Southern Water Avaliações 

Yet another bill increase to pay for greed bonus payments and failure

I have just discovered my bill has shot up by 47% in one hit.
Judging by the number of poor reviews my guess is that they don`t care about customer feedback and that they feel they can just do what they want as a monopoly with no consequences for their actions.
They consistantly pay out a fortune in dividends yet cost of re-investment is paid directly by the customer.
Along with this rant I am going to goint to go howl at the moon again tonight for all the control we have, roll on the revolution

Today our household joined the many thousands of other households in Kent to have no water.

Six months ago my water bill doubled from £40 to £80 per month despite using the same amount. It is perplexing how SW can justify a 100% increase. I wonder where their profits are going?

Well, according to reports, Lawrence Gosden, SW CEO received a total pay package of approximately £1.4 million for the last financial year (to March 31, 2025).
Not a bad reward for a CEO heading an utterly incompetent company. The government need to step in and take our water supplies back into public ownership.

I live in a small one bed flat with no garden and SW are saying we are using the same amount as a family of 5 with a garden. We’ve done water diaries, checked for leaks, checked with neighbours on usage and bills and everyone including SW agree it’s the meter. They have been telling me someone will contact me since March 2024. They even lied and said they sent someone round to look at meter. They didn’t and then admitted as much. Absolutely cruel how they treat customers.
They never call when they promise and the amount of anxiety they’ve caused is incredible.

Three years ago I moved into the property I am now writing this from. Last month I received a statement asking me for sewage usage for the last three years. Despite two phone calls, and an e-mail asking for invoices that this demand relates to, all I have received is another demand. It is less than impressive that as a customer I have to chase a supplier with a defective billing system and seems to be more concerned about sending threating letters referring to possible negative implications to my credit status. Come on Southern it is time to get your act together and I expect an apology and a retraction of the inappropriate and unwelcome communication I received today

More than doubled my payments, and then called to say they wanted more money from me after moving house. I asked them to transfer the debt to the new account and I will monitor it and adjust my payments again if needed but they insisted on increasing payments higher, which would have been triple. After our disagreement they put me on hold for 15 minutes before I hung up as I got the feeling they'd walked away from their phone. This is all so they can continue to pay out huge bonuses and cover their fines. Disgusting industry.

Evil company dumping sewage into the sea. Giving bonuses to the millionaires at the top of the company whilst hiking up the prices. Demanding I pay for 6 months of water upfront.

Modern day piracy

One of the worst and unexpected delay service. I live in Shirley SO15 AS I don't have another option to go with other company otherwise I don't stay and continue with southern water 🙏
Just to get my bill copy and they took 20 days still its not delivered

After moving to new flat one year ago they say there is outstanding balance of 200 pounds i done fiew testing turn out the meter is faulty I call them they sent technician he said meter need to be replaced it's going to take couples of weeks i got confirmation from them via email after waiting fiew weeks manger call me apologise she said the outstanding balance will be amended now I receive emails from them saying there is nothing wrong with the meter u need to pay the outstanding balance my bills doubled

Hosepipe bans huge increases in bills and outrageous demands mid term to increase monthly payments on set bills for future investment? no thanks if I could go elsewhere I certainly would

Southern Water have billed us almost £3000 for an address we never resided at, despite us providing evidence that we were at another similar address at the time. As a result, we have had bailiffs at our door, just before Christmas, threatening to take our furniture away in front of our 4 year old daughter. When calling Southern water they said they were unable to help and fobbed us off with an email address they refuse to reply to.

Southern Water have just completed a water meter upgrade. The engineer arrived came a did what he was advised. However, on completion I get a card through the door saying the 'meter has been successfully upgraded' and he filled in Open meter reading '0'. Well you incompetent management clowns at SW, how about telling me what the meter reading was of the one you took out? You didnt, and therefore you could charge me what you like and I dont have the information to dispute'! Also,on the card there is a section that says 'Note from the engineer:' and you printed his response!?! Jokers!

When will Government take this company back into public ownership?

I was in credit by £131 so requested a refund told 7-10 working days. No refund called again(call centre in South Africa). I ended up having 8 calls lasting over 30 mins each time and here I am a month later and still no refund. They lie constantly about calling my back and nobody does. So now cancelled my direct debit and will not pay them another penny. THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE centre I have had I. My life. Bring back UK call centres we are paying enough money for you to do this

I contacted southen water at 715 as got a blocked drain cant use toilet or shower or bath or kitchen i told southen water and to get told they wont come out this evening as they only dealy with emerganceys at night and got told i will have to waite 96 hours and im a 63 yeard woman with health issues i think its descusting they should see to vonrable people night or day not leave me for 96 hours realy bad servises that needs to improve

worst company in my 44 years of life. I’m a single parent with a child in a metered 1-bed flat. Southern Water registered my same property twice under different account numbers, then attempted to take £116/month by Direct Debit without providing an accessible bill or DD notice (they claimed it was in my online account, but I couldn’t access it). For two months they kept saying the access issue was “resolved” when it wasn’t, and they marked issues as “resolved” while still unresolved. Completely unreliable and lacking transparency.

Southern Water will happily increase your direct debit amount without any justification.
My monthly direct debit was raised to £63 despite my annual usage being only £450 and my account already showing £470 in credit. When I called to request the detailed calculations behind the increase, the call centre agent simply said it was “based on future usage”. I asked repeatedly for the actual calculations and evidence to support the new amount; none was provided.
I immediately cancelled the direct debit and informed them that I will now submit meter readings monthly and pay only the actual amount owed on receipt of each bill.
The customer service was appalling. It is absurd that we are forced to deal with a private monopoly supplier over which we have no choice.
My advice to everyone: cancel your direct debit today, submit regular meter readings, and pay only what you actually owe when billed. Do not let Southern Water hold hundreds of pounds of your money indefinitely while providing zero transparency or accountability.
They are overcharging and exploiting thousands of customers simply because they can.

I have never experienced customer service as poor as Southern Water’s. My account has been in credit for months so naturally looking for a refund. When I called I was repeatedly assured by multiple agents that my refund had been approved by management and would reach my bank in 7–10 working days. Weeks later, I am still waiting.

I have made several calls, spoken to several different agents, and received contradictory information every single time. I was even promised a call from management—which, unsurprisingly, never happened. Most of my time has been spent on hold, and it’s clear the staff are not properly trained or supported.

I emailed both customer services and the Chief Customer Officer, Antonia Barton, who—like others have not bothered to respond. Given the sheer number of one-star reviews, it’s clear that senior leadership is not taking accountability for the shocking state of this company.

Southern Water seems completely unable or unwilling to deal with basic tasks such as processing refunds, providing correct information, or responding to complaints. Truly appalling service.

It also speaks volumes about Southern Water’s customer service standards that none of the countless reviews on here have been responded to. A company that genuinely cares about its customers would at least acknowledge the issues raised. The complete lack of engagement only reinforces how poorly managed and unaccountable this organisation has become.

House empty and then sold southern water gave estimate from last occupant, despite them closing account, speaking to the customer services team very painful absolutely useless. Will not listen. Does not deserve 1 star

I have been after a refund since moving since the beginning of October, its absolutely appalling how many times I have spoken to there customer services and have been told the money will be paid in to my account, but never been paid.
They are quick to take money but dont want to refund credit.
There accounting is a Joke!
Will now have to go to my bank and complain to CCW to escalate.

Disgraceful COMPANY! My 6 monthly bill has nearly doubled to £363!!!! With their criminal 47% increase!!! I was finding it hard to pay so had to pay in 4 smaller amounts over a 3 week period, Making the last payment a week ago but today I've received a VERY NASTY letter from them saying they've been trying to contact me numerous times, that is a complete lie! I've had no calls, emails, texts etc! The letter states they are Goin to inform my credit agency and slap a £45 extra charge on me etc etc! and now when I call them to make a complaint their advisers say they a systems error and to call back later!
HORRIBLE COMPANY.