Latest news with #Watercare
RNZ News
a day ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Watercare to contact Auckland customers after 13,000 faulty meters spark billing chaos
Watercare has revealed that a third of its 40,000 EDMI smart meters are faulty, saying it discovered the issue in October 2024. Photo: Supplied / Watercare The country's largest water supplier says it will start proactively contacting customers about tens of thousands of faulty meters, following a flood of customer complaints. Frustrated Watercare customers have contacted Checkpoint about water bills in the hundreds of dollars, which were received after meters stopped transmitting data about water use. As a result, customers received bills saying they had used zero water for the month and faced paying only the fixed charges. Lizzie from Auckland's North Shore said she investigated her billing after three "zero use" bills and found that their smart meter was no longer transmitting data. "We received a bill that amounted to about $410 for a month's usage. I emailed them and said this is not reasonable. At that point, I revoked the direct debit authority. I made it very clear I was not refusing to pay their bills, but their bills needed to be based in fact and not just plucked out of the air." This week, Watercare revealed that a third of its 40,000 EDMI smart meters are faulty, saying it discovered the issue last October and started returning affected customers to manual reading, leading to ''catch-up'' bills that are higher than previous months. West Auckland customer Kyle said he was on to his second smart meter after the first one stopped sending a signal a few months ago. But he told Checkpoint his water bills are now coming in much higher than he would expect. "Our water bill on average was about $100 or $120 a month, and then it jumped to about $200, and I'm like, 'Yeah, no, that doesn't seem quite right.'" Kyle said Watercare made no effort to contact him about the issue, and it was he who raised it with the company. He said they came back to him and told him his meter had temporarily stopped communicating. Watercare said the EDMI meters were one of two smart meter models that have been rolled out since 2022. "We are really disappointed that this fault has occurred and are working very closely with the supplier to ensure Aucklanders are not out of pocket because of it. All meters are under warranty, and we're still in negotiations with the supplier. For this reason, we can't confirm right now whether we will replace all 40,000 EDMI meters. We are not replacing them until we have confirmed a solution, " said Chief Financial Officer Angela Neeson. Utilities Disputes Commissioner, Neil Mallon, told Checkpoint that he would expect a company with issues with meters to ''be really proactive with communication'' and provide them with information about what to do, such as sending the company data so it can be recorded. "It should be on every bill, really, to let customers know if you've got an estimate or an actual bill, you've got the power to do something about that. To let your provider know." Mellon said water companies were voluntary participants in the scheme, but he would like to see them become mandatory, like energy companies. "I think water and energy are both essential services to Kiwis, and they should be treated consistently. In an ideal world, that's our view. If they were, all Kiwi consumers would be able to come to us if they had a problem with their water provider." Under the current voluntary membership, it's up to Watercare to initiate an investigation into a consumer complaint. Mellon believed that about 5 percent of complaints dealt with by Utilities Disputes relate to water. Watercare has now updated its website with information for customers and said it will proactively contact customers with working EDMI meters from next week, "so that they're aware of the issue, and know to get in touch with us straight away if they get a water bill that incorrectly said they've used no water. This will help to reduce the impact of catch-up bills." Customer last names have been omitted due to privacy concerns. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
a day ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Raft of customer complaints following faulty Watercare metres
politics local council 26 minutes ago The watchdog that settles disputes about essential services like electricity and gas believes it should be mandatory for water suppliers to sign up to the scheme. Utilities Disputes is an independent disputes resolution service; its compulsary for gas and electricity companies and broadband installers to be part of the scheme. But it's voluntary for water suppliers. It comes after Checkpoint revealed 13,000 Watercare smart metres are not working properly, leaving some customers struggling to pay big catch up bills and frustrated by Watercare's service. Watercare is a voluntary member of Utilities Disputes, which means it has to refer any complaints to the service, customers cant make complaints directly. Utilities Disputes Commissioner Neil Mallon spoke to Lisa Owen.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Woman had to beg to pay hefty Watercare bill in instalments after issue with faulty smart meter
The faulty meters means some customers had been getting zero use bills for months. Photo: Nunnicha Supagrit A Watercare customer says she had to beg to pay off a huge catch-up bill in instalments after a faulty smart meter gave her zero-use bills for months. The issue stemmed from Watercare's smart meters, which it told Checkpoint more than 13,000 of were not working . The water supplier had known about problems with one type of smart meter since October last year, and the fault had so far affected about one third of the 40,000 meters installed since 2022. Hamideh, from West Auckland's Henderson, told Checkpoint, she had complained to Watercare more than once about an issue with her smart meter which began in November last year, but while waiting for the issue to be fixed she was sent a bill to the amount of $219. "It was shocking - I was not prepared for it." She had lost her job a few months ago and knew she wouldn't be able to afford to pay off the bill in one go. "I called Watercare and asked to pay in instalments and they said no, not possible. I explained I lost my job and was told that I should have saved for it." After about 25 minutes on the phone, Hamideh said it was accepted she could pay in instalments. "But there's still no reading on my water meter. I was quite pissed off when she told me I had to save for it. "They told me the meter just stopped syncing data... they didn't communicate the problem with their customers. It's been seven months and no solution." Watercare chief financial officer Angela Neeson told Checkpoint she was really sorry to hear about Hamideh's experience and said it needed resolving. "That it's taken seven months to resolve does sound unusual." Neeson said when Watercare realised there was an issue with the smart meters processes were put in place to identify when the meters started to become faulty. "The process does take a couple of months because the first month of a zero read could just be someone on holiday or out of the house but after the second month we move the customer to a manual read," she said. She acknowledged there was nothing on the Watercare website about the faulty meters and said Watercare had "been focused on liasing with the customers". "We watch for month two to identify when there is potentially a faulty meter." Watercare had now stopped installing that particular meter, Neeson confirmed but she did not give a timeline on how long it would take to replace the faulty ones. "We will always look and how we can do better and we're considering whether we don't wait that one month after a zero read to investigate so that it shortens that period for customers. "We are always looking at how we can do things better". Neeson confirmed water bills would increase 7.2 percent at the start of July which she said reflected the cost of running the operations and becoming financially independent. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Faults with a third of Watercare's smart metres
A huge catch-up bill has left one Watercare customer stressed out and "pissed off' and she says the problem is still not fixed. Checkpoint has revealed that more than 13 thousand Watercare smart meters are not working properly. It means customers have been gettting zero use bills; bills that claim they havent used a single drop of water in a month or in some cases months. Watercare said the problem is specific to a particular smart meters. They have installed about 40,000 of them since 2022, and there's a fault with about a third of them. Watercare chief financial officer Angela Neeson spoke to Lisa Owen. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
1News
3 days ago
- General
- 1News
Faulty Akl water meters sees some overcharged, others with zero fees
A number of Aucklanders have received Watercare bills that say they've used zero water, while others claim they're being overcharged. The zero fee bills claim customers have not used a single drop in the past month or in some cases for months. The issue stems from Watercare's smart meters, which it told Checkpoint more than 13,000 of are not working. The water supplier also said they've known about problems with one type of smart meter since October last year, and the fault has so far affected around one-third of the 40,000 meters installed since 2022. Greg is one customer who has been receiving zero fee bills, the first one arriving in May. ADVERTISEMENT "We got the bill that said we had used no water and there was just the sort of standard monthly charge. And I just thought oh well, they've forgotten to read it or they haven't got around to reading it. And I just made a note that the next bill was gonna be bigger and then the next bill came and once again we'd used no water." Greg contacted Watercare about the issue, who told him his smart metre must not be working. "They said could you take a photo of the metre and then we can send you the proper bill. And I said, well, no, that's not possible because I've had knee surgery. I can't get down to take a photo." He was then told the water supplier could send someone out to take the photo for him, but it would cost $35. He said he was yet to receive the correct bill but had been told they would now be reading his meter manually. Kyle was on to his second smart meter after the first one stopped sending signal a few months ago. But he told Checkpoint his water bills were now coming in much higher than he would expect. "Our water bill on average was about $100 or $120 a month and then it jumped to about $200 and I'm like 'yeah, no, that doesn't seem quite right'. ADVERTISEMENT "[Watercare] were basing it on estimates from the previous water bill, which would have been around summer, and me being a gardener, I obviously used a bit more water." Kyle said Watercare made no effort to contact him about the issue, and it was him who raised it with the agency. He said they came back to him and told him his meter had temporarily stopped communicating. "They used the word temporary, but if it was temporary, then why are they replacing it?" He said he was still waiting to have the issue resolved. "I disputed it initially. Sent them a photo of the meter, heard nothing back for them... then I sent them the photo and said, 'hey, can I please get a bill amended?' They said it would take three to five working days and I'm still waiting for it." Watercare's head of retail operations Evan James said the fault means the meter eventually stops sending data but keeps recording water use. ADVERTISEMENT Watercare stopped installing that particular model and started returning affected meters to manual reading, leading to ''catch up'' bills that are higher than previous months. He said Watercare sincerely apologised for the inconvenience and it was offering payment options to help ease the impact. Utilities Disputes told Checkpoint they would expect Watercare to inform customers if it was aware of issues with meters, and explore the options, like letting customers know they can self-report their use to avoid significant back bills. Watercare has around 500,000 meters and of these, around 70,000 are smart meters.
