Faulty meter and customer service issues

Dispute

A business customer discovered that their water meter was faulty, and that it was incorrectly recording water consumption leading to very high bills between 2015 and 2019 despite the customer noting very low water usage.

At the request of the customer, an Uisce Éireann (UÉ, then Irish Water), engineer attended the business premises in April 2019 to investigate. The engineer confirmed that the meter was faulty and subsequently replaced the faulty meter.

The customer disputed the high bills with UÉ, and raised a complaint, but they continued to receive bills for the period the faulty meter had been in operation. Low usage recorded on the new replacement meter provided further evidence that the previous meter had been faulty. The customer felt they should not have to pay for the usage recorded and engaged the services of a solicitor to obtain a resolution. Despite efforts by the customer’s solicitor to resolve the issue with UÉ, no resolution was obtained.

In 2021, the customer referred their complaint to the CRU as queries or requests from the customer’s solicitor to UÉ were inadequate or unanswered.

Outcome

The CRU investigated and upheld the customer’s complaint against UÉ, as the customer had been charged for usage based on a faulty meter.

While investigating, the CRU identified significant customer service failings, including a lack of response to various queries raised, failing to respond to solicitors’ letters, denying the meter was ever replaced, delays in responding to the customer and calls for an update on the complaint status were never provided.

For these failings, the CRU directed UÉ to pay the customer compensation of €500. UÉ revised the billing for the period that the faulty meter was in operation, which led to a significant reduction in billing.