Essex and Suffolk Water Deliberately Misleading Vulnerable Adult

ilovepeoplesoverymuch · 12 July 2018 at 11:11AM

Hi,

I have mild autism and I find it very hard to speak for myself without getting into a panic. Please don’t let my good English and reading comprehension skills make you think otherwise.

Anyway. I have had this problem from E&SW in that they keep going back on their word. They have done it three times now. I was offered a council house transfer from the council (I used to be in council accommodation) back in October ‘17. The council apparently (but have kept denying) sent E&SW a list of tenants. I had to decline the tenancy from my council as I was unable to live in that property. I never lived in that property.

So E&SW charged me a year’s worth of water for that property, about £170, in one big sum, using my card details from my previous address. My support worker and I were told by one of their employees that they weren’t supposed to do this without my authorization and that they should not have used my card details.

It was agreed that I would receive back the full amount, plus £25 credit I was owed on the address I was at before the one I never moved to. So roughly £200 total.

Nothing happened. So I tried calling them and the amount they said I was owed was greatly reduced to £50 (from the £200 total they said they owed me). I tried to tell them about the conversation we previously had with them and the man denied it happened. I hung up in a panic. Then I asked my support worker to again speak on my behalf and E&SW said they did not owe the £25 credit, but they owed the £170 plus £5. I did not like this but agreed to it anyway with my support worker.

I called them up today after not receiving the cheque, and again was denied that anything was agreed or even said in the first place. They have no records of anything according to them. I feel I am being lied to and deliberately mislead on purpose.

I still have not received anything except the £50. I’m at my wit’s end. I’ve been crying and I am finding it very hard to know what to do now. It feels like they have effectively stolen £150 from me. And apparently owe me another £25 on top of that. They have no records of previous conversations despite my support worker and I asking for them, and despite us writing down everything including when we spoke to them and the figures involved. They have denied everything.

I am going around in circles. I’m not sure whether they do this to everyone or if they are picking on me because they know I am autistic and find it hard to speak for myself. Please advise me. Many thanks.

Jackandn · 12 July 2018 at 1:49PM

I am writing to you as an autistic adult myself so I do have some idea of what your going through as I had the same upset to a similar kind of issue (not to do with my water). The reason you're upset (or at least in my case) is I suspect is not just the money but because what you think is going to happen keeps on changing and then when you finally accept one situation it suddenly changes again and your frustrated at how the situation has changed and feel powerless to make it right again. This may not help immediately to make you feel better but can give you the understanding as to why you are so upset and getting so worked up.

Now to help with the problem

First in future if you are going to talk to E&SW (or any company in the future) do it online via email or online chat (and copy and paste the conversation), as you say you struggle to speak on the phone and also you may potentially not understand what they are saying back to you. More importantly however you will have a written record of what is agreed which can act as evidence. So get them to put into writing what they are going to pay you and how they will refund your full £170 and the £25 credit they will settle the money owed to you it may also be an idea to ask about their original offer and why it appears to you and your support worker that it has changed.

If you are unhappy with what they say your next step is to go to the ombudsman and complain through them, they are called the consumer council of water (CCWater). They will investigate your claim and (taking into account your autism) do this in writing too as part of your complaint to them, I would emphasise how distressed this situation has made you. Hopefully this will give you the result that you want.

ilovepeoplesoverymuch · 12 July 2018 at 2:14PM

Jackandn, your message has really helped me, thank you. The first paragraph sums up exactly what I’m going through. I can’t bear being told one thing is going to happen, and it keeps changing. It is like telling me I need an important appointment like a heart operation and being told it keeps getting cancelled and rescheduled. It’s extremely distressing for me. I have been hitting myself over this, which I wasn’t going to put here.

Thank you so much for telling me who to contact. I think I will go straight to the Ombudsman. Even after the phone conversations (which I hate so much) and asked E&SW to put it in writing every time, I never received anything. So it makes a lot of sense to just correspond via e-mail and/or text chats at the start as you say. Again, thank you so much for understanding and replying to me. Thank you.

ilovepeoplesoverymuch · 31 July 2018 at 4:21PM

For anyone interested, here is a petition to bring our water back into public ownership.

https://weownit.org.uk/act-now/lets-bring-water-public-ownership

worried_jim · 31 July 2018 at 6:07PM

ilovepeoplesoverymuch wrote: »

For anyone interested, here is a petition to bring our water back into public ownership.

https://weownit.org.uk/act-now/lets-bring-water-public-ownership

Good luck with that.

Skools_Out · 1 August 2018 at 10:35AM

ilovepeoplesoverymuch wrote: »

For anyone interested, here is a petition to bring our water back into public ownership....

83% of us want public ownership - if we all join together we can turn the tide.

The petition only has a target of 20,000 signatures (and currently no where near that figure)

With a population of about 54million in England, let me know when it gets to almost 45million signatures, and I might be tempted by the otherwise absurd hype. :cool:

Cardew · 1 August 2018 at 12:03PM

The shares in all the water companies are valued at £xx?Billion - much of it held by UK pension funds; not to mention foreign investors.

How is it intended to compensate investors for their loss? i.e. who pays? the Government(taxpayer) or a levy on water customers?

Slinky · 1 August 2018 at 2:08PM

If this has been charged to your bank account without your authorisation, you should be able to approach your bank under the direct debit guarantee scheme to get your money back. That won't sort the compensation issue, but it will hopefully get the £170 back to you, leaving you to pursue the compensation with the company as a separate issue.

D_M_E · 1 August 2018 at 2:13PM

Levy on water customers?

It's already bad enough with the levies on energy bills to pay for "improvements" such as smart meters - where will it all end?

ilovepeoplesoverymuch · 15 August 2018 at 11:05PM

Slinky wrote: »

If this has been charged to your bank account without your authorisation, you should be able to approach your bank under the direct debit guarantee scheme to get your money back. That won't sort the compensation issue, but it will hopefully get the £170 back to you, leaving you to pursue the compensation with the company as a separate issue.

Thank you so much. As for those “not interested” - thank you, that input was helpful, I think I’ll go and e-mail Martin Lewis about what great thought-provoking and stirring points you’ve made.

MothballsWallet · 7 October 2018 at 6:35PM

Cardew wrote: »

The shares in all the water companies are valued at £xx?Billion - much of it held by UK pension funds; not to mention foreign investors.

How is it intended to compensate investors for their loss? i.e. who pays? the Government(taxpayer) or a levy on water customers?

The old water bosses selling themselves on street corners would be a start

Essex and Suffolk Water Deliberately Misleading Vulnerable Adult

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