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"
This story pisses me off
."
Blanche Marchesseau is exhausted.
For a year, she has even struggled to fall into the arms of Morpheus.
At 90, this Nantes resident of the Chantenay district reimburses a monthly water bill of €3,500, finally lowered to €2,000: "I have a stomach ache from
paying an amount that I don't owe
", says her, while leafing through bundles of perfectly sorted documents in colorful pockets.
“
I was hoping that I wouldn't need to reopen these files again
,” she sighs, showing letters and photos of her old water meter, which she holds responsible for this situation.
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In December 2021, underground work is undertaken in front of her home.
A month later, on the occasion of the annual water meter reading, a small handwritten note awaits her at home one evening, when she was absent during the day: “
if the index is at 1346, the consumption is very high.
Possibly an error of succession
.
There will follow a water bill of 1178m3 for the year 2021, "
more than 3000 liters per day for one year
" and an amount to be paid of 3528.81 euros, while its consumption was 100m3 the year. previous, and 68m3 in 2019. Unrealistic figures for this retiree: “
where do you want me to put them?
she exclaims, with a nervous laugh, pointing to the ornate exterior of her house.
".
This volume corresponds to half an Olympic swimming pool.
Inevitably, one of his first reflexes is to have the taps checked.
Quickly, she brings in an expert who detects nothing: "
if there was a leak, I would have benefited from the Warsmann law
", explains the one to whom we would gladly give 15 years less.
This legal point provides for a rebate, subject to conditions and with the help of evidence, if the consumption is deemed "
anomalous
".
Blanche Marchesseau, in her garden, with a file that she would like not to have to reopen.
LT/Le Figaro
For the nonagenarian, the problem comes from vibrations carried out during the construction site: "
look at number 4, it is offset
", she says, showing a photo of the counter.
For her, the tremors could have caused the figures to jump during the works.
In an email sent at the beginning of the week to the deputy Ségolène Amiot, the daughter of Blanche, who has already traveled three times to her mother for this story while she lives in Guadeloupe, explains having had an oral exchange with the company in charge of manufacturing the meter: "
I have been told that it happens that there are water hammers
", she says.
The deputy, in charge of the third constituency of Loire-Atlantique, who received this letter on Monday immediately contacted the vice-president in charge of water and sanitation policy.
Robin Salecroix then replied that the situation was more complex than that.
For Nantes Métropole, "voluntary or involuntary consumption"
Nantes Métropole looked at three explanations related to this overconsumption.
Two were rejected, namely
“a leak on the installation, buried or in the housing
”
and
“
a malfunction of the meter
” after it had been passed on
“an approved test bench”
.
The family, for their part, did not recover the meter (changed in the meantime).
The hypothesis favored by the community is
“voluntary or involuntary consumption: the consumption is significant, but it represents the equivalent of the volume transited by a tap which would have been left open for barely more than a month”
.
"
There are always people in the house, we would have heard if there was something
", is surprised Florence Marchesseau, while her mother-in-law, who handles computers wonderfully, says she is "
lucid enough to don't let a case like that sink
,” no pun intended.
Today, even if she has the means to pay, the latter remains disillusioned and deplores the silence of the City since her story came out in the media: “
May Nantes Métropole recognize its error and be reimbursed!
»
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The metropolitan institution defends itself and explains that as soon as it “
noted abnormal water consumption, it sent a letter to Mrs. Marchesseau to alert her.
Then, the community carried out numerous checks, in agreement with the Water Mediator.
All led to the finding that involuntary consumption is the cause of this overconsumption.
“The person concerned claims never to have received this letter dated January 25, 2022: it would have reached her only six months later.
A rebate of €1,500 was finally granted to him by Nantes Métropole, on the proposal of the Water Mediator, for a final invoice of €2,014.84.
The former FIFG investigator has therefore been reimbursing 200 euros per month since December.
Beyond the financial aspect, “
Blanche is really a good living.
This story weighed her down
,” notes her daughter-in-law bitterly, who visits her regularly.
Described as a "
good citizen
" who always paid her bills, she received two bailiff's letters.
It will have been necessary to wait until entering its ninth decade to deal with them.
