Decision report 201200658

Summary

Mr C, who is a business adviser, complained on behalf of clients about Business Stream. He said that Business Stream had billed his clients for water services based on incorrect information. He maintained that although he brought these inaccuracies to Business Stream's attention, they failed to amend them or change their bill. He said that as a consequence, his clients had been put under stress by Business Stream who did not readily put the account concerned on hold until the matter had been resolved. He said that his clients had been prevented from switching suppliers and that a switch might have been to their financial advantage.

We investigated the complaints, taking all the relevant information into account, including all correspondence and statements of account and invoices, internal notes and emails, together with printouts from the Central Marketing Agency (CMA). The CMA is the organisation that administers the market for water and waste water retail services in Scotland.

We did not uphold any of Mr C's complaints. Our investigation showed that although Mr C maintained that Business Stream had used the incorrect start date for invoicing, the CMA information confirmed Business Stream's understanding as correct. Mr C's client's account had been put on hold for the duration of the complaint and the client's own actions, in disputing their bill, was what had prevented them from switching users.