Water board complaints on the rise

According to consumer watchdogs the level of complaints targeted at water companies in England and Wales has rocketed, with a ten percent rise in the number of complaints received in the space of just one year. Amongst the water companies receiving the complaints are Severn Trent, South East Water, Southern, and United Utilities. All of these water companies saw their complaint levels soar compared to the national average.

According to the Consumer Council for Water the main gripe that complaining customers had with these water companies was down to incorrect billing and poor customer service – a similar problem to that being experienced by British Gas, which has also seen complain levels go through the roof over the past year. The Consumer Council for Water received over thirteen thousand complaints in the year leasing up to March.

Dame Yve Buckland, chair of the CCW, stated: "It is particularly disappointing to find some companies, for the second consecutive year, tripping up when they have introduced basic billing systems - causing customers great concern." She added: "In some cases these problems are compounded when customers cannot even reach their company's staff on the phone to complain."

However, a spokesperson from United Utilities claimed that customer complaint levels were now actually falling for the water supplier. He stated: "The majority of the complaints occurred in the first half of the year when we were still in the process of bedding in a new computer billing system."

With many utility providers, including water and energy companies, consumers are finding that when they wish to make a complaint about an area such as billing, which is one of the leading causes of complaint, they are unable to get through and actually speak to somebody. This leads to increased frustration, creating a fresh complaint relating to lack of customer service.