Views on First Utility performance

Woofy_2

Hi
What are peoples current opinion of whether First Utilities service standards are any good or not as i'm thinking of moving my dual fuel account to them from EDF,
Thanks in anticipation

arobinson_2

Stay with EDF, FU are terrible. Stay clear!

Awful customer services, no escallation procedures and a call handling system older than the bible.

wakeupalarm

Would strongly advise to avoid First Utility at all costs, they are totally incompetent.

ali_l_2

Although they are the cheapest and always come up first on comparison sites, they are not worth the money you save. I have had so many problems with the mistakes they made with direct debits, billing, meter readings. Their customer service has to be the worst. You always have to wait at least 30 mins to talk to anyone, then they never solve the problem so you have to ring again. They lose records of what they've agreed, pass you around different departments but are only efficient when they are demanding money off you. They have caused me so much distress and I am taking them to the energy ombudsman and I am usually the last person to do anything like that but that's how angry and upset they have made me.

Johnkg

Avoid like the plague!

I've been with them nearly 6 months now and I've not had a bill yet. Their web site tells me I'll go live with them in November 2013.

They email me a meter reading request each month, and all the options to send it back fail. I send the reading back as a query asking why I get no bill and can't supply a reading on-line. 10-15 days later I get a reply saying 'we are looking into it but are really busy'. At least the Direct Debit is working!

I'll be off as soon as the fixed deal ends.

pooch

Woofy wrote: »

Hi
What are peoples current opinion of whether First Utilities service standards are any good or not as i'm thinking of moving my dual fuel account to them from EDF,
Thanks in anticipation

On a scale of 1-5, I'd struggle to give them more than a 4

But surely anything has got to be better than EDF. Just take a look at all the horror stories on this site about EDF :eek:


:cool:

Butti

I was with First Utility for about 4 years. I had no problem, just submitted my meter readings and they took the direct debits. Didn't put their prices up and down, put them up about once in the four years. I saved loads of money.

Now I have sold my house and am waiting for my loyalty bonus I have been waiting and waiting and waiting. Have rang them twice and waited 40 minutes to be put through only to be cut off. I am writing to the Guardian this week and will copy them in and see if that does anything.

ScrimpingMum_2

I rarely comment, but felt I had to on this one. First Utility have been a total nightmare. I currently have a case against them with the Ombudsman. As people have said, their customer service is abysmal. It takes half an hour to get through, then they never understand what you are telling them or resolve the issue. I have also had loads of email communications - they take forever to reply but never give you the answer you need.

I am on a great cheap fixed rate with them, however they suddenly decided I was underpaying and told me I owed £1500. They wouldn't listen when I tried to tell them that my energy hadn't gone up that much and were going to put my monthly bill up from £115 to £450 to clear it. Nothing has changed in my usage - I am extremely frugal with it.

It appears they have made an error and stuck my electricity reading on the gas. Can I get them to sort it? NO!!

Avoid like the plague. Really. This whole thing made me ill as I cannot afford £1500.:mad:

[Deleted User]

I'm just in the process of switching and had to ring for the first time last week. Got straight through to a UK based call centre and my questions were dealt with promptly. It's early days but so far I'm pleased with them. I've read that they have employed more staff recently which might explain my positive experience