<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A state-owned </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/water" rel="" target="_blank" title="water"><span>water</span></a><span> company has apologised over an IT issue which resulted in some customers being hit with unexpected bills totalling thousands of dollars.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/victoria" rel="" target="_blank" title="Victorian"><span>Victorian</span></a><span> government's Greater Western Water (GWW) admitted that a direct debit failure from an IT upgrade bungle meant many residential water bills were left unpaid for months.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Sunshine resident Matthew Schulz was slugged with a delayed bill notice of $2641.20 for around 18 months of water use.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>EXCLUSIVE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/mcdonalds-dan-murphys-development-cowes-phillip-island/4eb0323d-ad53-4edb-a757-f833c0d615fc" rel="" target="_blank" title="Residents of seaside Victorian town braced for Macca's battle"><strong><span>Residents of seaside Victorian town braced for Macca's battle</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Schulz told 9News he was "confused" when he saw the huge charge after he tried to remedy the direct debit issue in late 2024.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I can't afford that, that's not something that I budgeted for," Schulz said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I am happy to pay what I owe, but it's just diabolical, it's just a big mess."</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/greater-western-water-direct-debit-issues/41bb382a-8ffb-4635-af5c-7eb51b80f1aa" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At first, Schulz was told he needed to pay the full amount.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But GWW has since worked out a payment plan.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I have direct debits for all my other bills and they just get paid on time," Schulz added.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An ill-fated $100 million IT upgrade is understood to be the cause of the billing bungle.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>GWW acknowledged the billing issue and said it is passing on $130 million in bill relief to customers, along with the facilitation of payment plans.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/meet-the-team/digital/april-glover#:~:text=%27She%20didn%27t%20abandon%20her%20family%27%3A%20%241m%20reward%20in%20baffling%20case%20of%20missing%20teacher" rel="" target="" title=" 'Didn't abandon her family': $1m reward in baffling case of missing teacher"><strong><span>'Didn't abandon her family': $1m reward in baffling case of missing teacher</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>GWW Managing Director Cameron Fitzgerald said the company had "missed the mark" and encouraged impacted customers to contact the company over any back-dated bills.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We know that we've let the community down and we're working really hard with our regulator, the ombudsman, to improve our systems," Fitzgerald told 9News.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We're about halfway through our catch-up billing approach, which is about bringing people back to their regular billing cycles so they can be confident about their water bill, what they get, and how we move forward.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We want people to call us, because we know we got this wrong, we know that we need to make this right."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>General Manager Customer Experience Terence Alvares told Nine.com.au that most customers are now back on the regular billing cycle.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We know the billing issues have caused significant frustration for our customers, and we're genuinely sorry for the impact this has had," Alvares said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"No one is expected to pay a large amount all at once."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria (EWOV) said it has fielded nearly 4000 complaints about GWW between October 2024 and March 2026.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>There were 120 complaints regarding back-dated bills.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>MONEY:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/single-interest-rate-hike-puts-100000-mortgage-holders-at-default-risk/4ea8197c-71b7-442e-b5d9-96fc40d9ae4c" target="_blank"><strong><span>Default risk looms for one in 10 Aussies if rates rise</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Greater Western Water customers have reported a range of billing, customer service and payment difficulty issues to EWOV, including bill shock from retrospective bills," EWOV ombudsman and chief executive Catherine Wolthuizen said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"In some cases, customers have received bills for significant amounts, and faced difficulty paying these large bills.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Some customers have come to us disputing the accuracy of backbills and other customers report having never received bills."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>According to the Essential Services Commission, water businesses in Victoria have a four-month backbilling limit where a customer has been undercharged for a water bill.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>However, the regulator gave GWW the green light to pursue customers over the unpaid bills in 2025.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>EWOV said it is continuing to investigate ongoing complaints.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><strong><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></strong></em><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all 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