Veolia UK Arvostelua 

Veolia has turned a previously reliable heating service into a frustrating experience – and residents have no choice but to accept it

I live in a residential building where Veolia is responsible for providing communal heating. For years, my experience with Veolia was generally positive. Customer service was reasonably responsive, communication was straightforward, and dealing with heating-related matters was relatively simple.

Unfortunately, since Veolia decided to outsource billing and customer service to Switch2, my experience has deteriorated dramatically.

What used to be a relatively straightforward service has become an unnecessarily complicated and frustrating process, characterised by poor communication, excessive delays, unanswered questions and a complete lack of accountability.

One of the most frustrating aspect is that Veolia remains responsible for setting the heating tariffs, while another company handles customer communications. This creates an additional layer between residents and the company ultimately responsible for the charges.

Instead of simplifying the service, Veolia's decision to outsource these functions has, in my experience, made everything significantly more difficult and frustrating.

And this brings me to the biggest problem: we are trapped. Unlike customers of conventional energy suppliers, residents connected to a communal heating network generally cannot choose another provider. We cannot simply switch companies when the service deteriorates, when customer support becomes unresponsive, or when we are dissatisfied with how our complaints are handled.

We are required to continue using the service and paying the charges, regardless of our experience.

This makes Veolia's decision particularly disappointing. When customers have no realistic alternative, the company responsible for their heating should be held to an even higher standard of transparency, accountability and customer care.

I cannot understand why Veolia would replace a customer service arrangement that, in my experience, worked reasonably well with one that has made dealing with basic enquiries so difficult.

Perhaps outsourcing makes commercial sense for Veolia, but the consequences for residents should matter just as much as any operational savings.

Veolia cannot simply distance itself from the customer experience because it has appointed another company to handle billing and enquiries. The service is still provided under Veolia's responsibility, and the quality of its chosen contractors reflects directly on Veolia.

My criticism is therefore directed primarily at Veolia, not merely at the company it has appointed.

As a resident, I have gone from being generally satisfied with the service to feeling completely powerless, with no alternative supplier and no effective way to obtain answers to legitimate questions.

Jack B was extremely helpful today on the live chat. A collection did not take place 'due to blocked access'. However there was access and Jack is going to dispute it and keep me updated via email.
Amazing customer service, thank you.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Phenomenal Customer Service – Ashley Is an Absolute Credit to Veolia!

I genuinely cannot praise Ashley enough for the exceptional customer service I received today!

I have contacted Veolia on many, many occasions, but my experience with Ashley today was on a completely different level. From the moment we spoke, he was incredibly kind, respectful, personable and, above all, genuinely willing to help.

At one point during our conversation, I had some additional questions and concerns regarding my collection and the timings. Rather than simply passing me on to another department or leaving the issue for someone else to deal with, Ashley made a point of telling me that he didn't want to do that and that he wanted to get it sorted for me there and then. That alone spoke volumes about his attitude and work ethic!

He was also so apologetic about having to place me on hold, which I honestly didn't mind in the slightest, especially knowing he was actively trying to help me. His professionalism, patience and genuine consideration were second to none.

What really stood out to me was how human and genuine the entire interaction felt. We even had a lovely little chat! It wasn't robotic, scripted or purely transactional. He made me feel listened to, valued and reassured, which is something that can be so rare in customer service.

I genuinely believe that Ashley is exactly the kind of person you would want on your team if you owned a business. You cannot teach that level of kindness, genuine care and willingness to go above and beyond. It comes down to the individual, and Ashley clearly takes pride in helping people.

I cannot emphasise enough just how fantastic he was. Phenomenal, phenomenal customer service!

Veolia, I sincerely hope this feedback reaches Ashley and his management team, because employees like him deserve to be recognised, appreciated and celebrated. He is an absolute asset to your company and a shining example of what outstanding customer service should look like.

Thank you so much, Ashley. You genuinely made my day, and I hope Veolia knows just how lucky they are to have you!

I was really grateful to Sahruni S for listening to my issue and then taking to investigate and sort it for me.

Excellent customer service today from Jade W when I asked what the new recycling rules are going to mean for our small company.

Sahruni S was very professional and assisted me in this issue which i have reported numerous times to Veolia, i am hoping that my query finally gets resolved. Thank you Sahruni

Staff on the phone is very polite and seem to know what they are doing..
The options in the beginning of the call are to extensive, annoying and the time that takes to get to where you want is way to long.

My query was solved really quickly

Online chat with Bethany S was great, very helpful and quick to respond.

I was very happy with my recent experience with Ashley. He was very polite and extremely happy to help me sort out the issue I was experiencing.

Kimran was very helpful!

The support I received from Sahruni was excellent, she was supportive from the start and took her time to explain everything to me, and was able to answer every question. Ultimately taking me through the process and bringing my enquiry to a successful end. Thank You!

Tom made a resolution to my skip problem. Very helpful chap!

Customer service very helpful - above and beyond.

Started very well, decent quote, documents signed after a slight delay while we waited for our VAT Number to be issued but once this was provided everything went down hill. On chasing up delivery of the two bins we have requested, suddenly nobody knew who we are or even who the customer service agent was. Getting through to the local depot is a joke, you ring the number, you end up talking to someone in Wolverhampton or somewhere like that, they eventually say they will put you through to the customer service team in Northampton, you don't get put through to the customer service team in Northampton, you get put through to reception who are always confused and have no idea why you have been put through to them. They then say they'll put you through to customer service, you end up back at Wolverhampton talking to another person who still doesn't know who you are, goes through all of the unnecessary security questions again, still don't know who you are, say they'll put you through to Northampton and guess what, the merry go round starts all over again. We still haven't had the bins delivered but have had numerous delivery dates, 12th October, 14th October, 20th October, 27th October. Nothing turned up on either the 12th or the 14th. Don't hold out much hope for the 20th or 27th. If nothing by then, I'll be cancelling..

Scam company. Avoid like the plague!!!

Seven months into the contract and bin has been emptied twice!! Took nearly that just to receive it, but was charged from day one!

Money stolen, waste piling up like an ocean, critical health hazard, serious pest issues, complaints from neighbouring businesses, no contact from company, unbelievable stress that is triggering my own mental health problems, and yet the Veolia truck has been seen driving down the road!!

Who are these people??

Excellent company, very helpful and good prices

Excellent in every way. Customer advisor Mr Mark has been a Gentleman. Nothing to complain about.

Jordan was my Customer servicde guy and he was great- talked me through everything i queried, and even stayed on the phone and walked me through everything i needed to do.

Jack B was extremely helpful. He answered my query professionally and promptly, with precise answers. He resolved my query within minutes.