Almost 200 Greater Western Water customers are in danger of having their identities stolen, after the company mistakenly sent bills to old addresses or email addresses.
Greater Western Water’s botched $100 million-plus upgrade of its billing system has also led to delays in issuing customer bills, incorrect and inflated bills, and a flood of customer complaints to the company and the state’s ombudsman.
Ann Cunningham received a water bill for her entire apartment block.Credit: Wayne Taylor
The bungle has delayed the settlement of property and prompted individuals to complain they have been billed for their apartment block’s total water usage.
The Allan government has ordered an independent review of Greater Western Water’s billing and payment issues, after customers lodged about a thousand complaints to the state’s Energy and Water Ombudsman about the government-owned business.
Ombudsman Catherine Wolthuizen said customers were concerned about missing statements needed for property sales, a lack of concessions on bills, and extended wait times for telephone assistance.
Greater Western Water is now warning customers that it sent bills to old addresses or email addresses, putting them at risk of identity theft. It has reported 183 potential cases to the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner.
Greater Western Water has more than 630,000 customers in inner Melbourne and regional Victoria, including in Footscray, Werribee, Sunbury, Melton, Bacchus Marsh and Macedon. People cannot choose their water company.
It’s been a year since customer Ann Cunningham received a correct bill. In October last year, she received a bill about 3.5 times higher than her usual amount – she believes she was charged for her apartment block’s total usage. In January, the water company said it could not provide an adjusted invoice and the correct amount would appear on her next bill. “I’m not going to pay it until I see the correct amounts on a bit of paper,” she said. “They’ve obviously got problems.”
Another apartment owner, Tony Way, has received text messages demanding the payment of incorrect amounts. He has called the experience a “complete shambles”.
Formed in 2021 via a merger of Western Water and City West Water, Greater Western Water has spent more than $100 million upgrading its billing system. The underlying tech is from American giant Oracle and the platform vendor is DB Results, a local consulting and technology company. Greater Western Water declined to say whether it was considering legal action over the work.
Greater Western Water’s managing director Maree Lang said more than 90 per cent of bills went out on time and that the billing schedule would be “back to normal” by the middle of the year.
“We’re sorry that our levels of customer service have not met the high standards we set out to deliver, and that our customers expect from us as we get back on track,” she said.
The company is allowing customers to pay their delayed bills over four months instead of the usual one. It has also extended its contact centre hours, set up face-to-face meetings in Footscray and Sunbury, and encouraged customers to pay any amount of their bill.
When a water company undercharges a customer – whether through an incorrectly issued bill, or a bill that is issued late, or not issued at all – there is a four-month back-billing limit. In addition to the broader IT costs, Greater Western Water had to forfeit $18.6 million in customer payments for February and March 2024 because it took too long to inform customers of its billing problems.
Water woes for Greater Western Water’s 630,000 customers. Credit: Getty
Lang told ABC radio in October that customers would not face higher costs from the IT bungle because its bills and charges had been set until 2028.
Minister for Water Gayle Tierney said: “We expect the highest standards of customer service from water corporations, and Greater Western Water acknowledge they simply have not met customer expectations.”
“That’s why we requested the Greater Western Water Board commence an independent review of its operational response to billing and payment issues resulting from an IT merger, providing critical insights to enhance systems, processes, and incident response capabilities.”
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