Good afternoon all. This is a bit long winded and concerns my local water supplier, and my lack of water pressure. I live in a top level flat above some shops. My water pressure has been dodgy since I moved in –if either shop below is using the cold supply, my supply is compromised. This wasn’t a massive issue (I’m at work all day and they close before I get home) until a restaurant opened behind my property (in a different set of building across a car park.) It’s open until 10pm at night, and when they are open my cold water supply shuts off completely, but not only that, it’s actually being sucked back into the pipes. For example, if I’m in the shower and they use their water, the water coming from my shower head is forcibly sucked back through and the supply stops completely until they turn their taps off. I spoke to a plumber friend of mine about it and he raised concerns that this could be a legionnaire’s disease risk and should be addressed as soon as possible. I immediately reported the issue to my local supply company. A phone call and a detailed email from me later, they sent one of their field agents out to my house. I asked them to send him during the evening so he could see the issues with the water supply first hand (which caused grumbles as he wanted to come at 8am!). He came around 6pm, put a meter on one of my kitchen taps for a couple of minutes (conveniently when there was no interruption to the supply) and told me I was getting way above the required pressure. I explained again the situation but he was dismissive (although generally pleasant). My plumber friend was with me thankfully, and but his back-up made little difference, and the legionnaires concerns were also dismissed. The agent stated that they only deals with pipes in their ‘area’ and that the pipes etc. beneath the car park (supplying five shops and me) were not their concern (despite them supplying the water). He did say he would dig up a small portion of the car park right by the road to check the pipes (nowhere near my flat!), and if it was obvious there was an issue they would let me know. Around three weeks later I received an email (please note that no digging had taken place at all) to inform me that a meter of some kind was placed across the road (nowhere near my property or the car park in question) and it turns out everyone is getting great water pressure (!!), and if I want something done about my problem I’d have to pay for work to be done myself, including informing all the shops, finding out who owns the car park, etc., etc. My plumber friend now thinks I should inform environmental health. But I’m unsure of what to do. I’m seriously considering just moving house to be honest! So, is there anything further I can do? Has my supplier fulfilled their obligations properly? Is the plumber overreacting? I’m paying £40 a month for my water and am concerned that this constant interruption to my supply will not only damage my washing machine and shower along the way, but also my sanity! Any advice would be gratefully received! Thank you.

I thought that may be the case. It's just a shame there is nowhere I can report them to in regards to their terrible practices (for the sake of those left behind). I was considering reviewing them on Indeed to try and warn anyone thinking of working there, but the process is vague as to how this is done. Thank you for all of your help regardless.

Hi both, thank you for your responses. I don't believe I was still classed as disabled at the time having fully recovered from my illness and no longer being entitled to accompanying benefits. I was fired in April 2015. I know it's very unlikely I have any rights to challenge them myself, I'm more concerned for those I've left behind who are vulnerable.

Hello all, I was wondering if any of you knowledgeable people could help me out with an issue I’m having regarding a previous place of employment please? (I removed potentially identifying details here) After three months I had a successful appraisal and was actually given a pay rise and a permanent contract… and then I was fired a couple of weeks later. Out of the blue. No disciplinary, no discussion, nothing. I was called out of the office one morning by a feared manager, who dragged me into a spare office with the HR lady (a long story, she was hired it seems to find any way at all for existing staff to be punished) They told me they were giving me four weeks’ notice and I had to leave the building immediately. When I asked why, she told me ‘I don’t have to give you a reason why, you’ve not been here long enough. It’s your conduct that’s the problem.’ I asked her to define her reasons; she was literally shaking with anger, and told me again she didn’t have to tell me why. I remained calm (which seemed to infuriate her further), while she fumed and the HR woman smirked. They then escorted me back into the office, and I was shocked to see it had been emptied of all the staff! It was so overly dramatic. They stood over me as I packed my things, and escorted me off the premises as though I’d committed some terrible crime. Of course, after this event I went straight to the jobcentre for advice to be told that as I’d been there for less than a year I had no rights (but they were very eager to get me onto their trial of universal credit!). My phone blew up with calls and texts from my colleagues completely baffled as to what had happened, telling me they’d all been told to go to the upstairs office and then told that I’d been ‘let go’. No reasons were given to them. They were left very scared it could happen to them too. Thankfully, I had been looking for another job in the evenings and had secured a new one that I started a few weeks later (the job that fired me had no idea about this as I was not using them for references, and I hadn’t shared this information with anyone else), otherwise it would have left me in a terribly difficult position of having to explain why I’d been fired for ‘conduct issues’ when I didn’t even know what they were myself! Couple this with my previous disability (which they were fully aware of when they employed me), and they would have made finding a new job incredibly difficult for me (as well as forcing me back onto benefits). They paid me the four weeks of notice and outstanding holiday pay (I’m sure they’ve taxed me far too much but that’s beside the point). I’ve now scrubbed that job from my CV and have been very happily in my new position for a few months. I’m still in contact with most of my previous colleagues who have been filling me in on continued issues in my absence. SO, to finally get to the point, I believe that there is little I can do about the way I was treated there due to the length of time I was employed by them, but is there anything I can do for my colleagues that remain? Can I report them somewhere? What would I even report them for? Even though I’ve moved on, I’m occasionally gripped by anxiety for what could have happened to me if I didn’t have another job to go to. I’m angry, of course, but more concerned for those I’ve left behind. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all for taking the time to read this, I hope it made sense.