kindly investigate high water consumption charges raised on this account.<div>Consumption still high to consumer to look for leak and submitt leak letter.</div><div><br></div><div>Consumer explains in e-mail dated 08/03/2023:</div><div>I was referred to you by the call center to get assistance on our account error dating back to 2018</div><div>Meter No : 110031949</div><div>Account number : 10419159</div><div><br></div><div>Initial/ before the challenges</div><div>When we bought this property – we never received billing for meter readings but interim reading which we were paying every month.</div><div>The beginning of the problems</div><div>After almost a year of not receiving actual billing we received a statement charging us more than 280KL of usage,</div><div>• The billing invoice did not average the usage over the period instead was billed as if that was a usage for 1 month and we were penalized as per level 3 water restrictions</div><div>• I went to the municipal office in town and applied for the 6 months policy where I understood that consumers can apply for this if a meter is not read for more than 6 months – this was never given or response received</div><div>• The Water consumption based on the reading was very high and we asked the water department to come and review what was the cause.</div><div>• We furnished numerous plumber reports incurring costs from different plumbers that show there is no problem within the property ( all these were submitted at the office in town)</div><div>Water team identified the issue</div><div>• In 2021 finally the meter reading team came to the property and found that there was a problem with the meter and the speed.</div><div>• They fixed it and said they will come back after a month to see if it fixed ( letter attached) </div><div>• We were advised to wait 3 month in order to review the usage and credit accordingly and every month we ask the Beacon bay office – we get a response that an email has been sent</div><div>• We made an arrange of paying R5k which we pay every month without fail but our account is blocked to purchase every now and then and this is negatively affecting our cash flow.</div><div>Current situation</div><div>• Now when we buy electricity there is a service fee of R1200.</div><div>• Account is blocked every other month</div><div>• The parent to child transfer of opening balance is not working properly and increases the bill.</div><div>Lost opportunity</div><div>We have been approved to develop the property, all plans submitted but we cannot afford to settle the amount on the account and that is affecting the development and the progress on the property.</div><div><br></div><div>I would really appreciate your help on this matter.</div><div><br></div><div><b><u>QRC RESPONSE via e-mail on 26/03/2023:</u></b></div><div>Kindly forward all signed copies of all the plumbers letters with their findings as indicated in our explanation below in order to assess the account further.</div><div><br></div><div>The account has been assessed with the following findings:</div><div>• Waterworks visited the premises in 2021/11/09 and reported the meter in order by sounding and timing with a check reading of 5695.</div><div>• The check reading is in line with the reading on the financial system of the same period. System reading as at 2021/11/12 as 5700 (5kl difference used from 09 Nov to 12 Nov)<br></div><div>• This is a smart meter installed since 2019/04 with the current consumption averaging between 40-50kl </div><div>• The unread period from 2019/04 to 2019/11 averaged 47.5kl which is in line with the current consumption.</div><div>• The back charged periods were not charged in 1 month as reflected below, but charged out according to the full number of days from the last recorded reading.</div><div>• All consumption from 2020/01 to 2022/02 where charged at stage 3 punitive tariffs as the consumption exceeded 40kl </div><div>• There periods where consumption fluctuated, then dropped, then increased again, which is an indication of possible repairs or change in water usage, hence my request for all the plumbers letters in order to assess the account further with the plumbers findings.</div><div>• All readings are currently in line with no anomalies identified as the readings records consumption used.</div><div>• We will therefore await your response with the required documents.</div>