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Case ref:201302929
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Date:June 2014
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Body:Business Stream
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Sector:Water
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Outcome:Not upheld, action taken by body to remedy, no recommendations
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Subject:incorrect billing
Summary
Mr C’s farm has a water meter from which there is a series of sub-meters serving additional properties. Mr C was concerned that these were not all being deducted from his bill, and that he was being overcharged. He complained that Business Stream failed to take adequate steps to ensure that his water usage was accurately invoiced.
We considered all of the relevant documentation and made further enquiries of Business Stream. Our investigation found that when Mr C bought his farm, his water meter had five sub-meters attached. The usage of three of these was deducted from his bill, but Mr C was held responsible for the costs for the others. Business Stream had told Mr C that the water meters were not installed by Scottish Water and were not in their ownership, so they were not in a position to remove consumption from his charges, which was a private matter for him to resolve. However, after we asked Business Stream more about this, they said they had since learned from Scottish Water that there had been an error and that they in fact owned all five sub-meters. They had resolved this by cancelling all Mr C's previous invoices, removing the costs of all the sub-meters backdated to when he bought his farm, and sending him a new bill.