News

Water retail companies outsource some correspondence handling in an effort to improve customer service

Since water market deregulation some water retail companies are simply unable to send out correct water, waste water and trade effluent bills, literally 1,000’s of none residential customers are being sent incorrect bills and no doubt paying them resulting in a substantial water company overcharging  situation.

In addition to the water company overcharging many none residential customers have not received correct water bills for over 18 months and the latest fiasco is numerous legal demands for payment and water supply disconnection notices that have been sent out to businesses for bills not sent out in the first place, causing yet more misery for customers and water bill validation teams.

Recently Southern Water are extending their relationship with Capita to manage Southern Water’s billing and customer communications.

Also Water Plus has appointed Capita to deal with processing back office support as they have stated that the process has been outsourced due to a back log within their customer service systems.

Water Plus rank as one of the worst retailers for both customer service issues and issuing of incorrect water bills.

Senior Partner Graham Mann of H20 Building Services is of the opinion that if a water retail company is unable to send out correct bills and cannot after numerous promises resolve complaints after 18 months their water retail licence should be suspended until such a time they can demonstrate to the regulator OFWAT they are in a position to send out correct water, waste water and trade effluent bills to customers and have robust quality control procedures in place to capture incorrect bills and deal with complaints in a timely manner.

Mann also states “Water retailers who perform in this way should also compensate customers for costs of numerous complaints and water bill processing costs. It really is about time the regulator “got a grip” as at present incorrect water bills and customer service is getting worse on a daily basis”