A customer says he was “appalled” when he found a “racist” message on his voicemail, accidentally left by a Thames Water employee.
Retired book publisher Maurice Vidowsky, 75, discovered the recording on his phone of a call handler complaining to a colleague about a Pakistani customer he had been dealing with.
The unidentified employee referred to the customer as a “bastard”.
Mr Vidowsky, from Highgate, said the caller clearly had not realised the offensive remarks were being recorded.
“It’s appalling,” he said. “They are describing someone in a racial way, in a derogatory fashion.”
In a complaint to the company on June 26, he wrote: “I was shocked by the content… Is this racist chat the way you refer to your ‘valued’ customers?”
He said the message was left amid a string of calls asking him to increase his direct debit.
The privatised water company is hiking bills by 31% as it allegedly struggles with debts after paying hundreds of millions of pounds in shareholder dividends.
The voicemail captured a man with a Scottish accent saying: "I spent about 25 minutes yesterday on the phone with some Pakistani guy who was saying that we owed him money and actually, I went through everything and explained to him that he owes us money.
“Hung up the phone, the cheeky bastard! Not even an 'Oh, I'm sorry'. As soon as he realised that he was wrong, that was it. Bang. He just hung up on me."
“It’s just not acceptable,” said Mr Vidowsky. “It’s the racial description that I think is terrible. It’s not relevant. And the fact that they called him a cheeky bastard. At the very best, it’s derogatory.”
He added that he doubted the accidental message represented the only racial comments ever made in the office, more likely suggesting a culture in which staff felt safe making such comments.
“I think it’s appalling,” he said. “We can only hear what was on this recording – so how else do they speak about people?”
He said it was particularly shocking given the large, diverse population the company serves.
“If that’s their attitude, it has got to change,” he said.
By July 4, he said he still had not received any response to his June 26 complaint.
“I’m horrified,” he said. “They need to apologise and I feel this guy should be fired. I want them to confirm that this isn’t institutional.”
A Thames Water spokesman said: “We take a zero tolerance approach to any reports of discrimination in the workplace.
“We are conducting appropriate internal investigations and will be keeping Mr Vidowsky informed of our findings.
“We strive to provide the best experience for all our customers and take these matters very seriously."
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