Source · SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman)

Business Stream

SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) Upheld Reference 201200363 Sector Water Category interruption to supply - planned Decided 01 April 2013

Full decision

Summary

Mr C is the manager of business premises with over 100 staff, and where there is a call centre. He complained that Business Stream did not communicate clearly or provide timely advice about a planned shutdown of the water supply to the premises . The shutdown was to allow essential maintenance work to be carried out. Mr C was unhappy that, after he received notification about the shutdown, when he requested further information this was not provided until the day before the works were due to be carried out.

Our investigation found that, in line with Scottish Water's code of practice, appropriate notification of the proposed works had been given. We were, however, concerned at the delay in providing further information to Mr C. We noted that this led to considerable uncertainty for him as manager of the relevant facilities, and so we upheld the complaint. Business Stream had already accepted that their customer service could have been better, and had made a goodwill payment to Mr C. They also confirmed that Scottish Water had taken action to check if any change was needed to their process, but had decided that the delay in providing information was an isolated incident.

Recommendations

We recommended that Business Stream: apologise to Mr C for the poor customer service provided in relation to the delay in providing further information.

Related reading

View Decision Report 201200363 as a PDF (12.3 KB) Updated: March 13, 2018

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Other decisions involving Business Stream

Reference Date Summary Outcome
202101632 01 Mar 2023 C complained about Business Stream's communication regarding their account. There was also disagreement between C and Business Stream over the … Resolved / Early Resolution
202103298 01 Nov 2022 C runs a small business and was unhappy with the way Business Stream managed their account. In particular, C was … Upheld
201900738 01 Dec 2021 C complained that Business Stream had not billed their business accurately. C said that they had been told by an … Not Upheld
201806006 01 Jul 2021 C purchased a former business premises for conversion to domestic property. At the time of the original purchase the business … Resolved / Early Resolution
201808488 01 Nov 2020 Mr C complained that Business Stream incorrectly arranged for a meter to be installed at a vacant property belonging to … Not Upheld
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