Water leak rip-off

Warning the following story may not be relevant to you now or in the near future, however if enough noise is not made about corporations imposing unfair or unjust rules and conditions on their customers we will be bled dry of our savings and have nowhere or nobody to turn to for help.

WHY!! Because governments, politian’s and large corporations are making decisions based 1^st and foremost on driving profits and company growth rather than retaining a balance of fairness for consumers alike. Even the legal fraternity and consumer law experts follow and or make decisions on what rules and conditions are in place, this does not mean these rules and the conditions that accompany them are ever going to doing you any favours or treat you fairly.

My story is about a concealed water leak within my property which amounted to a $1,917.00 charge for water usage when my normal water usage bill averaged $10.00 per quarter.

In one month water charges amounted to $991.00 for the leak, so be afraid should you be unfortunate enough to be in a similar situation to myself.

UNLESS I/we act now and rally enough support for changes to any unfair or unreasonable rules or policies, trust me no politician, ombudsman or corporate manager is going to listen unless we the consumers raise our concerns and push for change that provides us with fair and reasonable protection when circumstances are not cut and dry or out of a normal persons control.

So please read the following story which I wrote to my local community paper (no reply), I’m sorry if it’s a bit long, however even in its short form there are many other issues/points I would have liked to mention.

Start of Article:

I need HELP in the way of community support to drive change and bring about a win for every rate payer.

Its very rare that the everyday householder and or small business achieves a win against unfair rules or policies that have been developed, implemented and enforced by corporations, councils and governments alike.

Why!!!, well we the people, the victims, simply give up the fight after we have exhausted our time complaining through the customer liaison person or its just too difficult obtaining sensible and logical responses. Its difficult if not impossible for one person to take on a company or provider to drive changes of unfair or unreasonable rules or policies.

My plight, which I call on your support, is in regards to three (3) issues that relate directly with Queensland Urban Utilities (QUU), who manage according to their web site manage water services for over 1.3 million residents and 4,900 businesses across the Brisbane, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Scenic Rim and Somerset local government areas of South Eastern Queensland.

Background:

On the 1^st November 2010 I returned to my ½ acre property after being away on holidays for the whole month of October. I noted a swamp had formed at the back of the property, further investigation revealed I had a major water leak. I immediately repaired the leak and noted my water meter reading which I then compared with my last account notice. To my surprise I noted the recorded water usage information was three (3) months in arrears. A calculation of the then and now water readings worked out I had lost nearly 700kL of water since the last reading which was by now, a four (4) month period. I thought maybe I have made a mistake with the calculation because my average water consumption prior to the leak was less than 10 kL per quarter, regardless I reported the finding to QUU who requested I notify them in writing and provide supporting evidence.

To my despair I was charged $991.76 for 354 kL of water at the next billing period and to my horror it became apparent that QUU read my water meter on the 6^th October and did nothing to warn me of the massive increase from 10 kL to 354kL at the time of reading or thereafter. Therefore for the whole month of October, until I discovered the leak on the 1^st November water poured from an underground concealed leak that was caused by tree roots forcing an underground pipe joint apart. Not being notified is one of my complaints against QUU, water could have been saved and I would not have received yet another $925.49 bill the following quarter for 333kL of water usage, the leak from 6th October 2010 to 1st November 2010 cost me approximately $915.00.

Because the leak went from one billing period to another even though it was the same event any discount under QUU “Concealed Leaks Policy” only applied to one billing period. The amount incurred in the next billing period would not be discounted because the QUU policy condition states you can only have 1 claim per every three years. Given that QUU were aware of the massive spike in water usage early in October they reject any claim by me that they should have or were obligated to notify the property owner. Why would QUU, when they would reap the reward for your water loss.

Furthermore providing water meter readings that begin eight (8) months in arrears within your current account notice further enhances QUU reward for charging property owners for any lost water due to a leak. Don’t believe me, check your last account, record the issue date of the any account, go to the back page and record the date of the Water Usage Charges starting period, a bit of a shock, you should feel ripped off as I do. With today’s real life electronic technology world how can water usage figures be so far in arrears? Obviously QUU are in no hurry to provide customers with a world class service, don’t be coned by their web site lip service and smoke and mirrors information for the consumer. That’s why QUU insist the property owner takes full responsibility for whatever infrastructure applies to your property (water and sewerage services).

This situation could happen to you and as far as I am concerned it could be avoided if QUU water meter readings were current. Electricity providers can provide electrical meter readinsg that are less than 2 weeks old so why can’t QUU?.

Since my campaign against QUU they have update their web site with all sorts of helpful information on how to read you meter, where to find it and how to check it to see if you may have a water leak. This information is fine if you happen to have internet access to bad if you don’t, you know why QUU did this don’t you, its so the majority of property owners not have a case to argue against QUU like I put forward many months ago. The majority of people don’t know where there water meter is let alone how to read and check it for leakage. The web site information is a cop out because QUU does not have any customer benefits in mind which would reduce their profits.

Come on less be fair dinkum, the vast majority of property owners would not read or check their water meter on a regular basis and then compare the reading against a previous reading, they like me, relied on my account notice to compare water usage against their level of use over the past billing period, now I know the reading recorded on your latest bill began 8 months prior.

Learn from the information I have provided about water leaks or accept a most likely and costly outcome, or join me in the fight against these unfair conditions.

Another unjust situation that QUU have imposed is that the property owner is fully responsible for maintaining sewerage pipes on your property by making sure they are free from cracks and blockages. Now after my predicament QUU’s web site suggest you don’t plant trees in the vicinity of your water or sewerage services. Yet another copout, who amongst us would know where their water and sewerage services are located, certainly “Dial Before You Dig” does not have this information nor would your local council or QUU and I bet new property owners were not provided with a as built services plans for the property.

Why on earth would QUU insist the property owner is responsible for services they did not install and for services that could be 100 years old. Because QUU knows these services will fail over time and they insist the property owner funds any repairs, repairs which could cost many to tens of thousands of dollars depending where the fault is located. I don’t have a sewerage network in my area and thank god I don’t, but this is not stoping me from challenging yet another unjust QUU policy condition.

Please note another policy change that has been imposed to close any avenues that a property owner could have persued for a fair and reasonable outcome.

Under the current concealed leaks policy January 2011 (doc number Q00229-2011), property owners can apply for financial assistance provided they meet all nine (9) general criteria conditions. Financial assistance is now capped at up to 40% and may be applied by QUU if the cost of a water loss exceeds $500.00.

Please note: Since my campaign for a fair outcome QUU has changed their concealed leak policy general criteria. Policy dated January 2011 (doc number Q00172-2011) general condition 8 had two sub conditions (a & b) which if meet QUU would consider financial assistance of up to 80% for exceptional circumstances. For the past 15 months I have been arguing with QUU that I meet the criteria for the full 80% discount, however they have not provide a logical answer why they will not apply this condition to my situation.

This good people, is an example of where rules and conditions are changed to benefit QUU and not its customers. As a matter of fact I have noticed that the QUU website has been updated to counter address points I have raised in my arguments over the past 15 months. Like nature (Tree roots) caused my water leak, trees I did not plant or nor did I know where my water service pipework was buried.

By the way for the doubters, I did not notice a reduction in my water pressure, probably because I do not use water at the full flow rate. In my circumstance a pipe joint seal failed due to joint separation, however the pipe remained in-line and connected within the joint.

Another point I have raised in my defence is why can’t Water Meter Inspectors compare usage figures at the time of reading your meter if an anomaly is apparent or if the water meter is flowing at a rapid rate the water meter reader leaves a courtesy card in your letterbox to bring your attention, their finding and there is a need for the property owner to investigate the anomaly. If there was a water leak, property owners could then find and repair the leak and avoid any further water excess water charges while waiting over another three (3) month for the next water account.

Please consider this supporting argument:

1. If a water leak occurred in the water supply from the pumping station to your water meter regardless of what caused the leak, we the rate payers wear the cost to fix the leak and we wear the cost of the water lost to the environment.

Why then is the property owner forced to pay for water lost to the environment if they can prove the leak was not a result of their lack of maintenance and or failure to repair the leak once it became noticed, but was caused by nature simular to the above argument.

Looking forward to any support or ideas readers may have to retain our right to be treated fairly and reasonable.

Follow link to Current Affair story

http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/video.aspx?vq=concealed water leak