First Utility - Any users or reviews

Hotcross

I am unimpressed too! Go-live date was THREE MONTHS ago I still do not have the promised smart meters and am paying estimated bills. Starting to have serious misgivings about this company. Whenever I call I get a promise that I 'will get a call to arrange a date' but nobody ever does call me. Calls are never returned and letters go unanswered.

Magentasue

I like the idea of smartmeters but would avoid first utility because:

- on comparison sites, they are often not even on the first page of results for me
- I wouldn't want to be tied in at present

I do have a Currentcost energy monitor (like an Owl monitor) and that has cut our consumption. If I lived on my own, I wouldn't have needed it but it has been useful in educating the family and monitoring usage. Maybe an alternative for those who like the idea of smart meters but don't want to pay for the privilege, until smart meters are more widely available.

hippey

Unfortunatly I have found FU to have one of the worst customer experiences I have come across. They use only 0845 numbers (the 'known' 01 number is not for customer services) so this means I can only contact them when I'm in the UK.

I have had an ongoing issue with my billing which had been rolling on for 5 months, this was apparently solved by one member of staff who has since left, without actually sorting it out in the end! So I had to explain all over again, and still waiting 2 weeks later for the results of this AGAIN!

It's not rocket science to provide good, solid customer service but so many companies fall down at the first hurdle

pm5000

Hi,

I joined these in early march and not a whiff of a smart meter being installed. Nothing on their website to warn new customers that you will be stuck with estimated bills for months, that I joined them to avoid. Worse still they failed to bill me in May then hit me with a double payment this month, again estimated and over-inflated. For this shoddy service they offer me a pathetic 5% discount on estimated bills, which is no savings as they are overestimating my use by at least 15%. They never contact you,
and when you phone them they say delays due to overwhelming demand but that installation is imminent. It isn't and I will be telling everyone to stay well clear of these and wait until the main suppliers start fitting these meters as at least they have the capacity to actually fit meters and respond to complaints.

1carminestocky

Signing up for 2 years with not only a new company but more importantly a new company attempting something unique (and, I'm sure, very expensive in terms of installation costs etc) was always going to be a risk, TBH.

Ivchenko

I signed up back in March, still no whiff of any smart meters. To be fair though customer service have always been on the end of the phone letting me know what's going on, and now I want to leave have waived the 2yr financial lockin without any aggro

hippey

My issues with First Utililty seem to have been resolved, but.... It took months, they seem a small company in terms of customer service, to be fair the agent are friendly and have some reasonable knowledge, but I think they multi-task with the first telecom role!

As for savings, it's debateable if you will save anything by just the smart meter, you will only save if in fact you want to save! The prices for electric are reasonable, I have found my bills have reduced by about 15-20% mainly from making use of the cheap rate on the 3 rate tarriff. The gas seems expensive compared to my current supplier.

penrhyn

If you want to monitor your electricity use you can always buy an Owl. The latest one collects basic usage stats.

Plushchris

First utility seem to have disappeared off the comparison sites too now, Hmmm glad I didnt sign up!

kevcoo

I am with first utility for gas and electric meters installed 1st July all working fine ,can see meter readings half hourly on electric and daily on gas,these are passed to their office overnight by text i believe so it is the day after before you can see the day and total of usage