A 98 year bedridden patient was charged with using 225 million liters of water, enough to fill 90 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Imagine getting a water bill that says that you have used 225 million liters of water in just six months. That’s what happened to 98-year-old Estelle Mendoza.
Bedridden mistakenly charged with using 90 Olympic sized swimming pools worth of water:
Estelle Mendoza is a 98-year-old dementia patient bedridden. Thames Water, a British water supplier, sent her a water bill of around £215. It was reported that the amount of water she used was enough to drink 1 million tea in 6 months.
Her 68-year-old son Lawrence Mendoza stated that the bill was initially £33 but increased to £215. According to him, a leak in the house triggered the smart meter reading to increase.
A spokesperson of Thames has apologized on behalf of Mendoza and stated that customer service is their number 1 priority, but they failed to do so. They will soon investigate the matter and repair the leak, if possible; once it has been fixed, we will send a revised bill.
As per this situation, no comments have been given by the Thames to the media.
What was Estelle Mendoza offense?
The 98-year-old bedridden woman was mistakenly charged a water bill of £215 by the British water supplier Thames Water. The water charge was enough to fill 90 Olympic swimming pool sizes.
Estelle Mendoza, who has dementia and is on NHS end-of-life care, was warned by Thames Water she had used the equivalent of more than a million cups of tea between September 2021 and March this year. Her direct debit was previously £33 a month is now £215 a month. pic.twitter.com/FiB4NK90tL
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Her son stated that the bill was initially about £33, but it increased to £215. He further says that the treatment towards his mother is appalling and that if he wanted a present, Thames would have continued to charge his mother with such a monthly water bill.
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