Watercare 'deeply sorry' after $6m deducted early from 44,000 accounts

Watercare says it is "deeply sorry" after a payment processing error earlier this week led to the early deduction of more than $6 million from nearly 44,000 customer accounts.

Watercare chief financial officer Angela Neeson told 1News in a statement the botched mass transaction occurred during a systems upgrade.

"An error during an upgrade of our billing system resulted in direct debit and credit card payments being processed before their due date.

"Around 43,835 customer accounts were affected, with payments totalling approximately $6.14 million."

"We’re deeply sorry for this error and the inconvenience it has caused. We are working with the system provider to restore normal service as quickly as possible. In the meantime, we have put manual controls in place to ensure no further payments are processed prematurely."

The payments were deducted from Aucklanders' accounts 18 days before they were due.

Neeson said the incident occurred on Monday and affected customers had been contacted by the company the same day.

"Customers have been offered the option of having the payment reversed as we know an unexpected payment can create financial hardship for some customers. Any requested refunds are being processed immediately so the money is returned the same day or by the next working day," she said.

"Customers who choose to have the payment reversed will be able to manually pay their bill on the due date.

"We apologise again to all affected customers for this system error."

Consumer NZ campaigns manager Jessica Walker told the NZ Herald the organisation believed Watercare had "failed" in its obligation under the Consumer Guarantees Act to "provide their services with reasonable care and skill".

"We know that mistakes happen and are pleased to see that Watercare proactively contacted its impacted customers quickly."

She advised impacted customers "at risk of hardship" to contact the company as soon as possible for an immediate refund.