I am the customer: Emma Gray

“Billing and charging is the largest subject of complaint”

In December 2013, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO), the complaints handling body for most water providers in Scotland, published its first public interest investigation report about the water industry. We published it in full because the repeat failings in complaints handling at Business Stream needed to be addressed.
A man complained that a second water meter had been installed on a company’s private water supply pipe and that there was double charging. He was also unhappy with the way his original complaint had been handled.
Our investigation found that there was unnecessary and protracted correspondence about the matter, a lack of clarity in Business Stream’s responses to the complainant and to our office, and needless delays in dealing with the complaint. We made several recommendations, including that Business Stream carry out an independent audit of its entire complaints process and how it is applied. We also recommended that it formally apologise for the delays, confusion and inconvenience caused and make a financial redress payment.
Last year’s SPSO water sector report shows that in 2012/13 we received 353 complaints about water providers. The single largest subject of complaint was billing and charging, representing 47 per cent of all water complaints received.
Last year we upheld 45 per cent of water complaints and publicly reported 81 of 98 decisions, making 99 recommendations for improvement.