Thames Water is a joke, and a bad one at that. When I first moved to London they didn’t send me a bill until the end of the year, for the full year. Then they sent another – same exact amount, same address, different reference number. I called them to say the bill was already paid and they confirmed over the phone that they could see the payment for the other bill, but they couldn’t trash the new one for some reason and to avoid any extra charges I had to pay it and then ask for a refund. I remarked how dumb that was, but acquiesced and paid the thing only to then ask for a refund. They said it’d be processed within a couple of weeks, but of course it never was, so I called again. And again. And again. About six months later I just gave up, and accepted that Thames Water will forever owe me some £500 or so, and I’ll never get them back.

I’m so glad I don’t live in the UK anymore.