Decision Report 201507682

Summary

Mr C complained that Business Stream applied excessive water charges to his account as a result of his business suffering a water leak in a bathroom. He was concerned that they only provided a limited leak allowance and failed to address his concerns and refer him to the SPSO within a reasonable period of time.

We found that there had been failings in the way this case was dealt with and we noted that Mr C's original complaint was not identified as a complaint at the time and as a result, Business Stream delayed in providing him with details of the SPSO. We upheld these aspects of the complaint.

However, we were satisfied that the charges applied by Business Stream were reasonable, that they notified Mr C of the changes to his water usage promptly and that he was responsible for dealing with leaks within his premises. We also noted that Mr C did not qualify for a leak allowance. As a result, we did not uphold these aspects of the complaint.

Recommendations

We recommended that Business Stream:

• write to Mr C to apologise for the failings identified; and
• write to Mr C to apologise for failing to record his original contact as a complaint.