Wessex Water Not Taking Responsibility

esault

Hi,
This is a long story so I will go right from the start.
Back in April, the location in where I live had a water outage, because of a burst pipe, Wessex Waters fault.
A week or two later, our house gets a so called air lock. We believe it's because of the water outage, so we call a private plumber to remove the airlock. It cost us £90.
Only a couple of weeks later, it happens again. We couldn't quite believe it. However, having an airlock where all the water is gone, we get a private plumber back out again. Another £90. He believes its because we don't leave much of a gap between each time we use the power shower. We have had a power shower ever since we have moved in here in 2005. So we didn't believe it.
After about a month or two, we get yet again, another airlock. Absolute nightmare. However, this time it only affects the upstairs cold water. meaning we can still shower etc. This time we decide to contact Wessex water about this because we realise this has only been happening since the burst pipe. They send out an inspector etc. Eventually, after multiple inspectors and phone calls, a plumber finally comes out. Friendly enough. Anyway, he says its because of a valve that wasn't fully open in the water tank.
It happens AGAIN!!!!! about another month later. We call up wessex water again and we really have a go this time. Because it has only happened since then and given the fact every plumber we have had has given us a different reason, we didn't listen. Anyway, we only have to have one inspector this time, who is in and out in about 5 minutes, and the plumber (who we weren't even told about) turns up the next day. He has a look and removes the airlock. He says he is going to have to come back to fit a new pump for the showers. Anyway, he only comes the next day so not much of a wait. We have to leave him on his own as we had to get to work/school. We come back and we have two new pumps absolutely free of charge. The plumber was so lovely and he told us he should really be charging us, but he felt guilty!!! :rotfl:
Anyway, he tells us that he has discovered a huge leak coming from out hot water tank. We couldn't believe it, as it was clearly caused by Wessex water. This man has discovered it however from all of the water work they had been doing, they have clearly caused it.

They decide they are not going to be taking any responsibility whatsoever! The pump they have fitted keeps turning on randomly, however we have switched it off. Anyway, we were told the leak would get suddenly a lot worse if we didn't do anything. We have a private plumber coming out tomorrow. We have told him everything and how annoyed we are and we have literally told them to sort out everything! God knows how much this is going to cost.

What do we do? Can we charge wessex water? How do we make a complaint important?

Thanks for listening to my rant, and if you still want to comment, anything would be appreciated! :A

mattyprice4004

How can you prove all of the issues have come from the initial issue?
It happening a few weeks later isn't proof enough - coincidences happen all the time, it's possible the two events are completely unconnected and it is down to you to prove otherwise unfortunately.

Ectophile

How can you prove any of the issues have come from the initial issue?


To be honest, I don't think Wessex Water can be held responsible for every plumbing problem you have from now on.

James1968

The hot water tank leak is not Wessex Water's fault. They had a leak in the street which they fixed.

Then, you suffered a series of air-locks. These could be caused by a few things.

Most hot water systems have a pipe that sticks up above the rest of the pipework. This has an air valve on it that automatically allows trapped air to escape. Have you got such a pipe?. If so, has the valve stuck shut?.

macman

By 'power shower,' do you mean an electric shower off the rising main, or a tank-fed shower with an electric pump?
If the latter, then do you have 2 power showers (as you refer to two pumps)? Are you attempting to use them simultaneously?
If they both run off the tank, then nothing that can go wrong is the fault of WW. I cannot see how an airlock can cause damage to the hot tank? What kind of damage caused the leak?
Is this a conventional vented tank or an unvented one under mains pressure?