First Utility: No DD set up but say they've taken payment?

Lucycat

Been reading through all the F:U (wish I'd given that acronym more thought before I signed up) posts - having a slightly different problem with them myself so thought I'd start a new thread.

I transferred to them about two months ago, don't have smart meter so have been submitting my reads when they request them, and receiving bills promptly.

When this month's bill arrived, I was concerned that they still hadn't taken last month's payment and that they would subsequently take both payments at once.

I rang on Sat morning and spoke to a customer service adviser, he said that they had already taken the DD on the 11th May, and confirmed the reference number, amount taken and my bank details.

I was a bit baffled and told him that it definitely hadn't gone out, and that there is no DD instruction showing at all.

He was very polite, but said that they had definitely received it.

Just a bit puzzled as to where to go from here really - the money definitely hasn't left my account, the details they hold for me are all correct but there's no DD instruction showing on my bank account. I am happy to pay for what I use (which is the reason I moved to F:U in the first place), but could do not to be effectively paying quarterly as my budgeting runs on a monthly basis and I'm happy with it that way.

Has anyone had a similar experience - and is this really the way F:U run things?

doublescotch

Yes I'm afraid it is the way FU run things - I think they are all school leavers - I have had countless conversations and no-one really seems to know what's going on - apart from the gas leak problem which they deny all knowledge of, I also attempted to find out what I really owed them for gas since the smart meter they installed a year ago has never been in operation - they stated that they were unable to tell me what the opening reading on the meter was - how on earth then can they calculate the total cost ?
They never ever return call when they say they will and are never able to answer queries over the phone - it's always 'I'll call you back'.
The upside is that it is relatively easy to get through to a talking person (unlike some companies) - the downside is that when you do they don't really seem to know what they are talking about !
As you can tell, after a year of dealing with these numskulls I've had enough - I am in the process of moving my gas and electricity to a proper company - which I hope will be run by 'grown up' accountable people !

Lucycat

Thanks for the response.

Alas they can't seem to pull themselves together and are still using estimates to bill me and being 'unable to claim' direct debits that they haven't set up.
After setting up the DD last month I had to pay three months' gas & leccy in one go, and as the appeal of FU was paying for what I used each month (rather than effectively paying quarterly) I'm now on my way back to eOn...