I refer to the letter by Hadrian Cassar Torreggiani about a faulty meter (September 4). He sent us an e-mail about it on August 29 at 8.25pm. Apart from our normal acknowledgement sent immediately, we answered his e-mail on September 3 at about noon and provided him with the form required to test the meter.

We explained that we would need to wait for the Water Services Corporation to conclude the tests before revising his water bills in line with the results. One must appreciate that this may take some time and is beyond ARMS’ control.

In such situations, ARMS’ practice is to block the customer’s water account for any interest charges until the matter is resolved. While we understand the customer’s apprehension at receiving a bill believed to be incorrect, we responded correctly and within two working days.

On September 3 at 4.24pm, Mr Cassar Torreggiani thanked us for our reply and confirmed it had “settled his problem”. Despite this, he still felt the need to write to The Times. With regard to his questioning the use of direct debit, we have just under 5,000 residential clients who benefit from this discount and the number is increasing weekly. It gives customers peace of mind that all their bills are paid up and on time. In addition, ARMS offers a discount of two per cent on each bill or a minimum of €3 per bill, which is credited to the subsequent bill.

Customers who accept to pay on direct debit continue to receive their bills at home (such that they have enough time to verify the amount to be paid) and can block a particular payment without need for justification. This service is free and one can decide to terminate at any time. We will continue to promote the direct debit service since we believe it benefits our residential customers.

ARMS will continue to strive to reduce its response time even further. Nevertheless, one must appreciate the amount of attention ARMS needs to give to each of our contacts.