Source · SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman)

Business Stream

SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) Partly Upheld Reference 201508208 Sector Water Category incorrect billing Decided 01 August 2016

Full decision

Summary

Mr C raised concerns about Business Stream's handling of his water charges. In particular, he complained that he was paying for a neighbouring business's water consumption. He was also unhappy with the charges for drainage and road drainage and the manner in which Business Stream responded to his complaints.

During our investigation, Business Stream accepted that Mr C was paying for another firm's water services and agreed to install a sub meter to that property to ensure that going forward Mr C would not be liable for their water services. We therefore upheld this aspect of Mr C's complaint. Business Stream also accepted that the matter had taken a considerable length of time to resolve and agreed, as a gesture of goodwill, to clear his outstanding balance.

We were satisfied that Business Stream had considered Mr C's position that he was not liable for waste and drainage charges, and following investigation, had confirmed that, as Mr C enjoyed the benefit of a connection to the public sewerage network, he was liable for property drainage charges and roads drainage charges. We did not uphold this aspect of Mr C's complaint.

Recommendations

We recommended that Business Stream: apologise to Mr C for their handling of this matter; and ensure that complainants receive a robust response which contains adequate information on the reasons for the decision reached on their complaint.

Related reading

View Decision Report 201508208 as a PDF (12.6 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
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