SES Water Avis 

went online for a quote for a house I was looking at buying they had cancelled the OWNERS water and signed me up for a contract despite me NOT living their or owning the house. They won’t allow me to cancel the new contract and the tenant who lives and owns the house has their original water contract terminated. These people will assure you it is just a quote but go ahead and cancel contracts and rope you in with no way of cancelling. I don’t even live or own the house just a wanted a quote but they have now started an account with me who doesn’t even live there just wanted a quote. DO NOT GO HERE!!

2024 water bill up by +15% vs 2023! Why??
Average inflation rate in 2023 was 7% so why charge more than twice the inflation?
In 2023 the price went up by +11% vs 2022 and average inflation rate in 2022 was 9%.
So basically this company is charging way above inflation rate and because we cannot change to another water supplier, we are unwillingly ripped off!

My bill in 2024 is now £49/pm for one single person occupying the property and this went up vs £42/pm in 2023.
Where am I supposed to get the money from for these extortionate and unjustified charges?? This unreasonable price increases cannot continue as water will not be affordable to us!
If the charges continue to raise at this rate, the bills will soon be £100 a month!!!

SES STOP THIS!!! STOP RIPPING US OFF!

*EDIT*
Following the reply from SES: whilst your company is making investments, they should ensure that the charges to the customers are fair. +15% price increase is not fair when inflation is +7% and the year before SES already charged +11%. So this year the difference in the bill is +£7 each month of the plan - we are talking CONSIDERABLE amount of money, not 2 or 3 quid.
Your words that “SES are working hard to save money where possible” does not reflect in the price bill! These are just empty words that mean nothing.
The point is that SES are a monopoly in this area and as customers we are completely helpless as cannot move to another provider.

You are saying I could ask for help if I cannot pay my bill but SES should NOT be putting me or their other customers in that position in the first place! It is stressful for people and one way or the other we have to pay your bills!

It is really worrying to see and experience the massive jumps in pricing in the past couple of years.
My bill is now nearly £50 per month for a single person! Considering SES’ past huge price increases it is worrying to think what’s coming in next years, what SES pricing strategy is - will you charge another 10-15% next year and the year after…? What will be the cost of water in next 5-10 years say if the price increases are this huge each year?…
As SES is a monopoly for the area where my house is, they should ensure that the prices are fair and in line with inflation rate, not hugely above, no matter what your reasons are.
Peoples’ salaries do not go up in the increments SES is charging so why do SES think that Increasing prices +11% then +15% is manageable, reasonable and fair?!

SES please get real and just because you are a monopoly, you should not make the use of this situation to your advantage and put people in difficult and stressful financial situation!

15% increase in water charges 2024
A total rip off.
Modern day Robbery.
This 15% increase far exceeds the inflation rates RPI (retail price index) & CPI (consumer price index)
Lining the CEO Ian Cain & directors & shareholders pockets.
They get water free from rain. All they have to do is treat it and pump it . Not rocket science

Not my meter
No first bill just a statement for £92 and a letter saying. that they were going to cut me off.
Second bill £745.90, Third bill £19.12
Unhelpful customer services, when asked to credit me, they stated that they were going to impose fines and charges if I did not pay.
NOT MY METER!

Ses replied to my review asking me to contact customer services & they would help me further to change the email associated with my account I'd like to point out that when I emailed customer services nobody responded so after 6 weeks of no response I phoned only to be told you can't change the email associated with your account? Without shutting down the account & opening a new one which doesn't make any sense

They have the most amazing customer service. They always look after vulnerable customers and are kind and patient. Never chase. If you are struggling to pay the bills and honestly just absolutely superb. I've seen a few of the negative reviews and obviously it's a bit of a surprise. So I hope they sort that out but honestly the chief executive of this organisation, should feel very proud of themselves. It is world-class standard. I hope they never drop this and I promise you in this world of technology and AI, good humans running businesses will always be my number one preference,

Now being dictated to by SES to have a water meter installed. Have been told it is because we are classified as a dry area. So why every time it rains we are looking at a river of water running down the front public path and then have a lake round the corner which covers the whole of the path, the road and runs right into the playing field opposite and the bus has to stop either side of this lake to let passengers on/off the bus.
SES Water say it is nothing to do with them, the council say it is SES Water/Thames Water problem so whose responsibility it this. We have been trying to resolve this issue for nearly 30 years to no avail.
Totally fed up of having to bail the water out of the front garden to prevent the house from getting flooded out.

UPDATE OF SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME: SES have contacted me as a result of this review. After initially speaking to one customer service agent (who was sticking to the standard script of telling me why their figures were right, rather than letting me explain why they were wrong), I spoke with a manager who allowed me to explain the issues and the position, and they understood my concern (ie that, after 7 years of estimates, I shouldn't be charged for the catch-up at today's higher rate per unit). They also accepted an issue I presented that there was an "adjustments" figure on the bill itself that was not being taken into consideration in the bill total, so the bill simply did not add up.
The manager agreed to make those adjustments to the bill, leaving my total at a much more acceptable amount which I have paid. So top marks for the final outcome, but very disappointing that it took this fourth call before I could speak with someone who was able to listen, understand, and ultimately resolve the matter satisfactorily.

ORIGINAL POST: Have been on estimated readings for 7 years (because they couldn't find the meter). Now they have found it, they are charging me in full at the current (much higher) rates as if the water has been used in the last week, rather than prorating the charges over time against the old rates. Of course, there is no-one you can speak to who understands the issue. I have phoned three times (was cut-off one of those times), but all they can do is take a payment, say they will deal with (which they don't as nothing appears recorded on file from past calls), say they will escalate it (which I hope they will but I am still waiting after several days and not confident). Oh and the bill itself doesn't actually add up!! How their systems can produce bills with numbers that don't add up is shocking,

Recent bill in September 2024 stated my direct debit (which has worked fine for the past 7 years) would be taken in October 2099.

Thought it was an error but money not taken and October has come and gone. Can’t get through on phone and my account page on their website gives an error message.

Tried emailing but got an automated reply stating it will be a while.

Clearly they don’t want bills to be paid.

Edit:- as I mentioned I’ve tried calling but not answered and I’m not going to hang on for hours. Also tried emailing but no reply. Interesting I got a reply on trustpilot but no reply by email.

Jan 23 I had water meter which i requested to be activated in March23 this never happened. I understand I should have bee asked for two meter reading around 2 weeks apart then my bill would be re assessed. Around June 23 I became aware that i had a leak on my pipework which got fixed and SES informed given meter reading. I had several phone calls with Customer service one a very confused young man, then around 3 weeks ago another phone call and the operator a very nice lady told me I wasnt on a meter my request wasnt activated when requested in March.
I have been offered up to a 50% reduction in the water that was wasted due to the leak at this present time, told bill co only be assessed every 6 months. My contention is why should I pay for water that was wasted due to not being on a meter as requested the knowledge of the leak would have been discovered and march and I would fix it.
Complaint went to level 2 the next step can take 75 days even to be reviewed with CCS
The whole situation is easy to resolve but nobody is listening and certainly sees that the company has any responsibility in this situation
Does anyone actually care not to my experience

I am with ses water I pay all of my bills and still they keep sending me letter to pay what terrible company I I could I would give zero star I Keep calling them still no answer

Have had the worst experience ever with SES, it's really affected my mental health. I wrote an email to SES in April 2022 advising my income had not changed in response to correspondence asking me to update. I also updated that I was now divorced and could they remove ex husband off the bill. Next thing I know for this year's billing I have an updated bill claiming back the low income portion of last years bills whilst charging me full price for new bill so suddenly taking over £100 per month from my account! I told them I sent email updating them. They claimed several times to never receive the email despite them actioning it as they removed my ex husband off the bill.. I gave them the date the email was sent and eventually they acknowledged they did actually receive the email but still charged me as if I was above the income threshold. They said I didn't send proof of still being low income. I said they didn't ask for further support at any point. From the email I sent confirming I was still low income they should've at that point asked me for proof to continue on the scheme but they didn't. That's their error not mine but I'm being penalised and being charged over £100pm now! It's ridiculous. How can you half action an email and deny you received it and then not rectify accordingly. Advised on the phone back in May I could show proof with tax returns my income had not changed. Was told no good as that should've happened before so can't do anything about last year's bills or this years until proof of income... well why didn't you ask for it before when I first applied or at any other time since. You just decided to remove me off the support scheme without requesting proof of income!! I've now been told fill in the form and you can get it moving forwards but won't back date their error!! Why am I being charged extra for SES errors!! It's ludicrous and I'm at the end of my rope mentally with this. I've done nothing wrong. SES don't care how this affects people's mental health so long as they get their money and over charge you.

We needed new panels for our boiler case. Pedro, the engineer, noticed that the new, replacement panel was broken so he contacted the Leatherhead office. No luck so he went out of his way to drive over to Woking. He took the trouble to check that the panels were in tact and could not have done more to give a professional impression of your company. A keeper!

SES Water made an agreement to pay off a bill over a period which I adhered to completely. They then sold my data, long before the end of the agreed payment plan to a bottom-feeder debt collector. Sharing my personal DATA completely without my permission. And continued to take money on the payment plan whilst demanding it also via this debt collector. I would stress I have missed no payments at all. The customer service team just talk and follow nothing up, it's disgusting. I am in the process of contacting OFWAT and the ICO. I have never failed to respond to them, I am at the end of the phone, if they needed more money they could have called me. I am absolutely disgusted at there underhand and borderline immoral and illegal behaviour. This has caused me a great deal of distress. It would be great if I could use another company but its a captive market and they think they can do what they want. Even if you have things in writing they don't honour their statements. DO NOT TRUST ANYTHING THEY SAY OR WRITE

I had to give a rating of 1 as 0 was not available. I am hoping that as per the other 1 star review it may evoke a response from the company who I have been contacting for over three months to resolve my situation, with amongst others, false promises every time of calls back, misinformation recorded on my account. You cannot speak to a manager or escalate the problem to anyone senior; their Head of Customer Care does not accept calls! The billing department apparently have a long response time - they sure do.

Phone enquiry answered quickly and with intelligence.
Kind, helpful and efficient staff.
My only grouse is the low water pressure in my area.

the absolute worst company i have ever dealt with. appeared from nowhere after covid saying we owed them over £1,600 in water charges that needed paying immediately.

we asked for a payment plan and they refused, they then proceeded to send us solicitors letters and debt collecting letters without even speaking to us.

we paid the bill and were told that we would be on a £60/month direct debit, this happened twice before we got another bill for over £600 that again, needed to be paid immediately.

absolute zero customer service.

Not a professional company received calls from them which I was convinced was from scammers but it was them. Maybe the Scammers out there could give them some customer training.

Payments website is the worst application I have ever seen is like something developed in the 90's has just charged me 3 times (Gets Server 500 Error) for an £3.01 apparent outstanding bill.

Will chase them to the end of time now for a refund and thankfully are no longer with this lot!!

Complete incompetence.
After being with them for 5 years I moved into a new build property and was the first person to live there. I was told I owed £70 that was already on the bill and then almost £500 for something else, of which nobody at this company can explain. The woman I spoke to on the phone says she'd email me an itemized billing as to why from may 2022 to October 2022 the water bill amassed to almost £500. This did not happen and has still not happened more than a week later. Their complaints department are no better, it takes 10 working days, yes, two weeks for them to respond. Having this linger over us is causing unwarranted stress yet no one is available to explain.
Probably the worst run service company I've ever come across.

This water utility company is utterly incompetent. I have had the misery of five interactions with them to sort out a simple problem, but several months later, I am still receiving incorrect bills.
• Briefly, in August We received a bill that was hugely over the usual amount.(£234, rather than around £150). At first, I thought we may have a leak!
•I contacted them and they arranged to have the water meter re-read. I examined the meter myself and discovered that it was filled with caked on sand and mud, and had never been read. I cleaned it, and photographed the meter face to reveal an actual consumption of around £160.
•Their meter reader concurred with this. The bill should have been £159.96. A call to them confirmed this and we spoke to J...... We spoke to her on three separate occasions.
•We eventually received a statement showing both the original incorrect amount PLUS the correct amount. Now the problem was even worse.
• We called again, and again speaking to both J, and L.
The customer service team (are always friendly, kind and attempt to be as helpful as they can) BUT, the problem that they have is that when they raise this problem with the accounts team, the complaint eventually gets closed down even though the problem has not been addressed.
• I eventually wrote a brief outline of the problem to the CEO of SES, and did not even receive a reply.
This morning, someone rang me randomly fro SES to say that the bill has been reduced to £89 (approx).
• This is still wrong.
I have paid the portion of the bill that IS correct, and owe SES zero. Despite this, still no corrected bill.

Mr Iain Cain (CEO) is a complete letdown. What a way to run a company!

A truly shockingly bad company.