"It is even more disappointing that for the third year in a row, the rise in complaints has been heavily influenced by individual water companies introducing new billing systems that have gone wrong, " she added.
Pratter ordered the firms to report on a wide variety of things, from hours, billing rates and years of experience for individual attorneys to expenses and the existence of any agreements among the firms on fees.
With the introduction of debit cards, money could be withdrawn from personal accounts instantaneously, leaving the individual little recourse in the event that the product or service was unsatisfactory or a billing error had occurred.