GRAND AVIGNON Water bills: the collective warns users against anomalies
Since January 1, 2021, Eau Grand Avignon (subsidiary of Suez) has provided water service in part of Grand Avignon Gard (Villeneuve-lez-Avignon, Les Angles, Pujaut, Sauveterre and Roquemaure) following the SAUR . Faced with billing problems, several users have come together to report anomalies.
Very active, the collective still wants to raise awareness among users: “ Why people do not realize an overbilling if they are not asked for pharaonic sums“, points out Joël Raffy, member of the collective. He hopes other users will add their names to the list of people engaging with the collective’s actions.
But what exactly do they blame the new Eau Grand Avignon delegate? The amount of the first invoice sent to users was revealed and not recorded. 19m3 for everyone, i.e. 23,460 households. ” It is effective and therefore fake. We want the amount to be paid by users to be calculated on their historical consumption, on a range of recent years“, thunders Joseph Ferré, referent for Greater Avignon Gard in the water collective. A bad estimate at the start can result in an over-invoicing on the second invoice and the following ones. It can be a difference of tens or even hundreds of euros. Sometimes the figures are exorbitant and plunge the recipients of such a bill into real psychological distress.
” An elderly lady has been billed for €3000, told it is a leak and sent a plumber for €695. Eventually there is no leak and she receives another bill for €7,000. He was offered an installment at €80 per month for 8 years“laments Joseph Ferré. He also has the example of a person who finds himself paying €1,121 for 400m3 whereas from 2015 to 2021, he had a consumption of around 190m3, which would amount to paying €502.
The prefect of Vaucluse pinpoints Eau Grand Avignon
To these volumes multiplied by two or three for no reason, are added other problems, according to the collective: the amount of the late penalty has gone from 12 € under the SAUR to 25 € with Suez. ” The calculation of the VAT is done at the higher rounding, to the detriment of the user“, also adds Joseph Ferré. The collective translated two letters to the mayors concerned, as well as to the president of the Greater Avignon Agglomeration, Joël Guin. The latter acknowledged during a community council that 3% of disputed cases are being analyzed: “ We estimate that would represent approximately 2,700 households. »
At the end of 2021, the prefect of Vaucluse also pointed out the errors of Eau Grand Avignon by letter. As for the estimate of the volume of water consumed, the prefect indicates that ” this method of calculation does not appear anywhere in the service regulations, a contractual document which sets out in detail the respective obligations of the water service and the subscribers. » State services believe that ” the uniform amount billed by Suez is unfair and harms subscribers. » Especially since already at the time of the SAUR, the consumption of certain users was already estimated. It therefore seems difficult to have a secure succession base. The collective invites each user to take a good look at their invoices and to contact them if they have any questions. Even if for those who have a monthly direct debit, the examination will be more complicated…
Mary Meunier
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