First Utility - Any users or reviews

chrisjw37

Which have had a BIG SWITCH program
and have actually recommended me to switch to these cowboys.

Having read the reviews here and seen the horrible experiences of users on the reviews at money supermarket:
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/c/utilities/suppliers/first-utility/reviews/27/1/2/1/0/

I will avoid like a dose of cankerous Syphilis :eek:

I shall complain to Which! for their shocking behaviour too, that NOT in their members best interest.

[Deleted User]

Also your First Utility smart meter stops being a smart the minute you switch supplier. I work for BG who have loads of smarts operating and have the set-up,and have seen a few refugees from First Utililty who confirmed that their smarts are now well and truly "dumb" and will remain so until all the suppliers can switch smart technology amongst themselves

tonybird

I left First Utility and it has not been providing me with any service since 9th August. At that point I was in credit so I left the direct debit to make it easier for First Utility to refund me. It took the monthly direct debit payment on 28th August and then sent me a bill stating that it was going to take another monthly payment on 28th September. I queried that and was told that within 15 working days from 28th September I would have my over payment refunded. I complained to First Utility about that and was told that that was a mistake and that the payment on 28th September would not be taken and the balance would be refunded to me "as soon as possible". However I have seen no refund and the payment was taken today.

First Utility has stopped responding to my emails.

Is there now any way to complain about these cowboys and their thieving ways?

pug306d

If you have online banking cancel your direct debit to them or call you bank and ask them to do it, they could probably get the money back for you under the direct debit guarantee - best speak to your bank.

NonGeographicalMan

pug306d wrote: »

If you have online banking cancel your direct debit to them or call you bank and ask them to do it, they could probably get the money back for you under the direct debit guarantee - best speak to your bank.

pug306d is correct. Any direct debit can be cancelled at any time by the customer thus stopping collection of all future direct debit payments. The instruction should be able to be cancelled through either online banking, telephone banking or simply going in to a branch and filling out the appropriate DD cancellation form.

If you dispute the validity of payments already taken then you contact your bank and dispute those payments explaining why you believe they are not due. The payments should then be reversed and refunded to you whilst the matter is investigated. Only if the merchant could prove that you did in fact have a contractual liability for making the payments would the situation be reversed and the money paid back to First Utility.

Many front line advisers at banks don't seem properly trained in the direct debit scheme and may suggest it is between you and the merchant to sort out. They are wrong and you must not accept this and ask to speak to a supervisor or make a complaint to customer relations about the incorrect information you have been given.

The BACS website page at http://www.bacs.co.uk/bacs/businesses/directdebit/collecting/pages/customersrights.aspx gives full details of the direct debit guarantee scheme and your rights to a refund under it when merchants take payments from you in error or worse still as in this case even despite your previous firm instruction that they must not take any more payments from you under the existing direct debit.

First Utility are completely disgraceful toerags who should have had their licence to sell gas and electricity taken away a long time ago by the gas and electricity regulator - https://www.ofgem.gov.uk

Their complaints procedures are set out at http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Domestic-consumers/Pages/index.aspx You should send a formal registered letter to the CEO of First Utility asking for your money back. They have eight weeks to comply and if they don't you can then take the complaint on to the Energy Ombudsman using the procedures listed at http://www.ombudsman-services.org/energy.html You should in any case get your money back through the Direct Debit scheme but you may feel like going down the Ombudsman route to in order to try and stop this company behaving in this outrageous way in future.:eek::mad:

zaax

FU avoid.
Thanks to everyone on tis thread.
FU looked to be the best as they are at the top of the moneysupermarket league, but following this tread they sounds like a con, so I won't be joining.

rockchick113

It looks like I had a close call reading all the reviews from 3 different sites about first utility,I tried switching to them,and then got a email saying I had to give them a security deposit before I could join them,who gives money up front to a energy supplier ???
So I'm now in a dilemma on who I should switch to nearly every suppler have bad reviews,

supremetwo

Recent First Utility web site changes have affected the available data and now only a rolling 6 month is available to view consumption graphs.

You can no longer click back to the data from the same month last year (no data shows) to check the effect of such as improved insulation, better-rated appliances etc.

Not very smart.

garyilka

I found their bills complicated and difficult to understand (and I'm used to dealing with such information!). On one of my bills they had charged for a period, then reversed out a part of it, then re-charged for the part reversed out and all at different rates with no explanation. When I emailed them, the answer didn't refer to the question, just said that this was the latest bill!

I decided to leave and moved to an alternative supplier - a little more expensive but rated well for customer service. After transferring and receiving my final bill from First Utility which showed the account fully paid, I ceased the direct debit on my bank account. First Utility then attempted to take another month which was rejected by my bank. I emailed First Utility who said they would investigate. I then received a cheque in refund for the incorrectly attempted Direct Debit. Two days later I received a demand for repayment as my account was overdue. I emailed their Customer Services team who responded saying that my account was overdue and that a final account had yet to be issued!!

I gave up at this point and simply emailed the CEO, who passed it to the Director of Customer Operations to get it investigated. After a couple of days, another email and a phone call, it was sorted with an apology, confirmation that the final account had been issued and a thirty pounds credit to my account, leaving me to repay the remainder of the incorrectly refunded amount. However even then the final email didn't refer to the fact that their customer services team seem unable to investigate and accurately identify an issue or communicate accurately.

If you have a problem with First Utility - don't bother with the normal customer services channel - it just makes it even more complicated. Here are a few email addresses that will help you sort it:-

IanMcCaig, Chief Executive Officer
[EMAIL="ian.mccaig@first-utility.com"]ian.mccaig@first-utility.com[/EMAIL]

DaveD’Arcy, Director of Customer Operations
[EMAIL="dave.darcy@first-utility.com"]dave.darcy@first-utility.com[/EMAIL]

ConsumerAffairs (which seems to deal with high level complaints)
[EMAIL="consumer.affairs@first-utility.com"]consumer.affairs@first-utility.com[/EMAIL]

Peckham

Avoid this provider

I switched in November as their prices appeared to be lower. I used a link from MSE that was for a 'fixed duel-fuel tariff', 'iSave' I think it was called. The info on MSE was all positive and I trust MSE to do the research I don't have time to do. I especially wanted fixed with no nasty surprises.

Yes, you guessed it, I got a nasty surprise. My first bill was enormous and didn't seem to be the tariff I'd signed up to. It certainly wasn't fixed. I wasn't able to get through to FU on the phone but after several attempts I got a very rude person who essentially read to me from a script and then sent me leaflets about loads of different tariffs that were all called 'iSave...'

I was also told my direct debit could not be changed from the last day of the month, just before I get paid - not the best day to have hundreds of pounds leaving my account. Things got worse. I gave regular readings but the massive bills kept coming in - about 1.5x what I was paying before I switched. I should mention I live in a tiny 1 bed and am at work 6 days a week.

Customer service from FU is non existent - it's essentially automated - completely inflexible. I was then told they were going to raise their prices.

To cut a long story short I have managed to switch to EDF Blue and my bills have gone back to normal (what I was paying before FU) and they are fixed.

The switch happened quite quickly and I estimated I was owed £90 by FU. They did not reply to any emails and 2 letters. No final bill, no confirmation of transfer date.

I have just received a debt collector's letter for £300 on behalf of FU. I received no communication that suggested FU thought I owed them money. I've never got a letter like this before in my life. Overall this means I've been charged £240 for duel fuel, per month, for 4 months.

I recommend you avoid this company.