A housing association has apologised for a ‘completely unacceptable’ dig made by one of its workers in a phone call accidently overheard by a tenant. Eric, who did not want to share his full name, has been at odds with Clarion Housing for the past four years after tests showed his water was contaminated with a bacteria that can be deadly for the most vulnerable hospital patients.
A MyLondon investigation reported the Housing Ombudsman’s maladministration ruling and compensation order, which found Clarion delayed testing and concluded the tap water was safe without evidence. Eric was decanted to a hotel for most of 2021, but after his return in 2022 the water tested positive pseudomonas aeruginosa again and he was briefly moved out for the second time.
Clarion say their contractor Rock Compliance has since found the water to be safe, but this requires the use of hospital grade filters which must be replaced every 92 days. Eric claimed Clarion failed to provide the most recent pseudomonas testing certificates as reassurance, but the housing association repeatedly insisted they had shared them with the tenant.
READ MORE: ‘My water was contaminated with bacteria – I had to live in a hotel for a year’
After MyLondon’s story, which showed the water tested positive as recently as July 2023, Eric rang up his housing association on Monday (May 6) to ask for further reassurance and to make sure his most recent complaints were being considered. This came after Clarion recently admitted delays to another set of complaints made by Eric in February.
In a phone call with workers at the housing association, which Eric recorded to for a record of what was said, an advisor called Nicholas mocked Eric and said ‘he does like to go on’, seemingly unaware he could still be heard. Clarion have since told MyLondon the comment was ‘completely unacceptable’ and it is ‘undertaking a full investigation’.
In the recording, Nicholas appears to be chuckling as he says: “I’ve been on the phone about 20 minutes, yeah I did data protection with him. He does like to go on.” He then passes the line to another housing advisor Lisa, who greets Eric but is quickly shot down as he reveals that he has just heard their private chat.
Confronting her, Eric says: “I’m quite disappointed, after I thought I had a decent conversation with Nicholas he decided to put that last dig in, with you over the conversation that ‘I like to go on’ a lot, and that I have been on the phone for the last 20 minutes. I think that’s quite disgraceful.”
Lisa immediately apologises and says ‘I’m very sorry’, but Eric appears angry and tells her ‘No, you’re not sorry’ as she promises to ‘feed that back’ to her team.
‘They should not be anywhere near the public sector’
Remarking on the phone call, Eric told MyLondon: “I was explaining the details of what’s happening and how serious this is. He put me on hold, but he must have made a mistake and he never knew I could hear him. It then came out that I ‘go on’ a lot, and he mocked me.
“It was the audacity and the tone. These people should not be working for Clarion. They should not be anywhere near the public sector, if you have no sensitivity. If someone has told you they have been trapped in a house for four years, and then to say ‘he does like to go on’ is disgraceful. It’s just the same old same old.”
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After our story last weekend, MyLondon understands the Housing Ombudsman asked Clarion Housing for everything they have on Eric’s case by the end of the week. Eric said he received a ‘barrage’ of phone calls from different parties this week, asking him for details to help move his complaint forward.
A Clarion spokesperson said: “We apologise wholeheartedly to [Eric] for the comments made by a Clarion colleague, they were completely unacceptable. Supporting our residents and being courteous and professional at all times is the minimum expectation we have for all of our staff.
“We are undertaking a full investigation and the appropriate action will be taken as a result. In addition, our Director of Customer Services will be visiting [Eric] personally to discuss this and provide reassurance.”
You can read MyLondon’s full report into Eric’s water contamination issue here.
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