can argue that is not bad value for money. Arguably a family who take a lot of baths use the washer and dishwasher a lot, use a hose on the garden or have a pond or a pool are going to pay more if they ...
