South East Water Bill Shock: 4 Years of False Meter Readings - What To Do?

c0balt on 07/05/2018 - 14:16
Last edited 07/05/2018 - 16:34

I've been at my current address for 4 years and every quarter I've had a water bill from South East Water around $155. It's a 1 bedroom apartment and I've always been conscious of water usage/impact on environment.

The bill was always paid before the due date. Today I received the quarterly bill and it's many times the amount I normally pay - around $500 for this bill.

I called up to ask why my bill was so much higher and they informed me that every time they took a meter reading before this bill, the meter read as 0 and as a result they thought I wasn't living in the property. I was told that sometime between my last and current reading, that the meter must have started working again and the reading increased by 4 years of actual usage.

I don't find this to be an acceptable explanation, as I have spoken with the building manager who informed me that all meters in the apartment building are working (as evident by my huge bill), that for them to read it as 0 when it's been working the whole time sounds very odd, and that it must have been a South East Water error in taking 0 as an actual meter reading (not estimated) for the last 16 quarterly bills.

Surely there must be some form of statute of limitations here as it's been 4 years usage when they read it as 0, and the meter works. Imagine if you got a bill from Telstra or who ever for your mobile phone 4 years after you paid it for usage they didn't charge you for at the time.

They would not discount and have put the bill on hold while they send out a team to check my meter. They mentioned the best they would do is put me to a payment plan. I informed them that I found it unacceptable, and that I will be fighting the charge no matter what as I had been paying my bill diligently for 4 years but they did not do their due diligence for 4 years.

Are there any OZBers out there who have some advice as to how I should proceed?

Home & Garden Bill East South Water

Comments

    • c0balt on 07/05/2018 - 14:46

      Thank you so much!

      That really makes me feel a lot better reading that they can only back bill for 12 months usage and not 4 years.

      After they send their people to look at my meter and reissue the bill (will most likely be for the last 4 years usage judging by how the customer service person explained the situation), I can then I can inform them that they will need to adjust the catch-up bill will have to be significantly adjusted as per the Water Ombudsman.

      • dasher86 on 07/05/2018 - 14:56
        +5

        don't forget to request a 12 months to pay them.

        • c0balt on 07/05/2018 - 15:05
          +1

          So cheeky, love it.

      • picklewizard on 07/05/2018 - 15:39

        Without a reading older than 12 months though, how can they determine what portion was < 12 months old?

        • MrHyde on 07/05/2018 - 15:45

          No idea. I would say if the previous reading 4 years ago was 0 and the reading today is 1200; then the reading 12 months ago would be estimated at 900. Use their dodgy estimation process against them.

        • picklewizard on 07/05/2018 - 15:56

          @MrHyde: What you mean to say is that you didn't really reside in the property for the last 12 months, so (usage/4) isn't a fair approximation :)

          You aren't OP, but to anyone in this situation it would be worth a shot :P

  • 2jzzzz on 07/05/2018 - 15:57

    My gas obdudsman said it was 9 months max back pay and have to give you 9 months to pay it. They must prove it the usage in that period and they can't just say all of usage was in that period.

  • Diji1 on 07/05/2018 - 16:56
    -2

    More shitty service and illicit high bills from the privatised water system.

    This did not happen when the government supplied water at much lower rates.

    A vote for Labour or Liberal is a vote that says you like eating shit because it is these parties that delivered the current situation and they aren't fixing it.

  • c0balt on 08/05/2018 - 09:58
    +2

    I decided to get on the front foot this morning and submitted an EWOV Ombudsman case rather than wait on South East Water to send their people to check my meter (could take weeks) and then reissue the bill. The hostile conversation I had with the customer service rep when they said the best they could do is put me on a payment plan (no mention of only backbilling 12 months), makes me think they will try and screw me at every corner.

    Hopefully with the Ombudsman breathing down their neck a little bit, that South East Water will do the right thing, divide the usage by 4 and back bill me for the last 12 months only.

    I'll keep the thread updated if there's any further problems or resolution to them, as it may help someone in the future when searching for what to do if it happens to them.

  • [Deactivated] on 13/05/2018 - 21:43

    might be estimated readings, where they can't get access to the meter becuase it's behind a locked gate or something, and finally someone got in and read the meter.

  • c0balt on 14/05/2018 - 13:13
    +2

    UPDATE:

    I have been informed by South East Water that they will be disregarding all the water usage during that period and won't even bill me for the usage in the last 12 months. They found a programming fault with their meter transponders in this and other buildings around my area.

    I don't think I could have got a better result in the end. I would have been happy to pay what was fair (the last 12 months usage) but they aren't even requesting that.

    I did chip a tooth last week though and will need to pay a bit to get it fixed, so like usual my luck evens out.

    • [Deactivated] on 14/05/2018 - 19:13
      +1

      Thanks for the update.

    • skid on 14/05/2018 - 23:11
      +1

      Do you think the EWOV Ombudsman had anything to do with the outcome?

      • c0balt on 15/05/2018 - 12:38
        +1

        Definitely.

        Prior to contacting the EWOV Ombudsman, I was told by the customer service representative on the phone that because I had used all that water, I would be paying. Either that person had no idea about the statue of limitations on back billing, or they knew about it and were instructed to tell me that I will have to pay after talking to their manger (I was put on hold for a while between informing them the issue and getting a response).

        I had a bad feeling about any resolution after that call, as I was informed that they would send their people out to look at the meter (with no dates given) and that they would be reissuing the bill if any problems were found, but that the best they could do at that time was talk about the possibility of a payment plan for the 4 years of usage.

        Within a couple of days after making an EWOV claim, I had been contacted by a case officer from South East Water that started with a reference to my EWOV claim number (with details of the claim). This was followed by informing me in great detail of the problem, that it was their fault, and how it manifested over the years.

        I contacted EWOV on the 8th, it was resolved on the 11th.

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