Comments on: Severn Trent Water is a criminal organisation http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/ Kiwi in Birmingham Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:59:05 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Lee Sanders http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-3502 Lee Sanders Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:00:10 +0000 http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-3502 jusr read evrything printed here. i have had a water meter installed for over 5 years now. my direct debit was 12.50 a month. no problems there. well not until last month when they decided to hike my direct debit upto 59.90 a month. it turns out that there billing system does not work, it does not monitor useage and amend the monthly direct denits according to usage. they have made estimates even though i have a meter which can be scanned easily. anyway i have basically told them to get stuffed. im now paying 7.50 a week double what i was paying a month but half of what they wanted to pay. it is only when they threaten to cut me off is when i will approach the Water Obudsmen. DONT LET THEM BULLY YOU. I HAVE NOT AND NEVER WILL. if its their cock up - dont let the intimidate you jusr read evrything printed here. i have had a water meter installed for over 5 years now. my direct debit was 12.50 a month. no problems there. well not until last month when they decided to hike my direct debit upto 59.90 a month. it turns out that there billing system does not work, it does not monitor useage and amend the monthly direct denits according to usage. they have made estimates even though i have a meter which can be scanned easily.

anyway i have basically told them to get stuffed. im now paying 7.50 a week double what i was paying a month but half of what they wanted to pay. it is only when they threaten to cut me off is when i will approach the Water Obudsmen.

DONT LET THEM BULLY YOU. I HAVE NOT AND NEVER WILL.

if its their cock up – dont let the intimidate you

]]> By: louise http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-2677 louise Mon, 05 Nov 2007 02:41:35 +0000 http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-2677 SEVERN TRENT DID THE EXACT SAME TO ME TRIED TO CHARGE ME NEARLY 700 POUNDS FROM APRIL 07 TO MARCH 07' SO FOR ONE YEAR THEY WANT 700 MY MOTHER LIVES IN A 3 BEDROOM HOUSE IN A BETTER AREA AND PAYS 200 A YEAR SO I DONT UNDERSTAND .................... I LIVE IN A FLAT ALONE ........THEY TOLD ME I MUST PAY DOUBLE AS ITS A 2 BEDROOM FLAT EVEN THOUGH ITS ONE PERSON USING THE WATER .............I TOLD THEM I COULDNT AFFORD THE AMOUNT THEY SENT ME A BILL TO PAY IT IN TWO PARTS ..................I WAS BACK AND FORTH DIDNT GET NO WHERE APART FROM A BILL SAYING I COULD PAY 56 POUNDS EVERY MONTH TO PAY IT OFF ...I AM STILL BATTLING THEM AND I SEE ITS NOT JUST ME THEY HAVE DONE IT TO ...........ITS STRESSING AND YOU SEEM TO GET ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE !!! SEVERN TRENT DID THE EXACT SAME TO ME TRIED TO CHARGE ME NEARLY 700 POUNDS FROM APRIL 07 TO MARCH 07′ SO FOR ONE YEAR THEY WANT 700 MY MOTHER LIVES IN A 3 BEDROOM HOUSE IN A BETTER AREA AND PAYS 200 A YEAR SO I DONT UNDERSTAND ……………….. I LIVE IN A FLAT ALONE ……..THEY TOLD ME I MUST PAY DOUBLE AS ITS A 2 BEDROOM FLAT EVEN THOUGH ITS ONE PERSON USING THE WATER ………….I TOLD THEM I COULDNT AFFORD THE AMOUNT THEY SENT ME A BILL TO PAY IT IN TWO PARTS ………………I WAS BACK AND FORTH DIDNT GET NO WHERE APART FROM A BILL SAYING I COULD PAY 56 POUNDS EVERY MONTH TO PAY IT OFF …I AM STILL BATTLING THEM AND I SEE ITS NOT JUST ME THEY HAVE DONE IT TO ………..ITS STRESSING AND YOU SEEM TO GET ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE !!!

]]> By: Martin http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-130 Martin Tue, 17 Apr 2007 09:11:15 +0000 http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-130 Severn Trent. So useless that other useless firms are complaining, as Severn Trent are giving them all a bad name. Oddly enough I have just published a story on how Telford in Shropshire, just lost its water supply on the online version of the newspaper I write for. Which is how come I found this blog. Severn Trent. So useless that other useless firms are complaining, as Severn Trent are giving them all a bad name.

Oddly enough I have just published a story on how Telford in Shropshire, just lost its water supply on the online version of the newspaper I write for. Which is how come I found this blog.

]]> By: Puneet http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-110 Puneet Sat, 14 Apr 2007 20:45:43 +0000 http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-110 I live in a flat and I am also paying 610 to seven trent. I hope I could swich to some other company to get the water in my flat for resonable price I live in a flat and I am also paying 610 to seven trent. I hope I could swich to some other company to get the water in my flat for resonable price

]]> By: stewart perkins http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-37 stewart perkins Sat, 17 Mar 2007 10:14:26 +0000 http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-37 Severn Trent is the ultimate nightmare organisation, and because it's a private monopoly it doesn't have to bother about keeping anyone happy except the shareholders/directors. Before I moved house a few years ago I took a water supply to a building on neighbouring land and adopted an unused meter which came with the original house. The supply was switched on and meter checked by a very helpful ST person, who said I should now start to receive bills, but who warned me that the system could be chaotic. I tried for over a year to get a bill from them. I started to count the calls to Severn Trent....32 separate occasions, usually multiple calls on each occasion, usually left hanging in the system, or cut off. Nobody was able to help, or find the right department which could. Two years after installation I received a call from a perplexed engineer who said that, for the past two years, my bills had been going, not just to the nearest neighbour, but to the next one along as well. Even though they were paying for their own supply anyway, my neighbours had had regular six month barneys ending with threats of court action. The engineer also wanted to know where my meter was, as they had lost its location. While I was at the old house ST was installing replacement mains pipes in the road. They dug a 10 ft. deep hole right outside my front door and left it uncovered, refused to say when it might be filled, and only put proper safety gear around it after the local paper had carried a pic and story about it. They sprayed a gate of mine with marker paint which they were using on the road they were excavating. Their temporary depot was fifty yards away, and I asked them to send someone from there to clear the spray off. They refused, so I did it myself, sent them a bill for £80 and they paid it. All this is coming back to me (and I know how Dubber feels) now, as I'm splitting the land which I retained after selling the house, and I've been trying to ascertain from ST if I can take the original supply in to the land which I'm keeping, and if they can meter this supply. The score so far is five multiple calls, all referring me to departments which have already denied responsibility as the one which can sort the problem. I think I'll just have a chat with the new owner of my land and ask him if I can pay him a quarterly sum for his water. It's NOT individual ST employees who are the problem, it's a rotten system. The two engineers I've dealt with have been brilliant. One gave me her mobile no. because she knew how appalling the system is. She said that she had had complaints from customers all the time about a system which doesn't actually work, but when she had passed these on to the management they just tell her that the system is fine, it's just the thick customers who are at fault. And why shouldn't the managers adopt this attitude in a market free for all? I can't have my water from anywhere else, and the public service ethos of the old utilities (and, believe me, compared with these privatised wideboys they were brilliant) no longer exists. There are rich people to make even richer, so why should they spend some of this money making the system work properly if the suckers can't go anywhere else? Actually, on reflection, I think I'll probably dig a well.............. Severn Trent is the ultimate nightmare organisation, and because it’s a private monopoly it doesn’t have to bother about keeping anyone happy except the shareholders/directors. Before I moved house a few years ago I took a water supply to a building on neighbouring land and adopted an unused meter which came with the original house. The supply was switched on and meter checked by a very helpful ST person, who said I should now start to receive bills, but who warned me that the system could be chaotic.
I tried for over a year to get a bill from them. I started to count the calls to Severn Trent….32 separate occasions, usually multiple calls on each occasion, usually left hanging in the system, or cut off. Nobody was able to help, or find the right department which could. Two years after installation I received a call from a perplexed engineer who said that, for the past two years, my bills had been going, not just to the nearest neighbour, but to the next one along as well. Even though they were paying for their own supply anyway, my neighbours had had regular six month barneys ending with threats of court action. The engineer also wanted to know where my meter was, as they had lost its location.
While I was at the old house ST was installing replacement mains pipes in the road. They dug a 10 ft. deep hole right outside my front door and left it uncovered, refused to say when it might be filled, and only put proper safety gear around it after the local paper had carried a pic and story about it. They sprayed a gate of mine with marker paint which they were using on the road they were excavating. Their temporary depot was fifty yards away, and I asked them to send someone from there to clear the spray off. They refused, so I did it myself, sent them a bill for £80 and they paid it.
All this is coming back to me (and I know how Dubber feels) now, as I’m splitting the land which I retained after selling the house, and I’ve been trying to ascertain from ST if I can take the original supply in to the land which I’m keeping, and if they can meter this supply. The score so far is five multiple calls, all referring me to departments which have already denied responsibility as the one which can sort the problem. I think I’ll just have a chat with the new owner of my land and ask him if I can pay him a quarterly sum for his water.
It’s NOT individual ST employees who are the problem, it’s a rotten system. The two engineers I’ve dealt with have been brilliant. One gave me her mobile no. because she knew how appalling the system is. She said that she had had complaints from customers all the time about a system which doesn’t actually work, but when she had passed these on to the management they just tell her that the system is fine, it’s just the thick customers who are at fault. And why shouldn’t the managers adopt this attitude in a market free for all? I can’t have my water from anywhere else, and the public service ethos of the old utilities (and, believe me, compared with these privatised wideboys they were brilliant) no longer exists. There are rich people to make even richer, so why should they spend some of this money making the system work properly if the suckers can’t go anywhere else?
Actually, on reflection, I think I’ll probably dig a well…………..

]]> By: Evan J http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-28 Evan J Sat, 10 Mar 2007 10:48:39 +0000 http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-28 We would gladly take the time to explain what consumer courtesies you should expect of your water company and how Ofwat has set measured and unmeasured charges in their last price review. We are a consumer advice organisation separate from Ofwat and the water company. Please find us on the web at www.ccwater.org.uk. Severn Trent Water comes under the responsibility of our Midlands office. Evan, Consumer Council for Water Midlands We would gladly take the time to explain what consumer courtesies you should expect of your water company and how Ofwat has set measured and unmeasured charges in their last price review.

We are a consumer advice organisation separate from Ofwat and the water company. Please find us on the web at http://www.ccwater.org.uk. Severn Trent Water comes under the responsibility of our Midlands office.

Evan, Consumer Council for Water Midlands

]]> By: mc536guillaume http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-14 mc536guillaume Sat, 24 Feb 2007 14:18:47 +0000 http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-14 Well dubber, you are not the only to suffer from the incompetence of Severn Trent Water. Since I moved in my flat in february 2006, I ve been on a meter reading and still had troubles with my bills. I had a bill of about 400 pounds after 4 month which obviously wasn't right, I don't fill a swimming pool every month! So I asked an engineer to come over because I suspected a disfunctionment in the meter. And there was one! They fixed it last autumn and they put my account on hold. I haven't heard of them since then, I just wonder what's gonna happen next... Well dubber, you are not the only to suffer from the incompetence of Severn Trent Water. Since I moved in my flat in february 2006, I ve been on a meter reading and still had troubles with my bills. I had a bill of about 400 pounds after 4 month which obviously wasn’t right, I don’t fill a swimming pool every month!
So I asked an engineer to come over because I suspected a disfunctionment in the meter. And there was one! They fixed it last autumn and they put my account on hold. I haven’t heard of them since then, I just wonder what’s gonna happen next…

]]> By: Nolan http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-13 Nolan Thu, 22 Feb 2007 16:14:51 +0000 http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-13 Lets get this straight. Unmetered water bills are based on rateable value, last set approx 1976 and superceded by poll tax/ council tax. Water bills are now based on a system that is obsolete and cannot be monitored, checked or altered. Water companies are charging for services without competition or any effective form of policing. Any wonder at your problems? Lets get this straight. Unmetered water bills are based on rateable value, last set approx 1976 and superceded by poll tax/ council tax. Water bills are now based on a system that is obsolete and cannot be monitored, checked or altered. Water companies are charging for services without competition or any effective form of policing. Any wonder at your problems?

]]> By: Tony Bach http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-10 Tony Bach Tue, 06 Feb 2007 07:47:06 +0000 http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-10 They're not profiting by £300 per annum on ALL residences - they're certainly making a loss on some places, but it's easier for them to average it out and get you to compensate for them. Utility companies will do what a ineffective and inefficient regulatory authority will allow them to get away with. Unless metering is made compulsory, those households with high water usage (taking lots of baths - surprising for Poms.., running hairdressing salons in their spare room and suchlike) will avoid installing them like the plague, leaving the rest of the users (either metered or non-metered low water consumers) to pick up the bill. STW will argue that they require an adequate return on capital and will keep jacking up their prices with Ofwat's connivance. They have absolutely no incentive to provide a leak-free delivery network or to achieve either internal or user-related efficiencies - it's cost-plus, just like any good defence contract.. But good luck, anyway. Buy yourself a couple of STW shares and have a rant at their AGM. Won't get you anywhere, but you'll feel better...! They’re not profiting by £300 per annum on ALL residences – they’re certainly making a loss on some places, but it’s easier for them to average it out and get you to compensate for them.
Utility companies will do what a ineffective and inefficient regulatory authority will allow them to get away with.
Unless metering is made compulsory, those households with high water usage (taking lots of baths – surprising for Poms.., running hairdressing salons in their spare room and suchlike) will avoid installing them like the plague, leaving the rest of the users (either metered or non-metered low water consumers) to pick up the bill. STW will argue that they require an adequate return on capital and will keep jacking up their prices with Ofwat’s connivance. They have absolutely no incentive to provide a leak-free delivery network or to achieve either internal or user-related efficiencies – it’s cost-plus, just like any good defence contract..
But good luck, anyway. Buy yourself a couple of STW shares and have a rant at their AGM. Won’t get you anywhere, but you’ll feel better…!

]]> By: dubber http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-9 dubber Mon, 05 Feb 2007 23:16:04 +0000 http://dubber.wordpress.com/2007/02/03/severn-trent-water-is-a-criminal-organisation/#comment-9 I've gone back to the bills, and I've done the maths on a monthly basis. It looks like this: WITH METER: £11 per month WITHOUT: £36 per month DIFFERENCE: £25 per month or £300 per year Regardless of whether I looked at their website or was able to attain landlord's permission or was a proactive consumer, Severn Trent should not be profiting by £300 per residence per annum for failing to get a meter installed - no matter what the reason. Publicity forthcoming. I’ve gone back to the bills, and I’ve done the maths on a monthly basis. It looks like this:

WITH METER: £11 per month
WITHOUT: £36 per month

DIFFERENCE: £25 per month or £300 per year

Regardless of whether I looked at their website or was able to attain landlord’s permission or was a proactive consumer, Severn Trent should not be profiting by £300 per residence per annum for failing to get a meter installed – no matter what the reason.

Publicity forthcoming.

]]>