First Utility - Any users or reviews

MONEYPENNY

gatita wrote: »

Moneypenny, I think it was a general email to all users as I also received one this morning.
Good news for me (I HOPE, lol) as my year is up with them this month so I SHOULD get my bonus plus the £20 for online billing, I telephoned them just to make sure I will get it..........watch this space, ......I am keeping my fingers crossed, after I get it is bye bye from me.

My next dilemma will be going through the minefield of choosing a new provider, I defy anyone to understand the seemingly endless different tariffs, its time Energy Watch did something about this and made the companies to some basic guidelines that can be deciphered by the general public. I suppose THAT is asking tooooooo much?
If anyone can help me select a new company that would be great.

I 'm sorry if I gave the impression that I received some personal email for my benefit only. I was meaning to say that I hope that I have added some extra pressure, as I am sure there are many others who have been complaining, and that the combined effort has forced them to give some ground.
I would say in choosing your next provider you should make service your first priority and then price.
Unfortunately, this is the game, banks, utilities, insurance and telecom companies play. They change there offerings each year with seemingly tempting offers, and rely on current customer ignorance and apathy to subsidise these cheaper rates whilst trying to grow there customer base.
Have you looked at energyhelpline.com, they are featured on this site as the best comparison site to look at.
There will always be jockeying for top position in any particular year which is why I say consider service before price, and if the one you choose remains in say the top 10 with good service then you will have done well and will have no need to keep switching.
EON, EDF, Scottish Power and Southern Electric are looking good choices, put in your usage and see how they come out for price.
Bear in mind whoever you choose, you can bet that the tariff you are on will no longer be the cheapest one for you as there will be new ones available, so do not lock yourself in to anything longer than 12 months, then it should just be a matter of switching to the new tariff within the same company.
Did you see my first post #178 in this thread, you will then know where I am coming from with this company.

martr

Signed up in January after a 4-year deal with Eon - prospective savings of £200 a year compared to the Eon tariff on offer at that time. Electricity transferred smoothly, gas appeared eventually to transfer in May.
I've still not received a Gas bill - every couple of weeks I'm told "we've almost got it sorted".
This months bill was 17% higher than last.
I was initially expecting my 10% discount at 31st January (printed on bill), now told that this will be calculated in February and applied as a credit to the March bill (I presume the one for the end of March!), thus tying me in for an extra couple of months.
Despite spending money on my bill last month, the accrued cashback hasn't increased from the previous bill. When I questioned this on the phone, I was immediately told that there were errors in how the cashback was being calculated, and this was the reason. 5 minutes later he confirmed that I was right and he was wrong, and promised to call me back with an explanation - 7 days ago now.
:mad:
Problem is I don't know of any energy supplier who gives consisten pricing or good customer service.

NonGeographicalMan

martr wrote: »

Problem is I don't know of any energy supplier who gives consisten pricing or good customer service.

The only one that did ended up going out of business.........:(

city_girl_4

Posting my experiences of 'First Utilty the Worst Utilty' wherever I can:-


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2805430

Premier_2

city_girl wrote: »

Posting my experiences of 'First Utilty the Worst Utilty' wherever I can:-


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2805430

You posted your scathing comments of this supplier in this very thread last April, remember?
Post#87

Though I'm glad you've linked to your new thread as it shows there that FU are not the only one to have made errors based on your new thread content.

NonGeographicalMan

Amerada had no legacy customers and their market position was to offer the cheapest prices to all their customers.

Sadly they went bust and were taken over by Powergen (now Eon).

Premier_2

martr wrote: »

...Problem is I don't know of any energy supplier who gives consisten pricing or good customer service.

Hi martr, and welcome to MSE :hello:

Could I introduce you to a company that has been successfully trading for 10 years now? They are called ebico.

It's unlikely you'll get a wrong bill with them; they have very a simple pricing structure. One unit price for no matter how many units you consume or how you pay. Nothing else; no standing charges, no discounts, nothing.

The billing is normally handled by SSE who are themselves renowned amongst the big 6 as offering arguably the best customer service, and ebico have their own customer service team who I can't fault. In the extreme, you may even get a response direct from their MD, Mr Phil Levermore who has a very sensible and pragmatic approach to any complaints (imho).

They may not be the cheapest for you (they favour low users, sometimes extremely low users), but you pays your money...

MONEYPENNY

They have now blocked my switch even though they cannot present me with a bill , I pointed out that this is against Ofgem rules :
Domestic Customer Transfer Blocking, standard license condition 14,which states : these changes include removing the ability of energy suppliers to debt block where a domestic customers debt has accrued, or is the result of, supplier error, this come into force I believe 18 January 2010.
Do they really think they can do this without consequences of the financial kind which seems to be the only language they understand.
I am not letting them get away with it , and if all this bad publicity is losing them customers , GOOD, and you are welcome to try and take me to court .

Terrylw1

MONEYPENNY wrote: »

They have now blocked my switch even though they cannot present me with a bill , I pointed out that this is against Ofgem rules :
Domestic Customer Transfer Blocking, standard license condition 14,which states : these changes include removing the ability of energy suppliers to debt block where a domestic customers debt has accrued, or is the result of, supplier error, this come into force I believe 18 January 2010.
Do they really think they can do this without consequences of the financial kind which seems to be the only language they understand.
I am not letting them get away with it , and if all this bad publicity is losing them customers , GOOD, and you are welcome to try and take me to court .

Report them for breach of their licence. Suppliers can get away with most things unchecked from Ofgem. Only consumers can highlight these issues to a regulator who, well, just can't be arsed.

SIOUX

I joined their isave tariff in February 2010 when I got a very good deal.
however In July they more than doubled the standing charge for my Gas
to 65.2 pence per day!!!! I didn't realise this until recently but then queried it and got the following reply:

"With regards to your concerns about the recent increase of your tariff, last year Ofgem agreed to change the charges that the gas and electricity distribution and transmission companies charge all Energy Suppliers. These charges came into effect on the 1st of April but we delayed passing them on to you until now.
The reason why we delayed changing our prices at that point is that we always try to offer our customers the best price possible."

WHY THEN ARE THEY STILL OFFERING THE ISAVE TARIFF AT THE LOWER GAS PRICE OF 37.47 PENCE PER DAY!