Blatant Rip-Off By Yarra Valley Water!

FareEvader on 01/04/2024 - 18:07
Last edited 02/04/2024 - 10:34 by 1 other user

Yarra Valley Water (YVW) is committing systemic fraud!

On top of the standard charge for water usage, we're also being charged for:

  • sewer usage charge where the cost increases with the amount used (STEP tariffs). RIP OFF!
  • water supply system charge - I have to pay extra for YVW to maintain their systems? RIP OFF!
  • sewerage system charge - I'm ok to pay for this.
  • waterways and drainage charge - I'm ok to pay for this.
  • Parks charge - I already for parks through my taxes and council rates. RIP OFF!

Any class action lawyers here? Do we have a class action lawsuit on our hands?

Financial Water Supply

Related Stores

Yarra Valley Water
Yarra Valley Water

Comments

  • Dumax on 01/04/2024 - 18:08
    +47

    Appropriate user name…

    • poboy on 01/04/2024 - 20:11
      +4

      And image!

      • SydStrand on 01/04/2024 - 21:42
        +20

        What's the charge? Taking a dump? A succulent Chinese dump?

  • mskeggs on 01/04/2024 - 18:09
    +38

    Class action? No, money down!

    • HeWhoKnows on 02/04/2024 - 17:09

      Class action for what damages?

      Council is providing essential services

      Now there would be a case for class action if they DIDN'T provide them!

      The funniest part is that OP hasnt even mentioned the costs.
      Obviously not worth listing.

  • SBOB on 01/04/2024 - 18:11
    +30

    systematic fraud

    Feel free to have your residence disconnected from water and sewer supply and 'diy' it?
    It's the only way they'll truly feel that you are serious

    sewer usage charge where the cost increases with the amount used (STEP tariffs). RIP OFF!

    Generally the more water you bring into a property the more if it that ends up down the wastewater line. Measuring waste water isn't something that is doable in residential properties so averaging based on incoming usage is how it's done.

    water supply system charge - I have to pay extra for YVW to maintain their systems? RIP OFF!

    You mean the cost to install and maintain pipework from treatment plant to reservoirs, pump stations, and eventually your house, should be free? Seems like a good deal

    Seems strange you're ok with some of the line items but not others, without any real justification on which ones you want to rant about?

      • rumblytangara on 01/04/2024 - 18:52
        +35

        I don't pay the Banks any fees to maintain their systems.
        I don't pay my Telco any fees to maintain their infrastructure.

        ahh…

        ahhh….

        ahhhh….

        ahahahahaha!!!! :D

        Do you see that they've convinced you that these additional fees are for your benefit when it in reality, it is for theirs?

        That's right, be a freethinker rather than one of the sheeple

        /s

      • SBOB on 01/04/2024 - 18:53
        +36

        I don't pay the Banks any fees to maintain their systems.
        I don't pay my Telco any fees to maintain their infrastructure.

        If you say so. Next you'll tell us you don't pay for the rent for stores you shop at.

        So you'd prefer if yarra water was less transparent with their pricing?.Why didn't you just start there.

        • illusion99 on 01/04/2024 - 22:26
          +5

          or that the price you pay at a restaurant is the cost of the food only

      • ihfree on 01/04/2024 - 19:41
        +4

        Who does pay for the banks to maintain their systems? And, who pays for telcos to maintain their infrastructure?

        • Ridiculous Panda on 02/04/2024 - 00:55
          +2

          Telcos build their plans to include overheads. Banks have endless amount of money so they can afford a new system every time their system breaks.

          • ihfree on 02/04/2024 - 09:34

            @Ridiculous Panda: More a question for OP.

            Though, now that's answered, I guess the best question is would OP object to certain charges if other bills were broken down further?

      • gromit on 02/04/2024 - 10:07
        +4

        Soooo what you are complaining about is them being transparent with their costs? you want them to do the same as banks and telcos and just give you one big number which is the same as all the costs combined.

      • Assburg on 02/04/2024 - 15:01
        +6

        My god.. You're an idiot.

        You pay a fee for the water.
        You pay a series of other fees for the water to be made available at your house (unless you'd rather carry it back in buckets?).
        You pay another fee to have it taken away, lest your property be turned into a waterlogged swamp and your property sink into the ground.

        I'm also sure their stepped fees are cheaper than installing and running your own septic treatment system.

        Nb: I resent local councils and governments charging things unjustly.

  • askbargain on 01/04/2024 - 18:14
    +7

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/721343

    Found a lawyer here

    • SBOB on 01/04/2024 - 18:16
      +1

      I don't want to say you can kind of picture the type of a person someone is from their ozb posts, but……

      • DoctorCalculon on 01/04/2024 - 19:10
        +1

        First, they want to sue their lawyer, and now they want to take their water supplier to the cleaners because they don't agree with their pricing structure?

        Can you imagine what they would be like if they were your next door neighbours?

    • ihfree on 01/04/2024 - 19:46
      +5

      Ahh, they're playing the long game for an April fools post.

  • Drakesy on 01/04/2024 - 18:16
    +5

    The one in WA is similar and they do get audited every couple of years to ensure they're charging correctly.

    Having said that i've worked in these departments and the amount of unnecessary expenditure and excessive wages that they pay is pretty bad.

      • rumblytangara on 02/04/2024 - 10:59
        +6

        The exorbitant expenditure and excessive wages is exactly my point. The water is clean and I'm grateful but I know that some of these additional fees are unjustified.

        No, your point was to whinge about the way a utilities bill is presented. You are just latching on to anything that makes you feel like other people are agreeing with you, because you have totally ignored the first half of Drakesy's post.

        • Drakesy on 02/04/2024 - 17:08
          +1

          Having said that the audit is pretty lax in that they effectively set the parameters and then pat themselves on the back when they meet them, more like a giant circlejerk and blatant over expenditure in broad daylight.

    • JIMB0 on 01/04/2024 - 20:31
      +2

      There's a lot of useless people in the water industry. It's a game of mates, jobs for the boys.

      • FareEvader on 01/04/2024 - 21:41
        -5

        I'm not surprised. Our tax dollars hard at work!

        • JIMB0 on 01/04/2024 - 22:08
          +3

          You'd be better off complaining to your state member of parliament about the excessive fees. The water companies are state government owned organisations. The more people that complain the more likely they are to do something.

          The amounted of waste that goes on behind closed doors due to incompetent management is insane. Just watch the old British tv show "Yes Minister" to get an idea.

      • Ghost47 on 02/04/2024 - 10:30
        +1

        From my experience in multiple household name organisations I would say this is the case everywhere.

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 01/04/2024 - 18:26
    +7

    I’m sad there was no reference of "Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest!" considering the avatar

    • mapax on 01/04/2024 - 18:51
      +4

      Cheer up mate, if I’m ever up your way I’ll buy you a succulent Chinese meal…

    • Dreamcast on 02/04/2024 - 15:14
      +2

      Ahh, I see you know your judo well.

  • Doboman on 01/04/2024 - 18:40
    +4

    yes I agree - No competition - Gov looking the other way. Only talking about Elec. and gas. I know they waste lot of money. I guess you own water supply , you can be king.

    • Roentgenium on 02/04/2024 - 08:30
      +3

      It's a regulated industry.

      They have to submit their proposed pricing to an independent body and justify it

      • hazzad on 02/04/2024 - 08:56
        +1

        Yeah can't say I have a lot of faith in any of these independent bodies. Electricity, gas, private health insurance costs sky rocket at least once a year. Never have I seen a price increase knocked back. Limited maybe but never have I seen one rejected. Corruption within the government and so called independent bodies is rife. There are always entities with something to gain by letting these things happen.

  • Dollar General on 01/04/2024 - 18:46
    +3

    It’s fraud if they haven’t provided the services you are being charged for, so start your investigations here

    • freefall101 on 01/04/2024 - 19:57
      +14

      OP has been hoarding all their excrement to post on here rather than sending it down the sewer system, so they might be onto something!

      • Ricky Jones on 01/04/2024 - 21:21
        +8

        If it goes to court that will be exhibit number 2

  • mskeggs on 01/04/2024 - 18:55
    +21

    By definition, you partially own this company, so if you want it to operate more efficiently, lobby for the changes you wish to see.
    Right now, the charges you listed cover its costs.
    If you want to vary the amounts, you will need to raise revenue elsewhere. Or seek to cut costs in the delivery.

    I suggest you stop mouthing off about fraud (or at least buy a dictionary so you use words according to their meaning) and start by making a submission to the Essential Services Commission.
    If you do make a submission with RIP OFF! in all caps, it will get no result. So consider thinking harder about the outcomes you wish to see and how to get there.

    Basically, this post is what the Murdoch press and other fat cat cronies love to see - whipping up anger with no purpose, so nothing changes.
    If there is a problem, identify it and fix it. But just spouting off nonsense on the internet makes you very definitely part of the problem.

    • Dollar General on 01/04/2024 - 19:18
      +15

      Speaking of Murdoch press, article by newscorp today giving it to Meta for paying no tax in Australia but no mention that Newscorp pay no tax either

      • try2bhelpful on 02/04/2024 - 08:17
        +5

        I love the “unAustralian” posts when their patriarch tossed his Australian citizenship for money in America.

  • djones145 on 01/04/2024 - 19:10

    sewer usage charge where the cost increases with the amount used (STEP tariffs). RIP OFF

    too much verbal diarrhoea

  • xazark on 01/04/2024 - 19:14

    depending on the area you live in, you do not pay parks charge through your council rates, you pay it through your water - no idea what genius thought that was a good idea but its there.

  • DoctorCalculon on 01/04/2024 - 19:23
    +2

    Parks charge - I already for parks through my taxes and council rates. RIP OFF!

    Show me the proof that you pay for this charge via your taxes and your rates.

    I have look through my council rates and my South East Water (SEW) bills for comparison.

    The service charges and the "Other Authorities' Charges" are the same for everyone.

    Also, you pay for daily service charges (aka "system" charges) for your gas and electricity whether you use them daily or not.
    Why aren't you whingeing about them, just to be fair?

  • AngoraFish on 01/04/2024 - 19:28
    +4

    All of those are standard, legislated water charges in the Melbourne Metro area, regardless of your water supplier. They all date back to Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works days. The fact that you've only now noticed them after half a century says more about you than your water company.

    For what it's worth, the parks charge goes to ParksVic, the Botanic Gardens, zoos and the Shrine of Remberance, not your local council reserves, or the water company. That charge hasn't been indexed for inflation since Kennett days, hence why all the large metro parks have so much long grass and so many empty machinery sheds.

  • mrdean on 01/04/2024 - 19:34
    -3

    Utility providers have been turned into corporations, like everything else. They have chairmans, a board, a managing director, CEO etc. Just like any major trading business. We've been sold out. Residential premises should not be charged for basics like water or energy.

    • AngoraFish on 01/04/2024 - 19:35
      +3

      I'm pretty sure that we were being charged for power and water we'll before privatisation.

      • mrdean on 01/04/2024 - 19:38

        Originally, meters had to be installed in order for there to be a "charge". It wasn't a regular thing. Some people still alive now remember those days. The rot probably started in earnest during the 70s.

        • DoctorCalculon on 01/04/2024 - 22:20

          Nyet, Comrade!

          Communism has been proven to be a disgraceful failure time and time again.

          You claim water and energy should be supplied to every household free of charge because they are a necessity.
          Why stop there??? What about food, medicine, etc.?

          • mrdean on 02/04/2024 - 09:04
            -2

            @DoctorCalculon: Communism was & is the different wing of the same bird, owned by the same people who provided you with capitalism. I am all for people working for themselves & letting the free market decide. We don't have a true free market, probably never have. It has the illusion of a free market that's for sure. And it is the way we in Australia are headed, it's close if things don't turn around.

            At the local level, people can provide themselves with food & medicine. Veggie gardens, chooks, goats, cows, rabbits, cows & their derivative products. It takes knowledge though, which has been driven out of the last few generations, whose minds have been seduced into remembering useless factoids.

            Water & energy for large groups of people are a different matter, although I am very aware of alternative energy tech, but this needs a great deal of knowledge, far more than is necessary to grow food on a small scale.

            • banana365 on 02/04/2024 - 12:41
              +2

              @mrdean:

              At the local level, people can provide themselves with food & medicine

              Medicine? Hang on, let me just go and harvest some vital Chlorthalidone from the garden bed out the back. If I'm not back in half an hour then perhaps the crop failed.

              • mrdean on 02/04/2024 - 12:56
                -2

                @banana365:

                Medicine?

                Yes medicine. Did you know onions & honey can be combined in a certain way, left for a few days in a jar, strained, & the liquid is a cough syrup? Not to mention other uses for sliced onions (soles of feet overnight) for effective treatment?

                Heaps & heaps of other medicinal tips. Knowledge is required, which most of us are sorely lacking.

                • rumblytangara on 02/04/2024 - 13:27
                  +2

                  @mrdean: Banana mentioned a drug for high blood pressure. Slightly more critical than some herbal cough medicine.

                  But don't let that stop you from slapping onions onto your feet.

                  • mrdean on 02/04/2024 - 13:35
                    -1

                    @rumblytangara:

                    Banana mentioned a drug for high blood pressure. Slightly more critical than some herbal cough medicine.

                    It was just one example. Of many.

                    Here's another one. Cayenne spice is well known is herbal circles as a vasodilator.

                    There are multiple herbs that can help with edema, bp, cardiac health, & other typical conditions.

                    • rumblytangara on 02/04/2024 - 13:38
                      +3

                      @mrdean: Sure. So if someone is at risk of developing serious health complications, then the obvious answer is to turn to Google then take spices.

                      Or if someone is going into anaphylactic shock, let's take some herbal remedy instead of injecting epinephrine.

                      Personally, if I relied on slow acting, slow remedies of dubious efficacy, I'd have been dead a long time ago. I suspect the same holds true for a big, big chunk of the population.

                      • mrdean on 02/04/2024 - 13:50

                        @rumblytangara:

                        Or if someone is going into anaphylactic shock, let's take some herbal remedy instead of injecting epinephrine.

                        Yeah sure, use the extreme example of this to discredit everything I point out. Sheesh.

                        Were you aware people having serious heart attacks were revived by the use of cayenne?

                        Maybe there are simple remedies for anaphylactic reactions we don't know about. Ever thought of that?

                        • banana365 on 03/04/2024 - 11:29
                          +1

                          @mrdean:

                          Were you aware people having serious heart attacks were revived by the use of cayenne?

                          No, but I am aware of it causing MI - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3284873/

                          You might do well to have a read of this article and the articles it links to. It might prompt you to think a little beyond the Facebook anecdotes you seems to have swallowed - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5953257/

                          • mrdean on 03/04/2024 - 12:05
                            -2

                            @banana365:

                            No, but I am aware of it causing MI - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3284873/

                            Wow, based on one case report out of Turkey, discussing "slimming" pills imported from the Far East (mixed with god knows what else substances), which a 25 year old took one a day for, I repeat, "slimming" purposes, for 5 days straight then presenting to hospital with chest pains, this totally obvious correlation does equal causation for you. Marvellous. Funny how so many "anecdotes" exist about people suffering injuries post-cv-vax & those are dismissed because we all know climate-change is the cause, but here we just know it's the cayenne.

                            You might do well to have a read of this article and the articles it links to.

                            Wow, a journal letter to the editor about "hoaxes" talks about cayenne/heart attacks, links to a laughable "fact-check" like article that is inconclusive, but "suggests" there is no reliable evidence for cayenne preventing heart attacks, just "anecdotes". Mate, I've read hundreds of these types of biased articles, all designed to prevent people like yourself from realizing there are in fact natural remedies for most if not all ailments, but the system doesn't want you looking in that direction. At least that link cited Dr Christophers, that guy was a genuine & genius teacher of herbal remedies & he was a big proponent of cayenne in it's various forms including tinctures used sub-lingual.

                            • banana365 on 03/04/2024 - 13:48

                              @mrdean:

                              but "suggests" there is no reliable evidence for cayenne preventing heart attacks

                              It was all I could be bothered searching for. There's no proving a negative, but lack of evidence doesn't necessarily show that there no effect. Remember, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, so no doubt you've got "reliable evidence" supporting your claims.

                              So far you've made multiple claims that you've not backed up beyond repeating some of the standard conspiracy theory level rebuttals.

                              Trying harder to convince people of your claims doesn't mean just shout louder or reframe a poor argument, it needs better evidence.

                              • mrdean on 03/04/2024 - 14:56
                                -1

                                @banana365:

                                extraordinary claims

                                The usual drivel from pseudo-skeptics.

                                Herbal medicine has effects. Just ask any knowledgeable indigenous elder of any culture. They didn't need a $10m RCT trial to know what works or not. They incorporated the knowledge into their culture.

                                The pseudo-skeptics have a litany of poorly argued criteria they use to dismiss what they call "pseudo-scientific" theories. They are literally useful idiots of the prevailing dogmatic paradigm & will defend it to the death.

                                The difference between people like me & you is that I'm more than happy for you to use pharma based medicine as much as you like, there are benefits no doubt. But the real issue is that people like me who know how powerful so called alternative modalities are, are actually prevented from using them by people like you. You would rather have them banned or highly restricted because you believe in "safety" & so called "evidence based medicine" (not realising how rigged the system is).
                                I argue for a level playing field, let alt-med practitioners practice their art. You know why that won't ever happen? Pharma will not allow it. Why? Because if there truly was a level playing field, pharma's products would largely fade into the dustbin of history when people realised they've been conned.

                                • banana365 on 03/04/2024 - 15:47

                                  @mrdean: "People like me" aren't making claims that we can grow the medicines we need in the garden and then turning round a few posts later saying "actually, I use modern medicine too". If you'd started out saying a less "Good Life" naïve statement and led with the "a bit of everything as appropriate" that you eventually moved to then it would have been totally believable.

                                • rumblytangara on 03/04/2024 - 15:55
                                  +1

                                  @mrdean:

                                  Herbal medicine has effects. Just ask any knowledgeable indigenous elder of any culture. They didn't need a $10m RCT trial to know what works or not. They incorporated the knowledge into their culture.

                                  Yeah, give me a moment to outside and ask, I am sure there is a 'knowledgeable indigenous elder just wandering past.

                                  Whilst we are at it, what do you think the average lifespan was back then?

                                  <facepalm>

                                  You're the one who out of nowhere started spouting that we should have local community sourced medicinal knowledge and pharmaceutical replacements. The obvious inference being that we don't need a national pharmaceutical industry- now you're suddenly backtracking and saying that's not what you meant?

                                  Nobody has said that alternative medicine needs to be banned, people are simply questioning your assertion that local and untested medicinal knowledge can replace everything.

                                  • mrdean on 03/04/2024 - 16:21
                                    -1

                                    @rumblytangara:

                                    medicinal knowledge can replace everything.

                                    <facepalm>

                                    Where did I say it could replace EVERYTHING. People can grow food & medicine, that is what I said. If they had knowledge. It is YOU who infers that means EVERYTHING. I gave one exampe of a simple cough medicine mixture, and then YOU take that to mean EVERYTHING SHOULD be replaced.

                                    It doesn't surprise me you are so defensive, because you'd be dead without the system you say. I'm glad you have survived due to it, but that doesn't mean there aren't other ways of treating whatever you had, short of trauma or surgery.

                        • rumblytangara on 03/04/2024 - 11:33
                          +1

                          @mrdean: I think you've discredited yourself when you claim that the general population should rely on backyard gardening to replace blood pressure meds.

                          I'm just escalating the immediacy because you insist on some ridiculous belief in self-sufficiency regardless of circumstances. There are plenty of less dramatic but similarly potentially fatal conditions that are not widely and reliably addressable by… herbal remedies. Asthma is an incredibly common short term example of this. High blood pressure is an even more common long term example, which you simply say "take pepper" for.

                          Maybe there are simple remedies for anaphylactic reactions we don't know about. Ever thought of that?

                          What sort of magical hand-waving thinking is this? Maybe there's a massive undiscovered gold vein somewhere out in rural Victoria that we don't know about either. What good does that do us?

          • mskeggs on 02/04/2024 - 17:46

            @DoctorCalculon: I mean, that is pretty much welfare.
            There is a need to provide essentials to everyone, even if they have zero capacity to pay.

            The failed communist states in the USSR handled delivering the essentials exceptionally well, as do more successful communist governments more recently like the Chinese, Viets and Cubans.

            Where they failed pretty dismally was beyond that, supplying stuff beyond essentials in a fair and non-corrupt way (and the problems with accountability and corruption made worse by authoritarian control, but that isn’t unique to communism).

    • freefall101 on 01/04/2024 - 20:16
      +12

      Give people free water and they'd refill their pools on a daily basis. Give them free electricity and everyone would have a bitcoin farm.

      The problem with free usage on a commodity you want to have limited usage on is the easiest way to maintain that usage is to charge a fee for it. Thus why street lights are free and water costs money.

      If we were going to move down this socialist route we could do better though, I'd rather we move to staple foods being free. Encourage people to cook at home instead of takeaway because they can pick up enough food to feed themselves for free. And it's hard to carry $1,000 of food out the door, unlike using $1,000 worth of power.

      • mrdean on 01/04/2024 - 21:10

        It's simple, there is a difference between residential & business/commercial purposes.

        • rumblytangara on 02/04/2024 - 09:24

          It's simple, there is a difference between residential & business/commercial purposes.

          If it is so simple, please explain the difference.

          I can see that being the case in the 60s, but certainly not today.

          People set up crypto mining rigs at home, or what is to stop someone from running their AC 24x7 and leaving all their doors and windows open?

          I've been to a town where the natural gas supply was free. This resulted in some people leaving their gas stoves running 24x7.

      • Bren20 on 02/04/2024 - 07:14

        I'm not sure if I'm being a pedant, but street lights aren't free. Most of them are unmetered and councils pay a charge based on assumed consumption.

        • freefall101 on 02/04/2024 - 10:00
          +1

          I’m talking about people, not councils.

      • Thaal Sinestro on 03/04/2024 - 19:30

        Water access used to be a set fee for all households in Brisbane. One day (~2005), without asking anyone's permission, they changed to access fee + an amount used fee.

        Governments have monopolies. They can charge as much as they like for essential services and there is nothing you can do about it. Refuse to pay rates, have your property seized and go to jail. Even if you converted to primitivism and tried living a hunter gatherer lifestyle, the nanny state would imprison you for trespass and for killing native species for food.

        Never has there been a politician running for council who promises lower rates and water charges. No matter who you vote for the prices all go up. Welcome to the uniparty.

        • freefall101 on 03/04/2024 - 19:45
          +1

          If everyone went hunter gatherer we'd quickly run out of native species to eat. Which is kind of the point with water, sustainability.

          We've also had inflation for all but 2 years out of the past 75. Any politician who tells you they can supply the same thing at lower cost is simply lying to you. Limiting rate increases might be possible, but lower rates? Not without less services. When it comes to water, lower quality water.

          The reason water charges came in is because all the states and the federal government agreed to it, because we're a country that is mostly desert and water was treated like it was without value and was simply unsustainable. I used to have neighbours that washed their driveways with a hose twice a week before water restrictions came in, it was absolutely crazy the way we used fresh water when it's a limited resource.

    • Presence on 01/04/2024 - 21:13

      Of course they employ staff to manage the organisation.

      Do you think that the chairman/the board just sit around like evil henchmen plotting against you? Service delivery of water is a good example of where privatisation has worked well in Vic.

      Look at NSW/QLD where a lot of water is done by local councils. They have serious issues because the staff just aren't up to it.

  • AndyC1 on 01/04/2024 - 20:02
    +1

    Google class action lawyer and call them in the morning.

  • freefall101 on 01/04/2024 - 20:03
    +4

    I appreciate your contribute to this first day of April. A few questions to ask as you yell at the sky on this wet Melbourne day.

    • sewer usage charge where the cost increases with the amount used (STEP tariffs). RIP OFF!

    Do you not send anything into the sewer system?

    • water supply system charge - I have to pay extra for YVW to maintain their systems? RIP OFF!

    Would you like them to not maintain the system? Are you prepared to do this on their behalf then?

    • Parks charge - I already for parks through my taxes and council rates. RIP OFF!

    Parks with a capital P, this funding goes towards Parks Victoria. They look after state and national parks, not the local parks your council fees pay for.

    • burningrage on 01/04/2024 - 20:14
      -1

      I appreciate your contribute to this first day of April. A few questions to ask as you yell at the sky on this wet Melbourne day.

      It's already past 12pm and he (she?) put up this opinion piece 2 hours ago (6pm-ish?) so not sure if it is April's fool thing.

  • bloom on 01/04/2024 - 20:09

    Sounds like a shitty situation

  • JimmyF on 01/04/2024 - 20:15
    • Parks charge - I already for parks through my taxes and council rates. RIP OFF!

    Are you sure about that?

    • water supply system charge - I have to pay extra for YVW to maintain their systems? RIP OFF!

    Ok, they'll double the price of water then instead to cover them.

  • daydream on 01/04/2024 - 21:39
    +7

    You can only use the word "blatant" because they are actually being more transparent than other organisations by showing you the breakdown and how it's calculated!
    So you'd rather have it all hidden and bundled together in a single charge? Then just look at the total price because that's all other organisations provide. You just can't see all that you are paying for with them! Sure you wouldn't prefer to highlight those other organisations not being more open/transparent instead?

    • Herbse on 02/04/2024 - 12:35
      +1

      This is literally what the problem is.
      "How dare they tell me exactly what I'm paying for"

  • localhost on 01/04/2024 - 22:58
    +3

    Why not using alternative providers, like… Yarra Valley Rain Water?

    • mrvaluepack on 02/04/2024 - 07:11
      +2

      No alternative retailers like electricity, telco and energy.

    • Herbse on 02/04/2024 - 12:40
      +2

      Or move to the USA where stuff is cheap because govt regulations are loose, but they have gas and deadly chemicals coming out of their drinking water causing cancer and birth defects.

  • try2bhelpful on 01/04/2024 - 23:24
    +5

    I hope you feel better for getting that off your chest. Now go pay your bills before they send in the debt collectors.

  • morse on 02/04/2024 - 02:49

    What’s the total bill amount and breakdown of same?

    This does look different to my water bills in NSW and QLD, some of those things I believe are covered in rates for me, but perhaps they aren’t in your case. Not an issue for me, but renters should be clear what they pay for when they enter a rental agreement, sometimes water usage is covered by tenants, so be clear what that includes before agreeing (noting most can’t be too choosy unfortunately).

  • mrvaluepack on 02/04/2024 - 07:10
    +1

    Blame the government mob that installed the desal plant that we hardly ever use. When i worked at Melbourne water, half the entire state's annual operational cost was to maintain the desal plant. Melbourne water then passes on these charges to the retailers (YVW, GWW and SEW), and they to us.

  • Myone888 on 02/04/2024 - 08:31
    +1

    Yeah, all the service charges should be removed. It’s charges on top of charges. And not to mention the highly paid ceo salary.

  • mitty on 02/04/2024 - 08:53

    YVW story: I had been paying small amounts (around $1) via Bpay/Credit card to meet savings account criteria. YVW actually rang me to check that it wasn't some scam or something that I was victim to. Once I explained why I was paying lots of silly small amounts, they were "oh that's fine then thanks for letting us know".

    I still think water supply is probably too expensive but waddya gonna do. I blame Dan.

  • kaleidoscope on 02/04/2024 - 09:13
    +2

    You have few options;

    1) Start renting - Then you'd only pay for usage and sewage disposal which is based on water used.
    2) Disconnect and DIY your own water supply and management
    3) Write to them and have your disposal usage adjusted if you have lot of sprinklers and garden management. Because by default they assume all used goes down the sewage pipes, but if it goes into lawns and plants you don't need to pay for that usage.

    I agree it's ridiculous fees, but what else can you do CWW was somewhat better imo.

    • JimB on 02/04/2024 - 10:20

      3) Write to them and have your disposal usage adjusted if you have lot of sprinklers and garden management. Because by default they assume all used goes down the sewage pipes, but if it goes into lawns and plants you don't need to pay for that usage.

      Has anyone successfully done this?

      • kaleidoscope on 02/04/2024 - 10:29

        My friend did it as he got massive lawn. From memory they ask for lawn area / how frequently you water and during which days / season you do that. Based on that they’d done some adjustments to it. I can’t comment on exact numbers because i’m not aware of it.

        • JimB on 02/04/2024 - 12:41

          Interesting.

          I doubt it would work for us as we use less than 300L per day on over the year.

          A little more in summer as we shower more than once a day in Summer.

  • MrFrugalSpend on 02/04/2024 - 09:39
    +5

    Wow

    "Financial summary Yarra Valley Water recorded a net profit after tax of $93.2 million in 2022-23."
    https://issuu.com/yvwater/docs/annual_report_2023_rgb-access…

    On top of that profit, they seem to have also decided to spend your money on all sorts of community "initiatives" and pilot energy projects as well.
    Not to mention paying 7 executives an average of $359,400.

    That seems wrong… shouldn't it be run to cover costs and deliver a public service, not to make profits and throw money around on whatever feel good initiative they like.
    Obviously the money comes to them too easily by being able to charge whatever in a monopoly.

    • gromit on 02/04/2024 - 10:20
      +1

      put into context 93m is only around 8% margin, not unreasonable risk margin at all. though those exec salaries do seem a touch inflated.

    • mrdean on 02/04/2024 - 10:21

      Yes, yes it should.

    • kaleidoscope on 02/04/2024 - 10:59
      +1

      100%. Nothing wrong with a public servicing company making a profit as long as those funds are responsibly allocated to the betterment of the society in return. But in this case it seems wrong!

      • FareEvader on 02/04/2024 - 11:01
        -3

        It doesn't pass the pub test for me

    • Herbse on 02/04/2024 - 12:37
      +7

      Govt body loses money - "what's bunch of no nothing idiots, why can't they run like a private company and make money!"

      Govt body makes money - "what a bunch of scam artists, making money from the people they serve and using it to pay their CEO's who made the decisions that lead to the profits"

      🙄

    • JIMB0 on 02/04/2024 - 18:33

      They were set up this way decades ago in the Jeff Kennet days so that they could be sold off and privatized at a later date. So far they've been too scared to privatize something as critical as drinking water, however parts of the sewage system have come close to being sold off a few times.

    • meowsers on 02/04/2024 - 21:45
      +1

      The best part about all this is that the victorian government (read former dan andrews govt) has secretly pulled the profits out to pad the budget.

      https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/victorians-face-…

      Tim Pallas is a bit of a snake.

      • MrFrugalSpend on 04/04/2024 - 21:37

        Ahh, and there it is, … so in essence, they get these "companies" that are clearly not independent to charge a bunch extra, they do all these community "initiatives" that should really be government functions plus take money back from them for the collective coffers, and it's like raising taxes but conveniently without raising taxes because that is not a good political career move….

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