Water Pressure

Dispute

A customer started having issues with water pressure at their property in mid-2019. They experienced numerous outages up to 2023, some of which were for weeks or months at a time. This was an older customer, and they and their family had made extensive contact with UÉ over this period to reach a resolution.

Upon review, we established that a water pump in the local area had been decommissioned in mid-2019. This had caused pressure issues in the wider area and was likely the original cause of the customer’s issues, however these had been fixed. The customer also had a substantial leak on their premises which likely led to the ongoing issues. The customer’s leak was on their premises (the private side of the network), so fixing the leak was their responsibility. UÉ advised the customer of this verbally during site visits in 2020 and 2022.

In 2023, UÉ installed a modified connection and later completed a leak repair, both at no cost to the customer, which resolved the issue.

Outcome

The investigation revealed instances where UÉs communication and customer service were not satisfactory. The customer was eligible for inclusion on UÉ’s vulnerable customer register due to their age, however UÉ did not proactively notify the customer of this or take this into account when the issues first started.

The CRU upheld this complaint against UÉ on customer service grounds. The issue was the customer’s responsibility to address, and UÉ went above and beyond their regulatory requirements to eventually resolve the issue. However, customer care and complaint handling failures caused significant frustration and distress for the customer and contributed to the prolonged resolution time. We awarded €360 in charter payments for these issues.