Supplier Issues (First Utility)

jaydecay78

Hi all,

Hoping for some guidance or advice…..

Basically we moved into a rental property on 30.08.14 and inherited First Utility as out dual energy supplier.

After a few days we registered as new customers on their website and assumed we would soon hear back from them regarding our account.

We have since sent 4 or 5 emails and tried to call on several occasions but have not heard anything back. They NEVER answer the phones and I have waited for nearly an hour on occasions trying to get through.

Emails are ignored even when one of them was to their official “complaint address”. To date I have sent 6 or 7 emails and have only ever had 1 reply. This reply was from someone telling me I hadn’t registered and they still needed ingoing readings/dates etc – all of which I provided at the start! I did again provide the info but again have heard nothing back and this was over a month ago

We have now received a bill address to “the occupier” which is on a tariff we have never signed upto and is based completely on estimates.

Am I within my rights to

a) Change my provider – even though we have never actually been registered with First Utility
b) Withhold payments until I actually get a reply from them and can give actual readings

My big fear at present is whether they can cut off our supply if we do not pay the balance they are claiming we owe.

Again the issue is though that how can I pay them with no account and no chance of anyone answering the phone!?

Thanks

James

matelodave

Send then a recorded delivery letter marked complaint outlining the situation and demanding that they get it sorted out - you can then go to the ombudsman after eight weeks if they haven't. In fact if you've got a copy of your original complaint e-mail you can go to the ombudsman eight weeks from then. Tell FU that's what you are doing