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First Utility are the Worst Utility
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city_girl_4
Posts: 13 Forumite
in Energy
I cannot even begin to express my anger and frustration with First Utility.
Posting on here resulted in them contacting me last time so I’m hoping something will result again.
Last Christmas I decided to switch suppliers so I did an online comparison and First Utility came top. They were the best in pricing, they were local to me and they offered smart metering.
I signed up.
The first incident was the smart metering; we arranged to have them fitted and no one showed up! Ironically they charge you if no one is in when they turn up so I suggested they recompense us by teh same amount; I was ignored!
Eventually the chap turned up for the second appointment and told me that we couldn’t have one fitted as we had the wrong type of meters! He said FU should have asked us which type of meters we had first and he was fed up of having the same conversation with customers. Even though our house is only 10 years old apparently they are old meters so if we can’t get them I doubt if very many of their customers do!
No mind; we still decided to stay with them and we can enter our readings online.
We did this when we first moved and several times after as requested; however when the first bill was produced it was wrong by a very long way. I asked for a corrected bill which never arrived.
In fact I have been with then for ten months now and in all of that time have received just 3 bills (they usually bill monthly) and not one of them has been correct!
To get your bills you have to login online and not once has this worked!
When I originally complained on this site as their staff took no notice of me at all I was contacted by a customer services lady immediately. She was great and promised to sort matters out. She said she’d refund me £60 by way of apology which I eventually got some 4 months later after numerous calls and emails to their offices to remind them.
Then the next thing I get a call from my mortgage lender to say my mortgage payment has been refused! I was horrified, I’ve never missed a mortgage payment in my life so I hurriedly checked by bank account and First Utility had taken nearly £500 from my account without my permission or any notice!
I cannot tell you how angry I was.
I contacted the customer services lady I’d spoken to previously who took several days to come back to me. She openly admitted she had spent that time getting staff to check all of their records to find proof that they had notified me of taking the money from my account but she couldn’t find any proof at all. She admitted liability and arranged for the money to be refunded, a new bill issued and agreed to over my banking charges. Again these took some time to come through but did.
Each and every month I have asked FU for a corrected bill but not received one. I did eventually get a bill showing I now owed over £600. The meter readings made no sense neither did their payment structure so I asked for a broken down bill and better clarification of what I was being charged – I never got it.
Next thing the red letter arrived. Not good enough for FU to put a letter in the post to you; no this company writes in big bold red letters on the OUTSIDE of the envelope that you are in arrears with your bill and face being disconnected. I am so angry at this disgraceful approach.
I called my contact and was told that she had left; why am I not surprised!
I was passed to a new contact. He apologised and said that he would notify billing that there had been an error on my account that was still being resolved and to leave me alone. I got a letter confimring same from a manager a week later.
Not two days later do I get a knock at the door; it’s a man who says I’ve come to collect £600 from you in cash NOW.
Truly astonishing behaviour – how can this company get away with this?
Luckily I had the email from their staff confirming the account was on hold so I gave him a copy to take with him which he did.
I contacted FU again and they have basically ignored all of my letters, emails and calls since this incident.
At a complete loss as to what to do I decided to switch suppliers. I thought this will force them to send me a final bill and I can at least get out from them.
I opted to switch back to NPower, my previous supplier. I had to chuckle when I get a call from FU customer services at 5pm on a Friday night saying is there a problem – why do you want to leave?
Then I get a letter from NPower saying that FU are refusing to allow me to switch. Obviously because I owe them money but I have done everything to try to rectify this issue and they do not respond to me. It seems their approach is that I simply pay up even though the bill they are sending me is wrong. This cannot be right?
In a last ditch attempt I am posting here not only to warn people about this company but in the hope someone can advise me what to do next.
I will be placing reviews all over the web, contacting the regulators etc and intend to ensure no one ever uses FU again but that aside where do I stand now? I’m completely stuck.
Appreciate any advice but in the meantime DO NOT USE FIRST UTILTY.
Posting on here resulted in them contacting me last time so I’m hoping something will result again.
Last Christmas I decided to switch suppliers so I did an online comparison and First Utility came top. They were the best in pricing, they were local to me and they offered smart metering.
I signed up.
The first incident was the smart metering; we arranged to have them fitted and no one showed up! Ironically they charge you if no one is in when they turn up so I suggested they recompense us by teh same amount; I was ignored!
Eventually the chap turned up for the second appointment and told me that we couldn’t have one fitted as we had the wrong type of meters! He said FU should have asked us which type of meters we had first and he was fed up of having the same conversation with customers. Even though our house is only 10 years old apparently they are old meters so if we can’t get them I doubt if very many of their customers do!
No mind; we still decided to stay with them and we can enter our readings online.
We did this when we first moved and several times after as requested; however when the first bill was produced it was wrong by a very long way. I asked for a corrected bill which never arrived.
In fact I have been with then for ten months now and in all of that time have received just 3 bills (they usually bill monthly) and not one of them has been correct!
To get your bills you have to login online and not once has this worked!
When I originally complained on this site as their staff took no notice of me at all I was contacted by a customer services lady immediately. She was great and promised to sort matters out. She said she’d refund me £60 by way of apology which I eventually got some 4 months later after numerous calls and emails to their offices to remind them.
Then the next thing I get a call from my mortgage lender to say my mortgage payment has been refused! I was horrified, I’ve never missed a mortgage payment in my life so I hurriedly checked by bank account and First Utility had taken nearly £500 from my account without my permission or any notice!
I cannot tell you how angry I was.
I contacted the customer services lady I’d spoken to previously who took several days to come back to me. She openly admitted she had spent that time getting staff to check all of their records to find proof that they had notified me of taking the money from my account but she couldn’t find any proof at all. She admitted liability and arranged for the money to be refunded, a new bill issued and agreed to over my banking charges. Again these took some time to come through but did.
Each and every month I have asked FU for a corrected bill but not received one. I did eventually get a bill showing I now owed over £600. The meter readings made no sense neither did their payment structure so I asked for a broken down bill and better clarification of what I was being charged – I never got it.
Next thing the red letter arrived. Not good enough for FU to put a letter in the post to you; no this company writes in big bold red letters on the OUTSIDE of the envelope that you are in arrears with your bill and face being disconnected. I am so angry at this disgraceful approach.
I called my contact and was told that she had left; why am I not surprised!
I was passed to a new contact. He apologised and said that he would notify billing that there had been an error on my account that was still being resolved and to leave me alone. I got a letter confimring same from a manager a week later.
Not two days later do I get a knock at the door; it’s a man who says I’ve come to collect £600 from you in cash NOW.
Truly astonishing behaviour – how can this company get away with this?
Luckily I had the email from their staff confirming the account was on hold so I gave him a copy to take with him which he did.
I contacted FU again and they have basically ignored all of my letters, emails and calls since this incident.
At a complete loss as to what to do I decided to switch suppliers. I thought this will force them to send me a final bill and I can at least get out from them.
I opted to switch back to NPower, my previous supplier. I had to chuckle when I get a call from FU customer services at 5pm on a Friday night saying is there a problem – why do you want to leave?
Then I get a letter from NPower saying that FU are refusing to allow me to switch. Obviously because I owe them money but I have done everything to try to rectify this issue and they do not respond to me. It seems their approach is that I simply pay up even though the bill they are sending me is wrong. This cannot be right?
In a last ditch attempt I am posting here not only to warn people about this company but in the hope someone can advise me what to do next.
I will be placing reviews all over the web, contacting the regulators etc and intend to ensure no one ever uses FU again but that aside where do I stand now? I’m completely stuck.
Appreciate any advice but in the meantime DO NOT USE FIRST UTILTY.
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Comments
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...Eventually the chap turned up for the second appointment and told me that we couldn’t have one fitted as we had the wrong type of meters! He said FU should have asked us which type of meters we had first and he was fed up of having the same conversation with customers. ...
What does it matter what type of meter you currently have if they were going to replace them? :huh:
Are you sure it wasn't related to the wrong type of tariff you currently have? e.g. those who are on E10 or similar oddball/legacy tariffs often find it ends in tears when they try to change supplier...so I hurriedly checked by bank account and First Utility had taken nearly £500 from my account without my permission or any notice!
I cannot tell you how angry I was. ...
How was this money taken?
If by DD, you should have claimed via your bank under the DD guarantee. You could also include any consequential loss claim.
If it was via DD, the Originator (First Utility) should have advised you to make a claim under the guarantee and not arranged to refund you directly. That would certainly be wrong....Then I get a letter from NPower saying that FU are refusing to allow me to switch. Obviously because I owe them money but I have done everything to try to rectify this issue and they do not respond to me. It seems their approach is that I simply pay up even though the bill they are sending me is wrong. This cannot be right?
Yes that is correct. Whilst there is an outstanding debt on the account, any supplier can prevent you from switching away.
If you dispute the amount claimed, you should do so following the proper complaint procedure.
http://www.first-utility.com/complaints
Only when the dispute is resolved, and you have paid any outstanding money, will the supplier allow you to switch."Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 20100 -
The smart meter is attached to your existing meter.
Yes the money was taken by DD. FU didn’t even admit it was them at fault till I proved it was. They have not spoken to me since.
I have made a formal complaint and they have ignored me.
It is not on that they can refuse to produce a bill, ignore my complaints and then refuse to allow me to leave - IT IS THEIR FAULT I am in this situation.0 -
You don't need to prove who's fault it is under the DD Guarantee (at least not when initially claiming) - your bank will take your word for it
That's partly because it's not usually possible to prove a negative.
i.e. to prove you didn't receive something, in this case the advance notice for the DD."Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 20100 -
If you have complained to FU more than 8 weeks ago (sound like you did!) then do call the Energy Ombudsman on 01925 530 263 and tell them about it.
If FU have not sent you a complaint reference number, give them a call and ask for the ref number first so you can tell the ombudsman.
This is what I am doing re the issues I've had with FU since I moved into a flat covered by them... they have failed over several months to resolve a few issues and are blocking my move away because of their mistake.
I'm not sure if it'll work, but at least it might get some people higher up at FU interested in solving the problem! Then, pigs might fly...!0 -
If you have complained to FU more than 8 weeks ago (sound like you did!) then do call the Energy Ombudsman on 01925 530 263 and tell them about it....
Unfortunately, I'm not sure FU are a member of the Energy Ombudsman scheme; they don't suggest they are in their complaints procedure and so the ombudsman may not consider a claim against them.
FU complaints procedure refers complainers to Consumer Direct if they feel they are not getting an appropraite response from the company itself. There is no minimum waiting period to contact Consumer Direct.
Edit: Whoops, they are indeed a member of the Energy Ombudsman scheme, so they will consider a complaint
http://www.energy-ombudsman.org.uk/links/6-61-member_companies.php"Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 20100 -
I have already contacted the ombudsman and they agreed to take on my case with no argument.0
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Just got a letter this morning saying that F.U have refused my switch as well. All because of thier inability to produce a bill with accurate meter readings on.0
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That's not a valid reason to prevent you from switching supplier.... All because of thier inability to produce a bill with accurate meter readings on.
Complain, complain, complain.
Did I mention, you would be well advised to complain?
But if you haven't paid any bill they have produced ..."Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 20100 -
Not sure about the issue over the wrong type of meters. Smart metering can be fitted to 1 rate, E7 & prepayment. It's all still being trialled so if you had an unusual set up like 3 or more rates of metering, you might need a different type. That would have been known before they came out.
However, if they agree an appointment date with you and it was not re-arranged with you 24hrs before, they have to pay you £20 (now £22) and then a further equal payment if they fail to make the first payment in 10 days. If you need to show them that, type in Ofgem Guaranteed Standards in Google and look for a table of standards. Suppliers are notorious for not mentioning this to see if you know about it!
They will refuse you transferring if you owe a debt, however the rules changed this year to allow them to transfer you if they recognise the error in billing is their's.:rotfl: It's better to live 1 year as a tiger than a lifetime as a worm...but then, whoever heard of a wormskin rug!!!:rotfl:0 -
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