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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- 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
7 hours ago
- RNZ News
Music licenser chasing up hundreds of businesses for playing music in the workplace
All commercial businesses, including offices and trade sites, are required to pay a licencing fee, with any music played for non-personal use. (File photo) Photo: Eric Nopanen / Unsplash A music licensing organisation is chasing up hundreds of businesses a week asking them to pay-up for the tunes they are using, so that artists get what they are owed. OneMusic licences certain music for use in commerical settings like pubs, club, offices, hairdressers, gym and factories, nearly anything outside of personal use. Charges vary, playing the radio in a factory with 72 workers would cost $49 a month for licence, a gym with 500 members would pay about $104 dollars a month. OneMusic Director, Greer Davies told Checkpoint music licencing had been around for a while, and the company saw a huge lack of awareness from businesses. "It comes down to a lack of education and so our team are continually contacting businesses to educate them about the use of music and their legal requirements for music creators." "OneMusic's been around for 13 years but music licencing existed prior to that as well, and it's an it's an education that we need to take people on." Davies said they were speaking to hundreds of different businesses a week, aiming to educate them about the licencing programme. One of those business owners was a Hawkes Bay florist who told Checkpoint she was called by OneMusic to see if she was paying licence fees , which she wasn't. Francie Croy said she listened to the radio on her phone out the back of her Waipukurau shop, but the music licensing organisation told her she must buy a licence or turn the music off. "No one out front of the shop can hear it, but she said to me that I would still have a licence to have to do that because sometimes Newstalk ZB plays music." She said after the phone call she was sent another email from OneMusic. "It was a certificate thing, saying this is confirmation that you have advised us that you do not play music in your business and will not play music represented by this place. "It includes television, radio stations, apps, digital music services, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, CD's, DVD's, Blu-ray, vinyl and cassette tapes, and the list goes on." Croy said she had no idea that being charged for playing music at her business was even a possibility. All commercial businesses, including offices and trade sites, were required to pay the licencing fee, with any music played for non-personal use. Although the licence covered a large variety of circumstances, Davies said they had a specific focus on a group of businesses. "Our current focus is educating business owners across hospitality, retail, service providers and exercise." Croy said she was shocked by the request from OneMusic, which a few other businesses in the area also received. She said it seemed unlikely that someone from OneMusic had visited her small store in Waipukurau, and thought they must be sending random emails. Davies said the company had representatives visiting shops to vet whether they were playing music unlicensed. "These representatives carry out a range of tasks for us, some verifying music that's being played and identified the source of that music. They also check new businesses that may have opened in vacant locations that we've been unable to reach." She said the fees from the licence go towards artists to ensure they are paid for their music and OneMusic was partnered with APRA AMCOS and Recorded Music NZ, who pass the costs onto the artists. "Each of those organisations distribute the revenue that OneMusic earns on their behalf, but about 85 cents every dollar is distributed." Davies said for those that fail to pay for a licence there could be consequences, often resulting in fines. "Generally a business owner will understand the legal obligation and obtain the relevant licence, but reluctantly, if they don't, we will pursue and potentially end up in court." "The most recent court cases were in 2018 and 2019, and the damages were around about $15,000, $18,000." The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment said OneMusic licensed copyright works and MBIE did not have oversight of the scheme. It said businesses that play music for their staff and/or customers need a licence and the licensing fees paid are distributed to producers and recording artists. "If a business does not wish to pay any licensing fee to play music, they should not play music. To do so without a licence means the copyright owner may sue the business and award damages. "A business who wishes to dispute the terms and conditions of the scheme may make an application to the Copyright Tribunal. If the Tribunal determines that the licensing scheme is unfair it may order changes," it said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
8 hours ago
- RNZ News
Dead orca discovered on beach in Christchurch
An adult orca has been discovered dead at a beach in Christchurch. The Department of Conservation (DOC) have called the death "unusual" and said they were at the scene at a beach north of Waimairi along with local iwi and members of Project Jonah. DOC Mahaanui Operations Manager Andy Thompson, said a member of the public alerted DOC to the situation, and due to "challenging" sea conditions the body was unlikely to be moved before Friday morning's low tide. Staff would remain at the beach overnight, Thompson said. "We understand the orca was dead when it was spotted by a member of the public who alerted us. We ask that the public stay away to give staff and iwi the space to respond to this incident." The adult orca was first noticed by a member of the public at a beach north of Waimairi. Photo: DOC / SUPPLIED A vet pathologist would fly down to Christchurch from Massey University on Friday, Thompson said, to perform a necropsy on the orca to try and figure out how the animal had died. "Appropriate tikanga will be followed and the orca will then be buried on the beach," he said. "It's unusual for an adult orca to be found dead in the shallows like this and in good condition. Our national marine team are very keen to find out why the animal has passed away." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
