Bit of a shock with my first bank statement after Christmas. Not one of those, ‘oh dear, I overdid it buying Uncle Monty cashmere socks’ moments. More an ‘OMG, WTF and many other acronyms, where has my money gone???” Well, it had all gone to Thames Water, who had removed more than £4,600 from my account by direct debit, without a whisper of warning. I hadn’t even received a bill, at that point. As it was a Saturday, Thames Water wasn’t around to answer my shrill questions.
On Monday the bill finally turned up and, once I’d splashed cold water on my face and had a nice lie-down, I rang Thames Water. A cheery lady agreed that nearly five grand was certainly a lot for water, and said it would all be sorted out. Did I, by any chance, have a leak?
YESSS. Yes, I do – I reported the leak way back in October, when probably only a hundred or so pounds’ worth of water had been wasted. By now we were well into January, the leak was gushing merrily away and Thames Water was literally pouring my money down the drain.
Well, I got an indemnity from the bank (apparently you can do this if someone takes a massive sum from your account by DD, some comfort I suppose) and I also got a date for Thames to fix the leak. That day is today. And they haven’t shown up. Grrr. Not such a great service for £4,600-odd, is it? I’ll let you know what happens next.
