To her water supplier.
An open letter to Anglian Water
Anglian Water
Customer Services
PO Box 10642
Harlow
CM20 9HA
Dear Sir,
A neighbour has just told me that there is a hosepipe ban in force, with threats of £1,000 fines. As I don't take a newspaper, rarely watch television or listen to the radio, and have little interest in current affairs, this came as something of a surprise. Perhaps you would be kind enough to answer the following questions ...
(a) Is it true?
(b) If it is true, when were you going to have to courtesy to inform your customers?
(c) By what right do you tell me how I can use the water I pay you for?
I can think of no other commodity that comes with conditions imposed by the supplier, let alone threats of fines. For instance, if I buy a new computer, PCWorld doesn't tell me which ISP to use or place limits on the websites I visit. When I bought a secondhand car last year, the Ford dealer made no demands on my driving habits and did not tell me how far to drive or how fast.
What's so special about water? I presume that as I have a water meter and therefore pay for every drop I use, once the water enters my property it belongs to me and I can use it as I see fit. If, on the other hand, it remains your property, you are just lending it to me, and you continue to exercise control over it, why am I paying so much?
(d) If you find yourself with a shortage through your own failure to plan ahead and conserve stocks or take measures to obtain fresh supplies from elsewhere, why should I suffer? The energy companies aren't too popular at the moment, but at least they're constantly on the lookout for new oil wells or new countries to buy oil from. What have you done to try and find new sources of water? Have you even talked to the Scots yet, because they've got loads of the stuff?
It's a fairly simple task we all have, isn't it? I do my job conscientiously and thoroughly, so why can't you do the same?
And please don't tell me how hard you've been trying to stem the colossal wastage for which you are responsible. If it had worked, you'd deserve credit for it. But it hasn't, has it?
Yours faithfully,
R.E.Cluse (Mrs.)
"If, on the other hand, it remains your property, you are just lending it to me, .............."
ReplyDeleteOf course they lend it to her FE. What other company charges for a commodity; AND, charges to take that same, used, commodity away again, in the form of sewerage charges?
Ironically, it's not as though the water company has to buy their stock in the first place. It just falls out of the sky.