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United Utilities Triumph Again.

Mullardman said:
It's a question of semantics...or possibly even philosophy..
I suppose strictly speakng they were only the contents of the hole until they were removed from it and piled up neatly next to it.. whereupon they became the former contents of the hole, and simultaneously the present constituents of a mound of rubble..which, coincidentally was identical in mass to that material which had been removed in the creation of said hole.
However, said mound of rubble/former contents of the hole were scooped up and taken away by the stout yeomen who arrived today. Said yeomen then partially re-filled the hole with other material..as described above..etc.. blah..
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;)
I wonder what they do with the former contents? I assumed they’d use them to refill the hole but evidently not. Perhaps they take them away to fill another hole somewhere else?
 
lordsummit said:
I suspect they keep a stockpile of holes, so they’ve always got the right one in stock. There may be a warehouse in Blackburn, Lancashire full of them.
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If they’re clever, they’ll store the holes, graded by size, one inside another like a set of Babushka dolls. Probably get them in a lockup, rather than a warehouse if they’re canny.
 
Such are the mysteries of life...
Still two more vehicles arrived a short while ago and two blokes laid tarmac to (hopefully) finish the repair. But they still left barriers around the 'job' and four warning signs in the street....
 
Mullardman said:
Such are the mysteries of life...
Still two more vehicles arrived a short while ago and two blokes laid tarmac to (hopefully) finish the repair. But they still left barriers around the 'job' and four warning signs in the street....
Click to expand...
I hope that as soon as these vans pull up you have the kettle on for these hard working boys (and girls ) :)
 
Nope.. Sod 'em.

I'm now wondering how long it will be before they come to take away their barriers and signs? How long does Tarmac take to set? I'd have thought its pretty ok once it cools.

If the barriers are still there this p.m. I'm calling UU in full on Meldrew Mode. Still no response to my email sent days ago. Bloody shower...
 
Amazingly a bloke turned up about an hour later and removed all their crap. He too thought that UU should have forewarned me of the work.
 
..So.. in the continuing absence of any communication from UU, including response to my two previous communications to them via their 'feedback' form.. I decided to email them.. which is apparently their preferred method of comms. After spending 30 minutes composing my diatribe..I worked through the online form until I was suddenly confronted with a 'Ooops There is a problem' page, telling me to telephone them instead. You really could not make this shit up...so they are deprived of..
"
On Tuesday 8th June I returned home to notice that someone had sprayed blue paint around the stop valve cover of my home water supply, which is situated on the pavement which I have to drive over to access my property.
I thought little of this and confidently expected that I would receive some sort of communication from United Utilities explaining the significance of said blue paint.
None was forthcoming.
On 10th June, without warning, workmen arrived and blocked access to my driveway with vehicles. They also blocked my neighbours driveway until he told them that he needed to leave in his car shortly, whereupon they moved their vehicle.
Since the stop valve cover is in that part of the pavement over which it is necessary to drive in order to access my driveway..I asked the workmen what they planned to do and was informed that 50% of my driveway would be unusable until the repair job was completed. 'In a few days'. We therefore had no choice but to remove one of our cars from the driveway before it became 'trapped'. I can only speculate as to what would have happened had nobody been at home, and both vehicles on the driveway.
So...a collection of barriers, blocking access to my property, plus a total of four warning signs spread over about 100 metres, remained in place for SIX DAYS, until they were finally removed on 15th June.
Throughout this whole pantomime, I was never once formally notified of the works to be undertaken, or their duration, by any official of United Utilities or their sub contractors. Discussions with the four different sets of operatives involved in completing this repair, revealed that they too were dissatisfied with United Utilities' failure to communicate, as it meant that they were left to explain what was happening, to sometimes 'hostile' customers.
Please note that on two occasions during this fiasco, I sent written feedback to United Utilities..which has so far elicited no response. There seems to be a pattern developing here don't you think?
In my own case, I see no reason why a 'plate' of some description could not have been used to temporarily cover the hole in the pavement. This could have had a suitable warning sign, that could be removed and replaced to allow me access to my own property.
However.. since United Utilities do not seem to have the wit..or the common courtesy to inform customers of their disruptive intentions, I suppose expecting a less disruptive method of working is a stretch too far.
It almost goes without saying that you would have been very quick to communicate with me had I not paid my bill.
So, in conclusion, I can only ask..
-Why did you not think fit to inform me of your proposed works?
-Do you think that your performance over this issue constitutes good customer service?
Do you think that there is anything you might learn froom this episode which might improve your customer service?
I await your response with interest..but with little confidence that I will actually receive one."
 
Mullardman said:
..So.. in the continuing absence of any communication from UU, including response to my two previous communications to them via their 'feedback' form.. I decided to email them.. which is apparently their preferred method of comms. After spending 30 minutes composing my diatribe..I worked through the online form until I was suddenly confronted with a 'Ooops There is a problem' page, telling me to telephone them instead. You really could not make this shit up...so they are deprived of..
"
On Tuesday 8th June I returned home to notice that someone had sprayed blue paint around the stop valve cover of my home water supply, which is situated on the pavement which I have to drive over to access my property.
I thought little of this and confidently expected that I would receive some sort of communication from United Utilities explaining the significance of said blue paint.
None was forthcoming.
On 10th June, without warning, workmen arrived and blocked access to my driveway with vehicles. They also blocked my neighbours driveway until he told them that he needed to leave in his car shortly, whereupon they moved their vehicle.
Since the stop valve cover is in that part of the pavement over which it is necessary to drive in order to access my driveway..I asked the workmen what they planned to do and was informed that 50% of my driveway would be unusable until the repair job was completed. 'In a few days'. We therefore had no choice but to remove one of our cars from the driveway before it became 'trapped'. I can only speculate as to what would have happened had nobody been at home, and both vehicles on the driveway.
So...a collection of barriers, blocking access to my property, plus a total of four warning signs spread over about 100 metres, remained in place for SIX DAYS, until they were finally removed on 15th June.
Throughout this whole pantomime, I was never once formally notified of the works to be undertaken, or their duration, by any official of United Utilities or their sub contractors. Discussions with the four different sets of operatives involved in completing this repair, revealed that they too were dissatisfied with United Utilities' failure to communicate, as it meant that they were left to explain what was happening, to sometimes 'hostile' customers.
Please note that on two occasions during this fiasco, I sent written feedback to United Utilities..which has so far elicited no response. There seems to be a pattern developing here don't you think?
In my own case, I see no reason why a 'plate' of some description could not have been used to temporarily cover the hole in the pavement. This could have had a suitable warning sign, that could be removed and replaced to allow me access to my own property.
However.. since United Utilities do not seem to have the wit..or the common courtesy to inform customers of their disruptive intentions, I suppose expecting a less disruptive method of working is a stretch too far.
It almost goes without saying that you would have been very quick to communicate with me had I not paid my bill.
So, in conclusion, I can only ask..
-Why did you not think fit to inform me of your proposed works?
-Do you think that your performance over this issue constitutes good customer service?
Do you think that there is anything you might learn froom this episode which might improve your customer service?
I await your response with interest..but with little confidence that I will actually receive one."
Click to expand...

if you look here you might find an email address that might help https://www.ceoemail.com/s.php?id=ceo-9581

and some team members https://www.unitedutilities.com/corporate/about-us/governance/our-executive-team/
 
Well..credit where it's due as they say..

Today I received a very pleasant telephone call from a lady at UU, who told me she had been asked to contact me regarding my complaint. Quite which of the several rants I have recently fired at UU, she did not specify, but I decided not to spoil the occasion with churlishness and let that one go...

I explained my disappointment that nobody had seen fit to inform me of the impending excavations on my driveway.. which I skillfully interwove with a resume of the sorry history of the offending stop valve since 1976. I approached the whole conversation with the wit, charm and humour which even I, a confirmed Meldrewite, I am occasionally able to muster..and the lady seemed to enjoy the fact that I could see the funny side.

Having lulled her into a false sense of security.. I delivered a sort of coup de theatre, by informing her that the whole incident had been most trying for my wife, as our daughter is expecting her first child and anything which could prevent Mrs Mull from being able to rush to her aid at any point.. is just an added worry.

"With your permission...do you think that your wife might appreciate a nice bouquet of flowers..by way of an apology from us for all of the upset?"

" How kind of you to offer!. I think she would be delighted with that... Thank you so much."

The End.
 
Haa!! Flowers arrived today. Decent enough bouquet complete with a glass vase.

Honour is satisfied.... ;)
 
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