Case Studies

The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) is an independent organization representing water consumers in England and Wales, helping thousands of consumers resolve complaints against water companies while providing free advice and support. To ensure a high standard of service and adaptability to consumer needs, CCW conducts a satisfaction survey among its consumers on a rolling basis. MEL Research undertake telephone-based research to assess consumer satisfaction and improve the survey's effectiveness.

The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) is committed to providing customers with a simple, effortless, and speedy experience for resolving complaints with their water companies, without resorting to legal action. They aim to act as the 'voice of consumers' and ensure fair assessments of complaints. To assess the current customer journey and gauge customer satisfaction, CCW commissioned MEL Research to conduct tele-depth qualitative interviews with consumers who had made complaints with their water companies, escalated to CCW, and further escalated to WATRS.

To meet the quality assurance requirements of Ofwat, Thames Water needed to demonstrate reduced nuisance from odour, with a reduction in odour complaints being considered crucial evidence. Since the communities around the treatment works rarely complained about odour emissions, Thames Water did not see community surveys as a reliable measure to gauge the impact of odour mitigation investment on customer experiences.