“Our water bill spiked inexplicably, we dutifully paid (an insane and implausible amount) to avoid any debt collection issue. But I also requested a leak investigation. This was in August 2021.
They sent an engineer who said he found a leak around September 2021, and so they arranged a repair and said we'd be reimbursed for the amount we have overpaid. Fair enough.
Got some news that unfortunately the repair had been delayed, it could take weeks, maybe all the way until November! Fair enough, we can wait, I understand these things take time.
Whoops, it's been delayed now because there is a hotel in the area they need to talk to before they can fix the leak. Fair enough, it will be done in late December they say.
January comes around, the leak has not been fixed, Thames Water now says they don't have a date for when the leak will be fixed.
We continue this dance until April, this time, Thames Water sends us a bill, another huge one that makes absolutely no sense. I call in to say "hey, this bill is not reasonable as there is an unfixed leak' they say 'we understand, but you still need to pay, we don't care if it's a ridiculous amount that we know makes no sense, and no, we don't yet know when your leak will be fixed. Pay us anyways, we will adjust later.' At this point I'm expected to take them at their word...it's April, so they have already proven that their word cannot be trusted.
I contact the Consumer Council for water (CCW) to complain, and the CCW is very understanding. CCW says not to pay the bill, and gives Thames Water a call, they are not impressed either. They tell Thames water to schedule a repair.
All of a sudden, I get a call from Thames Water saying they've scheduled a repair for May 9. This essentially means that if they really cared to do this, they would've done it sooner. My bill has been 'generously' frozen until the repair is made.
Here we are in present day, it's May 20th, 2022. Thames Water sent a team that has determined that the issue has magically fixed itself, but that they didn't do anything. Our water meter is miraculously reporting normal usage again. However! There is a tiny leak on the side of our property (well, our landlord's property, rather). The engineer explicitely said it was much too small a leak to explain the large bill. Essentially 'we have done nothing, but the leak looks like it fixed itself, we have no idea what the problem was, we have failed to find it, anyways, life goes on'.
I ask what this means about my bill, and Thames Water says that now that they have done nothing but usage is back to normal, I am still expected to pay the previous completely ridiculous bill that was frozen. Why? Because thames water has failed to actually find out the problem. They said an 'adjustment' can't be made until our landlord fixes the tiny leak that the engineer said was too small to explain the bill, but not otherwise. In the interim, Thames Water tells me that they will move to debt collection in 2 weeks if we do not pay the bill that CCW previously advised us not to pay.
When they want money '2 weeks or else', but when we want a repair 'please, you must understand! we need 9 months!'
Absolutely shameless greed and apathy, abject failure and intimidation at every level. This company is a joke.”
“Kept ringing my mum with an automated message, rang them back to tell them that she is 91 & dying of cancer & all they are interested in is her paying a year ahead bill ! They wont send a bill for the 1 MONTH that she actually owes ! Disgusting & shameful greed”
“Moved into a 1 bed property November 2021. Had to sort out 2 x leaks the day I moved in. I am frugal with water use. Phoned Thames and registered as a customer. Explained that I can't access the meter. Agreed on £22 a month. Sent an estimated bill which expects over £60 a month. Can only assume they are charging me for the previous occupants water leaks. Very unfair.”
“Thames water is truly one of the worst companies I have ever worked with. Avoid them if you can. They provided an egregious price for their services. Almost triple what the neighbor in a much larger flat pays. When I asked for clarity on this, they said to talk with my local officials as they do not have any control. I then asked for a water meter to be installed. They scheduled an appointment and didn't show. Then when I reached out they said they came. Very unprofessional company.”
“They charged me and my wife £800 pounds for water one year. I ask them to check the meter as I thought it's leaking . They said someone will call me to check . Nobody call me , they just replace meter for new . And send me the bill . £800 pounds bill for couple of hard working people who are spending most of the time at work. Wankers and liers. Absolute morons...”
“Quite simply the worst company to have to deal with. They are so lucky that Londoner's have to use them otherwise they wouldn't have any customers.
In the space of a year they have overcharged me, undercharged me, cancelled my account, cancelled my water supply, taken unauthorised money out of my bank, only paid some of it back etc.
They also seem to have a completely untrained support team that have no idea how to do a simple task - put you through to someone else with no notes on what you've already discussed.
Say they will call you back and then never do.
Seriously just the worst.”
“Thames Water, Did work at a neighbours driveway
Pumped clay water into road, Causeing drain to be blocked and road covered with Clay soil, residents driveways and cars have got dirty with clay soil, our road is a private so caused more issues, all residents concern reported these issues to Thames Water,
Very bad service from Thames Water regards to residents causing all sorts off issues”
“Strange call from Indian call centre - I think my smart meter is going to be changed for the third time but who knows? Why oh why can’t Thames Water have proper call centres?”
“The customer service is the worst I have ever experienced anywhere. The online chat is terrible nobody knows what they are doing, they do not read what you type or have a clue on what you are asking them. I find myself repeating everything 10 times. Its frustrating! Even to the point they tell me my account is with another water company when they have just sent me a bill and i have paid it! I am then asked to send them a picture of the bill they sent to me! The was no apology nothing! When you call the customer service team its the same thing. Rude and unhelpful staff. I put off getting in touch with thames water for the longest time because i just know it will be a stressful unpleasant customer service journey. Avoid at all costs!”
“Where do I start with this company.
Firstly, non of their staff seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet. Each time you deal with a different person you get a different result. They don't seem to have much respect for customers or each other!
I can go on about all the problems we have with this company over the years but sadly, the first response person you receive on the phone will be the last person there you speak to.
No management to deal with problems or reassure people just blunt & dismissive staff. ( because its like that and that's the way it is!)
Just very poor service from a company with a licence to take money off you.
Also, you should have a tick for the company never got back to me below.”
“Have been a customer for many years. Service regarding shared blocked drains has always been excellent up till now. Due to medical problems I am priority customer which now means I have to wait up to 2 days rather than 3 days I certainly do not regard this as a *priority* service and can only assume that the level of customer services has been reduced to save money due to losses incurred last year making customers suffer.”
“Have been a customer for many years. Service regarding shared blocked drains has always been excellent up till now. Due to medical problems I am priority customer which now means I have to wait up to 2 days rather than 3 days I certainly do not regard this as a *priority* service and can only assume that the level of customer services has been reduced to save money due to losses incurred last year making customers suffer.”
“How can I be expected to pay £50 a week for water okay I’ve got a little bit of arrears Please £50 a week that’s my shopping money to feed my kids totally disgusting”
“Just look at the reviews it’s true honestly the government needs to get involved but they rich and don’t care water is dirty and harmful and you expect someone to pay 400. A year I can source and clean my own water for that price”
“Horrible, horrendously stressful experience with this utility provider. Sent a final bill which was extortionate for a small 3 bed house, I asked for clarification on the rates they applied and received nothing but a letter threatening me with legal action if I didn’t pay within 7 days which was a shock considering I never missed a payment! Overall the senior management at Thames just need to do a better job for their customers.”
“As you can see this is just another bad comment for them which they won’t care about. Bulshit company not sure how they can even exist. Been without water foe few days so called Thames water. Customer service worst ever received”
“I wish I could give this company a ZERO .... their phone no is always different and so is the email address and postal address. I tried to pay a bill which I sent to Slough and that was returned by the post office saying they are no longer there. So I called to find the correct address .... the assistant had problems with her computer and then she said "can you call us back in about 20 minutes!" what company would ask a customer to call them back? This is the most useless company on the planet ....”
“I called out Thames Water to unblock a main sewer drain on the road as it began backing up into my external gullies / drains. On the the of the job, they sent out Lanes Group to carry out the work. There were 5 engineers, and they managed to flood my garden and destroy a huge retaining wall. Currently stuck with them in an investigation over liability, but costs are likely to be ATLEAST £30,000 to repair everything. Has been two months already and still "ongoing". Absolutely horrendous care for their work. Thames Water claimed ZERO liability for the incident and told me to deal with Lanes Group (their contractors). I wasn't even aware they hired out contractors till after the incident. How was I supposed to know they were contractors when they are wearing Thames Water branded uniforms and equipment, and didn't even provide any introduction. Stuck in horrible investigation now for OVER 2 MONTHS!”
