Decision report 201104934

Summary

Mr C complained that Business Stream did not give him notice that the water pressure at his business premises would be much higher when Scottish Water upgraded the pipes in his area. He said that there were a number of large underground leaks in his premises, and it took him several months to detect and fix all of them. As a result of this, his water bill rose substantially, although he was given a rebate sum for part of this.

We asked Business Stream if either they or Scottish Water should tell customers if the pressure in the network is to increase. Business Stream said that Scottish Water manage their network on a daily basis, which increases and decreases pressure. They said that Scottish Water do not advise if there are to be changes unless the change in water pressure is to be so great that it would cause an operating issue to a commercial customer. They told us that Scottish Water renewed the old pipe work in Mr C’s area, but did not increase the water pressure there, although the new pipe work increased the water pressure at Mr C’s premises due to increased efficiency and reduced water loss. However, there was no requirement in these circumstances for Business Stream or Scottish Water to give him notice about this so we did not uphold that complaint.

Mr C also complained that Business Stream failed to deal with his complaints appropriately and delayed in reading his water meter. We found that they had delayed in responding to his complaints and in obtaining his water meter readings, as well as asking him to provide information that he had already sent to them. We upheld this complaint.

Recommendations

We recommended that Business Stream Ltd:

• issue a written apology for the failure to deal with Mr C's complaints appropriately.