First Utility - Any users or reviews

cheekyherb

i've been with first utility since moved into our house 2.5 years ago, i was initially really happy with them and their smart meter. This morning however, I had a letter from bank stating they were unable to pay £3,789 to first utility as not enough in my account. I phoned FU to find out what going on, customer services woman said oh your bill is wrong we have charged you in advance to december 2011. I asked her why I had been recharged from May 2009 and she siad the smart meter for gas wasn't working properly and this is what I now owe them... furious. not much. she said she will put my account on hold and look into it for me. I've worked it out and at their "readings" i have been using over £210 a month in gas for a 3 bed energy efficient house... in the summer the solar panels heat the hot water and we dont have heating on, we have an electric oven. Just emailed them to find out what the hell is going on, dont expect a response anytime soon!

alips_2

Not_So_Naff wrote: »

Be aware that if you owe your Energy Supplier for energy consumed they have a right not to release your account to a new Energy Supplier.

only if the debt is your fault. we left First utility with 18 mo unpaid after they failed to send us a bill, we eventually got a bill without the discount we were entitled to so disputed it and paid 1k, just had another final bill and apparently they owe us £1500....

bassnick

We've been with FU for 2 1/2yrs and I keep meaning to move supplier as I can't say that they've been any cheaper than previous suppliers, even taking into account inflation. They're all the same; they get you with a 12 month deal and then up go the prices. I want a clear pricing structure so that I'm paying for what I'm using when I use it - no Loyalty Bonuses or confusing tariffs and the rest they con you with: FU don't give you that clarity and I couldn't recommend them.

anon663

This company is beyond any doubt one of the the worst energy companies currently available in Great Britain. I would rather get into bed with a horny walrus than let these idiots anywhere near my bank details again.

Customer service is below anything I have experienced, below any non-national call center service. I prefer speaking to British Telecom rather than these morons, which is not easy for me to say.

Their claims to save you '15% on your energy bills' are also bogus. This figure seems to have been extracted out of thin air, since my bills have gone nothing but up since I moved to first utility.

And if you have a problem with your meter? Forget about seeing an engineer. These guys must only have about 12 technicians for the entire country, it takes weeks to get any kind of service. My nightmare began with this situation as my meter was logging electricity i wasn't even using!!! By the time they fixed the problem nearly a month had gone by, and they had the nerve to charge me for THEIR faulty meter readings!! 'No, our smart meter wouldn't give the wrong reading like that' says their customer service bimbo.

Be warned and be afraid!! All these guys seem to care about is getting as much money out of you as possible.

ultim

Thanks for the posts guys, i was about to join them but will stay well clear!

hippey

ultim wrote: »

Thanks for the posts guys, i was about to join them but will stay well clear!

Stay very clear, I had no end of problems moving from them! I'm suprised they are still in business!

pug306d

Wow that was a lucky escape! I was about to sign up to First Utility but thought I'd just have a quick Google to see what others thought of them, I am glad I did!

A question to the ex FU customers, what happens to the installed smart meter when you move to the new supplier?

Does anyone know of any other ways to get a smart meter installed now?

utility_csa

pug306d wrote: »

Wow that was a lucky escape! I was about to sign up to First Utility but thought I'd just have a quick Google to see what others thought of them, I am glad I did!

A question to the ex FU customers, what happens to the installed smart meter when you move to the new supplier?

Does anyone know of any other ways to get a smart meter installed now?

For residential customers, the smart meter is reverted back to a 'dumb' meter.

For I&C customers, who ever is the new mop should be reprogramming the meter to their smart tariff ( if they have one ).

BG, Npower, OVO, SSE are a few companies doing smart meters for residential.

jsoap

I've been looking at the website, but I can't find unit prices anywhere. All I can find are pages that are designed to tell me how much I can save.
Am I missing something?

edit: I had filled in a contact form on the website asking for prices. 2 weeks later I got a generic response, suggesting that I call them instead.
Don't think I'll be using them any time soon.

waffu

Wow thanks so much for this thread guys! I was on the verge of signing up for FU until I read your tales of woe in this thread. I'll stay well away now!

Many thanks!:beer: