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Thames Water has apologised to a customer after trying to take \u00a3145,000 from his bank account due to a meter reading error by the company.<\/b><\/p>\n
Adam Bainbridge, a teacher from north London, discovered while routinely checking his accounts on Thursday morning that Thames had debited \u00a3145,562 from his bank account.<\/p>\n
His wife Julia told the PA news agency that Adam “got the shock of his life” and had trouble paying bills that morning as a result.<\/p>\n
Thames Water said the money had been returned to his account and that he had been offered “a gesture of goodwill”.<\/p>\n
The company confirmed to BBC News that it had returned the money to Adam’s account and had apologised to him personally.<\/p>\n
Julia told PA that the debit took Adam’s account “considerably” into overdraft.<\/p>\n
She said: “It was pre-8am when we looked … obviously then you try to do some ring rounds, no one’s online, no one’s answering any phones.<\/p>\n
“We’re a family rushing around looking after a three-year-old trying to get ready for the nursery run and all the rest of it.”<\/p>\n
Julia said Adam initially could only speak to a Thames chatbot, which said the error would be rectified in the next payment. He then contacted his bank and the money was returned to his account.<\/p>\n
“As it was this morning, Adam had some bills he wanted to pay off his card and things that were due out of his account and everything was blocked. <\/p>\n
“It’s such a staggering amount of money.”<\/p>\n