First Utility stopped billing for nearly a year!

crate_of_beer

I received a bill in December for nearly a whole year's gas and electric despite having smart meters. I just didn't notice that they had stopped taking the direct debit each month so when over £2000 disappeared from the bank account xmas month I nearly freaked out! Since then despite loads of phone calls and emails first utility cannot decide what the actual amount should be and I keep getting different bills. I have started paying the monthly bill but cannot get them to agree on the year bill and work out a payment structure so now I have a collection agency letter and it has become a nightmare. The collection agency have agreed to put the case on hold temporarily but I still cant get First Utility to work out the payments. I dont think they know what theyre doing! What crappy customer service! Has anyone had a similar experience and know what to do?:eek: Thanks.

macman

F.U. are notorious for billing and CS issues, just do a forum search.
But they cannot just up your DD and take £2K without informing you first, so why didn't you just call your bank and ask them to reimburse the payment, as they are required to do under the terms of the DD guarantee?
However if you didn't notice an extra £166 in your bank account each month, you have to take some responsibility yourself. Were you not submitting meter readings during that year?

sammylou100

I HATE First Utility. I have been with them for 20 months, over which time my bills have been consistently wrong. When I tried to switch from them I was told I couldn't as I'd have to swap to another supplier who uses Smart Meters, but currently the only supplier just beginning to introduce them is British Gas and that's only in the early stages, meaning I am trapped with First Utility. I've been threatened with solicitors when they have owed ME money. Before Christmas they sent me a bill with a £50 credit, I called to query it & was told I'd overpaid through the year (impossible I thought, with a Smart Meter). I've now received a bill for £150 as I apparently underpaid last year...I've been trying to sort this out for a week & nobody even responds to my emails. The call centre tells you something different each time.

I'm now taking this to the Ombudsman as I've had enough. I even responded to one of Martin's tweets bigging up First Utility, asking how he could recommend them when their customer service was so awful, and he told me 'Stories like that with every energy supplier, that's the issue, their customer service ranking isn't any worse generally'...but looking at reviews on money supermarket etc this doesn't seem to be the case. I just can't wait to move so I don't have to deal with them any longer!

Wywth

crate_of_beer wrote: »

I received a bill in December for nearly a whole year's gas and electric despite having smart meters. I just didn't notice that they had stopped taking the direct debit each month so when over £2000 disappeared from the bank account xmas month I nearly freaked out! Since then despite loads of phone calls and emails first utility cannot decide what the actual amount should be and I keep getting different bills. I have started paying the monthly bill but cannot get them to agree on the year bill and work out a payment structure so now I have a collection agency letter and it has become a nightmare. The collection agency have agreed to put the case on hold temporarily but I still cant get First Utility to work out the payments. I dont think they know what theyre doing! What crappy customer service! Has anyone had a similar experience and know what to do?:eek: Thanks.

How can you not have noticed £150+ per month was not being taken from your account ... not just in one month but for 12 consecutive months? :eek:

The supplier can't just take £2k from your account without notice. You are fully protected by the terms of the Direct Debit Guarantee so I don't know why you freaked out. :huh:

macman

sammylou100 wrote: »

I HATE First Utility. I have been with them for 20 months, over which time my bills have been consistently wrong. When I tried to switch from them I was told I couldn't as I'd have to swap to another supplier who uses Smart Meters, but currently the only supplier just beginning to introduce them is British Gas and that's only in the early stages, meaning I am trapped with First Utility. I've been threatened with solicitors when they have owed ME money. Before Christmas they sent me a bill with a £50 credit, I called to query it & was told I'd overpaid through the year (impossible I thought, with a Smart Meter). I've now received a bill for £150 as I apparently underpaid last year...I've been trying to sort this out for a week & nobody even responds to my emails. The call centre tells you something different each time.

I'm now taking this to the Ombudsman as I've had enough. I even responded to one of Martin's tweets bigging up First Utility, asking how he could recommend them when their customer service was so awful, and he told me 'Stories like that with every energy supplier, that's the issue, their customer service ranking isn't any worse generally'...but looking at reviews on money supermarket etc this doesn't seem to be the case. I just can't wait to move so I don't have to deal with them any longer!

Who gave you this advice? F.U? Once you switch, your Smart meter can be used by any other supplier, it just becomes a 'dumb' meter instead and is read conventionally. There is no compatability of Smart meters between suppliers, so even if you switched to BG they would still possibly have to change the meter to go onto Smart metering anyway.

vectra90

They tried the same with me for £1700 one month luckily I checked the bill online. I phoned to query it and they didn't know why. Cancelled my DD told them I was doing it and still got chased for the £1700?? Genuinely the worst company EVER!!

sammylou100

macman wrote: »

Who gave you this advice? F.U? Once you switch, your Smart meter can be used by any other supplier, it just becomes a 'dumb' meter instead and is read conventionally. There is no compatability of Smart meters between suppliers, so even if you switched to BG they would still possibly have to change the meter to go onto Smart metering anyway.

'Advice' from various members of staff on the phoneline. Should have learnt my lesson on listening to them I guess! I'm moving in 2 months so won't get it changed now, just want to get my bills sorted before I leave, which is proving very tricky.

crate_of_beer

Thanks all. I didn't realise how much First Utility is hated! I just filled in the Ombudsman complaint form and sent an account to Observer newspaper consumer champion section to see if they want to help. I thought smart meters were supposed to help simplify life. It's been a tough year but at least I wasn't paying my salary into someone's else's bank account for two years without noticing!!

Plus, on the bright side, I just found this:
Back-billing principle
If your supplier is at fault, it will not seek additional
payment for unbilled energy used more than 12
months prior to the error being detected and a
corrected bill being issued.
If I have to wait long enough I won't have to pay at all!!

undaunted

You ma be lucky but the fact that you apparently didn't raise the lack of billing with them at any point during the 12 months may mean that they will challenge that it is entirely their fault.

I'm afraid that I too, as others have already queried, would find it hard to believe that you could just not notice for an entire year. Most would probably wonder whether you were just chancing your luck & unfortunately that may come back to bite you now.

macman

The Ombudsman wil not consider your case unless you have first gone through the F.U. complaints procedure and either received a deadlock letter, or have had no reply within 8 weeks.

Alex444

Also OFGEM will not touch your case if you first complained over 9 months ago.
Do you think FU know what "deadlock" means?