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In addition, Mr. Huy also asked Gia Dinh Water Supply Joint Stock Company to provide the main meter and sub-meter readings of the area to see if the water was suddenly lost. From there, the company and the customer could see where the problem was to solve it, but the company replied that it could not provide it.
He also suggested that the company calculate based on the highest water volume before and after the incident (ie from October to December 2023 or from March to April this year), but the company said there was no basis for calculation.
“I asked the Ho Chi Minh City Consumer Protection Association for support. The association also sent letters twice before June to the water supply unit, but the company reported that they had not received them. In July, the association also sent a third letter, and suddenly my family received a notice that the water supply would be cut off if we did not pay,” said Mr. Huy.
What does the Consumer Protection Association say?
Talk to reporters People’s Intelligence, A representative of Gia Dinh Water Supply Joint Stock Company said that the unit had sent all information about the incident to Mr. Nguyen Quoc Huy’s family. “The company has also sent a response to the Ho Chi Minh City Consumer Protection Association about Mr. Huy’s incident. We will not respond further to the press,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ms. Truong Thi Viet Thu, Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Consumer Protection Association, said that the association has not received any response from Gia Dinh Water Supply Joint Stock Company regarding the case of Mr. Nguyen Quoc Huy.
According to Ms. Thu, recently, the Consumer Protection Association has received 2 complaints about Mr. Huy’s water supply company. The Association has sent 3 letters to Gia Dinh Water Supply Joint Stock Company inviting them to cooperate in resolving the issue, but the company has not responded.
The invitations were sent by post to the water company, with postal receipts. However, the company informed Mr. Huy’s family that they had not received the letters.
Mr. Huy at the water tank area on his family’s rooftop (Photo: An Huy).
“The association is at an impasse in working with the water supply company to ensure the rights of the people. We sent a letter inviting the company’s representative to come and resolve the issue, but they did not respond. When we called, the staff spoke in circles,” said Ms. Thu.
The Chairman of the Consumer Protection Association said that Gia Dinh Water Supply Joint Stock Company did not respond, maybe they did not want to cooperate or reconcile. The water supply side did not come to work, the association also had no way to resolve the issue.
The Consumer Association is an association of the masses, it cannot force a state unit to work. Now the only way left is for Mr. Huy’s family to sue the water supply company to resolve the matter.
“Whenever the association sends an invitation letter, it also includes a customer complaint, but the association’s voice is not taken into account by the water supply company. In other cases involving private companies and businesses, when the association sends an invitation letter, they come right away to resolve the issue with the customer, unlike this water supply company,” said Ms. Thu.
Previously, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Huy (41 years old, living in alley 490 Le Van Sy, District 3) was shocked when he received a February water bill of more than 57 million VND.
According to Mr. Huy, in January (before Tet), the staff came to measure the water meter but the family was away. The company took the default amount of water used in the previous months (20m3) to issue the bill and recalculate later.
In February, when he received the water usage fee (more than 3,000m3), Mr. Huy was very surprised. On average, his family uses about 20m3 of water per month, costing more than 200,000 VND. He suspected that there was a problem with the water meter, which caused such a thing to happen.