Thanks for your words Nige F. I appreciate what you are saying. I note that Thames Water have their HQ situated in Reading which a way from me.
Nige F, you say they caved in the on your second call. But were you just speaking to one of the CS bods or were you liasing with a particular dept. Also the person you were speaking with probably had to ok this with someone else in the 'foodchain'.
When I called Thames Water yesterday on the main number. This is what happened.
1. I explained the situation to the person answering the call. She said I need to transfer you and so I was passed to CS.
2. So I explained the story all over again to the CS bod, who said he needed to transfer me to the correct dept which according to him was the 'Metering Team'.
3. I was put through to the 'Metering Team' and yet again explained (should have recorded my 1st reply) and with the help of the advice received from this forum I asked whether my neighbours could request a water meter to be placed on their branch.
He said yes and Thames Water should be able to fit it to their branch but there was no guarantee this can be done.
My reply was well 'what if they do not accept that option or just can't be bothered.
To which he replied
"get an independent plumber yourself and get him to dig down where the water pipes are in the pavement and ask him (my plumber) to place a stopcock on the neighbours branch."
Hence me asking who you spoke to and more specifically the seniority level of that person.
The last chap I spoke to in the 'Metering team' said he could arrange for me to speak with one of his supervisors?. Is that the way to go in addition to the emails/letters.
I have sent emails to the CEO and CS Director today and will be dispatching hard copies via RM recorded tomorrow.
Thanks for the added info.
Cheers
PS I did try to find your rainwater thread but could not locate it