News
H²0 Building Services attends “Water Industry Customer Conference”
Senior Consultant Graham Mann from the UK’s leading “Water Cost Reduction” consultants H²O Building Services attended the “Water Industry Customer Conference” recently held at the Birmingham Holiday Inn, the key topics for discussion included: –
* How the water bill and government will contribute to a customer led future. 
* What customers are telling us.
* The latest innovations in customer segmentation and engagement.
* How to deliver a customer led business plan.
* Delivering bills that customers can pay and will pay.
* Customer service excellence and designing a deliberate customer experience.
In attendance were Senior Managers and Directors of the water and waste water companies, from heads of customer relations, retail services, market reform though to communications, billing and corporate affairs, in fact from most if not all departments.
Outside of the water and waste water suppliers in attendance as speakers we had representation from DEFRA, Consumer Council for Water, OFWAT and Scottish Water Regulation.
Graham Mann says: -“We were the only “Water Cost Reduction” firm at the conference which was quite disappointing, the speakers appeared to focus on residential customers, I cannot honestly recall the words “commercial customers” more than once, lots of talk about individual strategies to improve customer service and indeed I am not quite sure the water companies meaning of “customer service” was. I noted interesting comments from Dame Yve Buckland Chair for the Consumer Council for Water putting the customer at the heart, delivering a customer lead experience, giving customers choice, empowerment and re-dress. She went on further to say water company leakage was a big issue, business customers what choice (she did not specify the various choices I assume she meant switching to another supplier to reduce costs?). In short we see no change for commercial customers.
We directed a question to the panel and we asked specifically what were their plans in the future to empower commercial customers and what were the rights of re-dress if say a commercial customer is overcharged ands a claim is submitted to a water company the majority of the time the water company give back between 50% – 75% of the actual overcharges as thousands of companies were being overcharged by £10 millions, yet there is no re-dress. The Consumer Council for water have no power or authority as the gas and power regulators, the panels reply –
” There are no plans in the future to give CCW more powers and no plans for a water ombudsman” There was refusal to comment on individual cases and some claims are involving “grey areas” customers that are not happy can go through the courts.
H²O’s view of the conference: –
The conference was all about various water companies patting themselves on the back for substantial focus on customer services, a big issue according to the Chair of the Consumer Council for Water was water company leakage, why was this? why should residential or commercial customers have a big issue with leakage within a water company network? where there are water shortages and drought conditions then of course as it will affect supplies but for no other reason. There are no plans to enpower the customers, no plans to give the Consumer Council for Water any authoritative powers, therefore customers will continue to be overcharged by all of the water companies in England and Wales with no right of re-dress other than through the courts. Without exception it is for customers to check their water bills and where they think they are being overcharged to make the appropriate claim. It appears that the water companies have no responsibility to ensure charges they levy are correct and if they do overcharge don’t expect a full refund!
Rather than spending £ millions on customer service marketing studies the water companies should look to the North the home of Scottish Water / Business Stream who are 100% customer focused, where if a customer is overcharged you receive 100% refund not 50% to 75%.
In England and Wales we are in desperate need of a “Water Ombudsman” with powers to force water companies to levy correct bills and when they do overcharge to refund in full plus compensation, the Ombudsman must be independent and not funded by the water industry otherwise consumers will continue to have their rights eroded and water companies will continue to overcharge consumers and get away with it.