Greater Western Water — Local services in Melbourne

Astoundingly bad. I rang to change my direct debit arrangement and was told direct debit has not been operating since May 2024, despite the fact that money has been withdrawn from my account which appears on my bill, and it says 'Direct Debit is active for this account' on the customer portal ... Then I was told I have a 'Scheduled Payment Plan' and I could change the amount of this plan, but would have to renew it every year going forward. They have been direct debiting money from me for YEARS. I asked if they would send an email confirming the details and conditions of the new payment plan arrangement and they said no, I asked if they would prompt me to renew in a year and they said no. It is flabbergasting. Also, my latest bill doesnt show a date by which I should pay it. I tried to pay online today (GWW website) and got an error message, and told to try again later. The balance owing on the bill is different by several hundred dollars from the balance owing on the customer portal. I tried to make a complaint about all this but the online complaints form directed me to online resources and did not permit me to submit an actual in-writing complaint. The operator I spoke to on the phone tried to be helpful but did not seem to understand the processes the organisation uses herself. Who can blame her. Completely opaque....

April 2025

After repeated attempts, I finally spoke to a customer service representative who told me that my physical street address did not exist on their system, haha.

I explained that I got a bill from Greater Western Water in someone's else's name 2 months ago, and the bill was sent to this address. No, no, said the customer service representative.

She could not help me, and she told me to email someone.

I don't want a large water bill in 10 years' time because they have finally realised that this address exists.

Why is this the only water company that I can use? Previous review.

Good luck trying to speak to a person. After going through pre-recorded messages and being told that there was a minimum of 25 wait times due to an exceptionally large call volume after lunchtime, why don't they hire more call centre staff?

This has been going on for years now. The same pre-recorded message saying they have an exceptionally high number of calls. It's an easy fix!

All bills are delayed due to a system fault, apparently. Please provide an account number the pre-recorded voice message kept asking.

I am still waiting for my first bill to arrive.

Why do we HAVE to use this service. Why is their only 1 water company servicing most of Melbourne?

Why can't I use another...

There was a problem with my bill and I informed City West as soon as I received the bill. Their Customer Service appeared very proactive and offered an extension on the due date immediately which I accepted. However, when I logged into MyAccount the account was appearing as "overdue" based on the original date of the invoice!! With every bill payment now affecting consumers' credit rating this is simply not good enough City West Water customer service for you to say one thing on the phone and then not action it at your end. I am in the process of applying for a home loan and very unhappy with this stuff up.

Update 1/04/21 - Thank you for your response yesterday. However, I contacted City West Water for the payment extension on 18/03/21 and I checked my online account yesterday 31st March which showed my account as being overdue so clearly your customer service officer has not applied the extension correctly to my account all that time. I rang your business again yesterday to find out what happened, and they have told me that NOW they have applied the extension correctly. I will check again in 2 days as its still not showing correctly on my account and then follow up...