Water Meters - Anybody regret it?

we had one installed but it never got read once in 6 months - our meter is down a steep bank at the side of a field next to us. When I asked about having a reading so I could work out if it was cheaper they told me it would be only read once a year because of the hedgerow and grasses covering it.
So I decided to go back to the old fashioned way of my water rates - we was given 1 year to be able to change our minds. We use a lot of water washing the lorries so think we made the wise decision.