First Utility and my shocking customer experience with them

L_555

I would prefer to not have to be writing here- but for those who are considering moving to First Utility- here is my experience with them to date.
The following is an email I sent to their MD on 13/2/14, cc'ing in the Director of Customer Services and the customer service department:

Dear Mr McCaig,
I am writing to you to explain my experience in dealing with your company First Utility, as quite frankly, I am at the end of my tether.
I joined FU in October 2012 upon moving back into my home which I had previously rented out. I immediately moved my account to FU because of the rates you were offering at the time. I then began paying a direct debit payment of £98 per month to cover the costs of my gas and electricity.
Several months later, it came to my attention that I had yet to receive a bill from FU, so assumed they were being posted online. Upon checking my online account however, I discovered that my account was some £900 in credit, with no bills listed against the account.
I therefore rang FU only to find myself on what seemed like continual hold- I hung up after 45 minutes. I then used your online contact form to contact you and explain the situation and asked that I could be contacted in due course.
I was never subsequently contacted by your company, however, a bill did arrive at my address for a Mr .... who had been a previous tenant at this address. I ignored this letter, given that it was not addressed to me. When a subsequent letter arrived for Mr ... however, and not having been contacted by FU, I opened it, only to find that it was a demand for some £800+. I became aware that FU had therefore made an error and placed Mr .... (who bizarrely, had not even been the named person with the previous utility company used by my tenants) as the account holder at my address.
I again, duly rang your company, only to be (once gain) on hold for in excess of 1/2 hour at which point I hung up and wrote another email requesting contact immediately.
Once again, I was not contacted. Given the circumstances, I felt that the only address open to me was to move my account to another provider in the hope that this mess would get sorted out. How wrong I was.
Three weeks ago, I had a BAILIFF turn up at my door requesting payment for this bill and looking for Mr .... When I explained the situation to him, he promised to communicate the situation with the company and I hoped that this situation would be sorted out.
Last week, I received another demand, addressed to Mr .../The Occupier requesting a sum of £920.39 from a company called Hydron/Secus Ltd, who I can only believe are the bailiff company.
This is absolutely disgraceful. I am a single mother who is only just returning to work and have struggled by for the last year, ensuring that my bills were paid (or so I thought).
This situation has caused me extreme distress and embarrassment and the monies which I have already paid to your company, somewhere in the region of £1000, appear to have disappeared into the ether, as I can no longer access my account online.
I would hope that you will give this matter your immediate attention. if this situation is not resolved within seven days of receipt of this email, I will be taking this matter into the public domain and also to Ofgem.

I then received the following email on 14/02/14:
our email received: 13th February 2014

Ian McCaig, our Chief Executive Officer and Ed Kamm, our Chief Customer Officer would like to thank you for taking the time to make him aware of your service experience with First Utility. He has asked me to oversee the handling of your case and report back to him with our findings.
A full investigation into this matter has commenced, and once completed a senior member of the Customer Case Resolution Team will respond to you to address the points that you have made.
Whilst the investigations are taking place, please feel free to contact our Customer Case Resolution Team on 0800 011 5168 where lines are open Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm or via email at consumer.affairs@first-utility.com.


Then on 180214, I had to send the following email:
I have just received another visit from Secus- the debt collection agency who are managing this case, who informed me that they have contacted both the previous tenant and the management company involved with renting my home previously- causing me yet further embarrassment, and time.
If this matter is not resolved by this coming Thursday 20th February, I will be taking this matter into the public domain and to Ofgem.

On the 20/02/14 I sent the following email:
Still no contact- absolutely unbelievable.

After sending that email, I received a phone call from their contact centre in which I was told that my case would be investigated. I then had to send the following (abbreviated)email on 28/02/14:
Despite contact from your call centre last Thursday and an assurance that this issue would be resolved, I have had no further contact from your company. On Monday morning I will be speaking to an independent journalist about this situation.
I am sure that the general public will be most interested to hear about how you have sent bailiffs, not once, but twice to the home of a single mother who is only looking to pay her bills.

(all of these emails were addressed to the MD of the company cc'ing in the Director of Customer Services and the customer service department.)

I then received another phone call from them that evening assuring me that my case was being investigated, there had been a 'mix-up' over the name on the bill and that the issue would be resolved within two weeks. We are now five weeks later. As of yet, I have no idea where my £1,000 in direct debits has gone, or indeed where my gas bill currently resides. I am now, as promised 5 weeks ago, taking this issue into the public domain as well as to Ofgem, so really, I would think twice before choosing First Utility if I were you- 'cheapness' does not always equal value for money.

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wakeupalarm

Ofgem won't be interested, have you spoken to the journalist that's probably your best bet, the energy companies don't like the bad publicity.

L_555

My MP has kindly taken this up for me and they also answered me back as soon as I posted on here- what a surprise. Today I received a bill from them for £1224.34 & having gone through my statements discovered that they had actually been double direct debiting me every month so I have paid £1,470 into the ether somewhere- no wonder my account kept going overdrawn.

Suzy2013

L_555 is completely right. I was with First Utility for a couple of years or so with no problems. But then I moved house and wanted to stay with them. The transfer happened in May 2013 and I've had nothing but problems since. Failure to set up a direct debit correctly so payments are not collected. Recently I noticed 2 DDs set up on my bank account so I quickly cancelled one to avoid 2 payments being taken. I was getting overdue account letters for my previous address even though I didn't owe anything - and FU agreed I didn't owe. I've been getting letters threatening bailiffs for someone I don't know addressed to my home and I know this person has never lived here. When I've contacted the company sending the bailiffs they can access FUs accounts and they agree that the account number quoted isn't for my address. I involved the Energy Ombudsman who got an assurance for me that I would not receive any more correspondence relating to my previous account nor for the gentleman's account. I also received a small amount in compensation from FU. That was May 31 this year. Guess what ? Yesterday I received another letter threatening bailiffs - with the use of a locksmith if necessary. If anyone knows how to stop this once and for all I'd love to know. It is extremely upsetting, not knowing each time I leave my home if someone is going to enter it.

joeblack9

Utillity companys dont use bailiffs they will get a warrant of entry to change your meters to prepayment meters to recover the outstanding amount.
To enter your home companys have to visit your property twice and hand deliver a letter then if you dont sort it they can then apply for a warrant of entry to the magistrate's court ,but you will be sent a letter giving you the chance to attend court.
Only after a warrant is granted can they enter a property.