First Utility - Any users or reviews

Hotcross

It is now 5 months since the promised 'go-live' date and my smart meters have finally been fitted! Bad news is though when I go online I get a message 'no usage data available at this time'. I know the meter positining is ok because my mobile phones (O2 and vodafone) work fine from that area.

I have phoned customer services several times about it but just get the usual fobbing off 'wait 48 hours and try again'. It's been 2 weeks now.

HC

kevcoo

Hotcross wrote: »

It is now 5 months since the promised 'go-live' date and my smart meters have finally been fitted! Bad news is though when I go online I get a message 'no usage data available at this time'. I know the meter positining is ok because my mobile phones (O2 and vodafone) work fine from that area.

I have phoned customer services several times about it but just get the usual fobbing off 'wait 48 hours and try again'. It's been 2 weeks now.

HC

Keep emailing them i did stacey.roberts head of customer sevices to get things moving

kevcoo

kevcoo wrote: »

Keep emailing them i did stacey.roberts head of customer sevices to get things moving

Tends to be at their end putting daily usage through your portal not sending them from smart meter they get to warwick ok its their end that is not working correctly

NonGeographicalMan

I desperately want to have smart meters for my gas and electricity as my meters are in a locked landlord store cupboard I do not have access to and I can never read my own meter. I know that situation is not that unusual as my mother had a flat in a block in London (place built in the 1930s) where just the same thing was true. But oddly no one else with that problem seems to ever contribute to this thread. You all just seem to be obsessive consumption monitorers for its own sake. If that was my interest and I had meter access I would just get something like an Owl monitor but I can't have one as even my fuse box in my hall is hard wired in to the wall and I cannot get at the supply cable collar.

Its clear that for decent prices you are better off with the big 6 (although avoid Npower like the plague as they have lock in contracts that you mean you can only walk away once a year and get the price you were expecting to pay without penalties) but none of them offers SmartMeters to customers who need them like me. Instead they only take a random selection of standard Janet and Johns and install them in their homes to meet some government quota but most of these people will have no interest in them and not appreciate them or give them much feedback on them.

It is ludicrous that a customer like myself cannot also get a Smart Meter with any of the big 6 suppliers on the basis of a finance deal over 2 years or something with the cancellation fee for leaving getting smaller every months until becoming zero in the last month. I would be quite happy to have a lock in with Scottish Power or Eon for two years as long as I could move on to their latest cheaper online tariff when they launch it without a further lock in period on top. I know that Eon and Scottish Power are always going to have a competitive tariff of some kind, albeit that they try to leave longstanding customers on tariffs that are no longer competitive. Whereas First Utility might close to new business due to financial issues and as a worst case the liquidators could charge customers the maximum they could get away with for a number of months.

It is absurd when at least 10% of UK households desperatey need Smart meters right now due to access issues to their meters that the government is instead foisting them on people who don't need them while denying them to those of us who do.:mad:

NonGeographicalMan

Well I have to give credit where credit is due as First Utility's MD, Mark Daeche, called me on the phone personally this evening and we had a long and interesting chat.

He says the main problem they have is with the meter installers who have mainly traditionally been guys with an oily rag and a spanner who frequently have no idea about dealing with a more technically complex setup like a Smartmeter involving data transfer between the two meters and back to headquarters. It also seems that the regulator Ofgem has not been doing as much as it might to set standards and rules for Smartmeters that ensures the Smartmeters adopted can definitely be transferred between suppliers for use as smart meters rather than only as dumb meters.

The reason that First Utility is no longer listed by Uswitch, SaveOnYourBills and other comparison websites is apparently because they have now decided to confine their efforts to delivering a better and quicker meter installation service in a smaller number of energy company areas and only to roll out smart metering in all areas once they have sorted out the issues with having enough qualified meter installers capable of handling the new technology. I did strongly get the impression that Mr Daeche believed in his mission on Smart Meters and was also committed to making the service work but that there were lot of barriers to overcome in what is seemingly a rather conservative and technologically backward industry (meter installation) in order to make this possible.

He has told me that his company is not installing meters at all in my area (Seeboard) at the moment but may begin to do so in another 6 or so months time once they have sorted out the issues with there being enough properly trained and qualified meter installers who can cope with fitting smart meters.

I honestly did feel that Mr Daeche was genuine in his explanations and that in being first in the market in offering a smartmeter to anyone who wants one in their home that there were still lot of issues for he and his colleagues to overcome that made progress quite slow and difficult to achieve.

1carminestocky

Are their prices still the same as when they were on the switching sites? And shouldn't they have examined in fine detail the potential problems associated with such a 'revolutionary' approach to the market BEFORE launch?

Cardew

1carminestocky wrote: »

Are their prices still the same as when they were on the switching sites? And shouldn't they have examined in fine detail the potential problems associated with such a 'revolutionary' approach to the market BEFORE launch?

They do appear on energyhelpline for the Midlands and are very near the top for the 20,500/3300 user - third in fact. For very high users they come top!

first:utility first:utility is an independent utilities supplier offering gas and electricity, phone and broadband services to a range of consumer and business customers.

It is the only energy provider to provide smart meters to all its customers, and therefore the only utility company to ensure 100% accurate billing across all its services. It is through the use of smart metering technology that first:utility can empower consumers to manage their own energy consumption and bills.

first:utility is a CarbonNeutral company.
Tariff Details Name first:utility - Smart Dual fuel online saver V1 Region Midlands Payment method Monthly Direct Debit Features • Smart meter technology
• No more estimated bills
• Cancellation fees apply
• Paperless billing
• 2 year contract
Pricing Details Gas Electricity Standing charge 33.60p per day (£122.64 per year) 25.20p per day (£91.98 per year) Unit charge (pence per kWh) 3.066p 8.489p Discounts Dual fuel customers will receive a discount of 12.5% of their total annual bill.

However I thought that they had different tariffs with different rates during the day?

NonGeographicalMan

1carminestocky wrote: »

Are their prices still the same as when they were on the switching sites? And shouldn't they have examined in fine detail the potential problems associated with such a 'revolutionary' approach to the market BEFORE launch?

He told me they were also considering launching a conventional meter tariff that would be one of the lowest in the marketplace both in order to cope with any customers who came on board where smart meter install was delayed for whatever reasons and also to expand the appeal of the First Utility product to customers other than those who want a Smart Meter.

With regards to anticipating the difficulties with Smart Meter install I suspect that is probably quite difficult when you are working with an industry not renowned for the ready adoption of new working practices. Pulling back a little so they can restore service levels sounds to me like a responsible thing to do.

Cardew

NGM.

I can't look at any FU prices on-line.

However surely they used to charge 3 different rates for different periods each day?

Have they dropped this and now charge a flat rate 24/7

If still 3 rates during the day, how can the websites calculate an annual spend? even most of us anoraks on this board would not know our consumption during different parts of the day.

NonGeographicalMan

Cardew wrote: »

If still 3 rates during the day, how can the websites calculate an annual spend? even most of us anoraks on this board would not know our consumption during different parts of the day.

I presume it assumes a standardised pattern of consumer consumption across the various times of day. Not perfect but the best they can do without a very complicated price comparison website.