Margaret’s happy to be in hot water again
IN mid-May, Margaret Waye heard strange noises emanating from the loft of her home in the Lanarkshire village of Forth.
She reported this to South Lanarkshire Council. On May 27 a faulty and leaking boiler was diagnosed.
Margaret was told a new boiler would have to be fitted and that, in fact, she would need a completely new wet central heating system.
As a consequence her hot water was turned off, leaving her with only cold water and no central heating.
She was told she’d also need a new electricity meter to be fitted and Scottish Power would probably do this within two days.
The days passed and no one from Scottish Power or South Lanarkshire contacted her. But after a further couple of days she was informed by the council her new heating system would be installed by June 17.
However, this could only be done if the new electric meter had been fitted – which it hadn’t.
Margaret was unhappy at the length of time she had been without hot water, so her son, Eddie, called Scottish Power in an attempt to get things moving. Over an hour and 12 songs later he had still not spoken to anyone, so terminated the call.
He tried again but it was the same story. This time he waited 45 minutes before hanging up.
SoE ddie emailed Raw Deal, telling us he felt it was ridiculous that his 84- year- old asthma- suffering mother was left without hot water or heating for so long.
We contacted Scottish Power and South Lanarkshire Council and this was soon sorted.
A Scottish Power spokesperson told us: “Our customer service manager visited Mrs Waye. A new meter was installed and work has now been completed.
“As compensation for any inconvenience, Scottish Power will cover the cost of the customer’s energy usage for the four weeks.
“We believe that a boiler will shortly be fitted by South Lanarkshire Council. However, it is important we investigate the matter fully and are therefore liaising with the Council so this issue can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
A spokesperson for the Council said: “There had been a delay with Scottish Power fitting the new meter needed and this held up the replacement of Mrs Waye’s heating.
“The meter has now been installed and the heating will be replaced on Monday, June 30.
“We have apologised to Mrs Waye for this delay and understand Scottish Power will be making a compensation payment for the inconvenience.
Margaret’s boiler was duly i nstalled and the work completed on July 2.
Eddie said: “Apart froma couple of small hiccups, everything is now working well with my mum’s central heating.
“Many thanks for all your help. Goodness only knows how long this saga would have run if you had not intervened.”