Source · SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman)

Business Stream

SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) Upheld Reference 201203533 Sector Water Category meter reading Decided 01 August 2014

Full decision

Summary

Mr C complained that Business Stream had inaccurately measured his water consumption. He thought he had been overcharged because a neighbouring property's water supply had not been removed from his invoice. Business Stream visited the property and found that a submeter on his neighbour's ground had been bypassed. They fitted a new one, took a reading from it and deducted money from Mr C's bill. However, Mr C was not happy about how they calculated this.

After Mr C complained, Business Stream had reviewed the consumption and agreed to make a further credit to Mr C's account. They also provided evidence that the credits on his account were backdated to when the problem was first reported. They confirmed that the metering was now correct, and we were satisfied that they had sorted this out. After we became involved Business Stream said they would remove a recovery charge from Mr C's account and make him an ex-gratia payment, as they recognised they had not communicated with him well, and had taken too long to fix the problem. We were, however, concerned at the length of time this had taken and the efforts Mr C had to go to in pursuing the matter, and we upheld his complaint.

Recommendations

We recommended that Business Stream: apologise to Mr C for their handling of the matter.

Related reading

View Decision Report 201203533 as a PDF (12.18 KB) Updated: March 13, 2018

View original on SPSO (Scottish Publ… website

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
View all decisions for this organisation