Our customer promise
At water2business, we want you to experience great service, every time. We have exceptionally high standards, and rightly so, since our customers have chosen water2business over any other water retailer.
You’re in safe hands. We are totally committed to serving your needs with helpful and knowledgeable staff so that you can focus on running your business or providing services.
Our customer promise reflects what we do best and what you deserve:
✓ At all times our expert team will be helpful, engaging and trustworthy
✓ We will seek to understand the needs of your business and tailor our service to suit you
✓ We will respect your time by dealing with queries or issues quickly and efficiently
✓ We will value your loyalty by seeking to regularly improve our service offering to you.
Do you have a query?
If you’ve got a query about your water bill or the way we do things, we would be pleased to answer it. Calling us is the quickest and easiest way. You can phone us on 0345 600 2 600 Monday to Friday, 8am to 5.30pm.
Want to pass on a compliment?
Our team members are incredibly dedicated people who put our customers at the heart of everything they do. It makes their day when they receive compliments from customers in recognition of a job well done. If you would like to pass on a compliment, we would love to hear from you.
If we didn’t get things quite right
Despite the best laid plans, very occasionally we fall short of the high standards we set ourselves. We want to hear from you if we haven’t quite got it right so we can make amends and learn how we can improve for the future.
Want to make a complaint?
We believe that when something goes wrong, it’s how you deal with it that counts. We know that the best way to restore your trust in us is to resolve issues at the first point of contact.
Step 1 - Contact us
If you are unhappy with any aspect of our service, please give us the opportunity to put things right. Calling us is the quickest and easiest way. We’ll listen to your concerns and strive to resolve the issue by the end of the call. We trust our customer-facing teams to make decisions in the interests of customer care so we will always try our very best to solve the problem there and then.
In some instances, we may need to speak to other teams to understand what went wrong. If this is the case, we will aim to come back to you with a resolution within five working days from the date we received your complaint.
If you would prefer to email or write to us, that’s fine too. We always try to respond to a written complaint within 10 working days from the date we received your complaint.
Whether you contact us by phone or in writing, we will endeavour to respond within our target timescales, but if for any reason we need longer to resolve your complaint, we’ll contact you to let you know why and when you can expect a response.
Still not resolved to your satisfaction?
Step 2 - Escalate your complaint with us
We are confident that in most cases we are able to resolve any issues when you first make contact with us. However, on the rare occasion that we have been unable to resolve your concerns to your satisfaction, our customer relations team will investigate your complaint further and seek to settle it promptly, providing you with an open and honest account of what went wrong and why.
You can contact the customer relations team by emailing or writing into us, quoting ‘escalated complaint’.
Once we receive your complaint, we will normally call you to discuss and resolve it over the phone. We do this because we believe that the human touch can make all the difference and it means we can check we have fully understood your complaint and dealt with the matter to your satisfaction.
If we are unable to reach you by phone, we aim to respond in writing within 10 working days from the date we receive the complaint unless there is a specific reason we will need longer, in which case we will let you know.
An independent view
Step 3 - Contact the Consumer Council for Water (CCW)
We’re pleased to say that it’s not often that complaints reach this stage as we take pride in how we respond when issues arise.
In the event that you remain unhappy after exhausting both avenues with us directly, you can contact the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), the independent voice for water consumers in England, by calling 0300 034 2222 or use its online form at www.ccw.org.uk/contact-us.
This organisation represents the interests of water and sewerage customers and has legal duties for dealing with customer complaints. It will look at the facts relating to your case and take the matter up with us on your behalf. It offers this service free of charge.
If the Consumer Council for Water thinks your complaint is justified, we will be asked to take the appropriate action to put things right.
For customers in Scotland
In the event that you remain unhappy after exhausting both avenues with us directly, you have the right to refer your complaint to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO). The SPSO is the final stage for complaints about public services in Scotland.
The SPSO cannot normally look at complaints:
- where you have not gone all the way through the organisation’s complaints handling procedure
- more than 12 months after you became aware of the matter you want to complain about, or
- that have been or are being considered in court.
Details of your complaint and the responses you have received from water2business should be sent to:
Write to: Freepost SPSO
Call: 0800 377 7330
Visit: www.spso.org.uk/contact-us
Guaranteed Standards Scheme (GSS)
Our industry is legally bound to maintain service standards to customers under the Guaranteed Standards Scheme, these are enforced by Ofwat. We will issue a compensation payment if we fail to meet any of the service standards.
If your wholesaler fails to meet these standards, we will work with them to ensure it’s paid and issued to you.
| GSS regulation | GSS payment | Late penalty payment |
|---|---|---|
| Account queries and requests about changes to payment arrangements - Provide a substantive response to written queries and complaints within 10 working days or 5 working days if the request is to change payment arrangement and water2business are unable to agree to the request | £20 | £10 |
| Making appointments - Provide morning or afternoon appointments, or a 2 hour time period if requested by the customer | £20 | £10 |
| Keeping appointments - Attend appointments with the customer within the agreed appointment time | £20 | £10 |
| Written complaints - Provide a substantive response to a written complaint within 10 working days | £20 | £10 |
| Wholesaler related GSS | ||
| Notice of interruption to supply - Provide 48 hours’ notice of interruptions of more than 4 hours to the water supply | £50 | £50 |
| Supply not restored - initial period - Water supply to be restored within the period notified or within 48 hours if not due to an emergency | £50 | £50 |
| Supply not restored - each further 24 hours - Additional payment for each 24 hours supply not restored | £25 | £50 |
| Low pressure - Water pressure to be maintained at a minimum pressure of 7 metre static head. Failure of this standard occurs where pressure falls below the minimum standard on 2 occasions for 1 hour or more in a 28 day period | £25 | |
| Flooding from sewers - internal flooding | Payment equal to annual sewerage charges (Minimum payment of £150. Maximum of £1000) | £50 |
| Flooding from sewers - external flooding | Payment equal to 50% of annual sewerage charges (Minimum payment of £75. Maximum of £500 | £50 |