MSE News: First Utility faces customer backlash as complaints double

energyworker

Swipe wrote: »

I didn't do it blindly, multiple times. I did it once, then waited until my next monthly bill, no change so I did it again to the next available tariff. I've had these problems before and only managed to get my tariff changed by chasing them via their 'contact us' system. No point changing now as I've missed all the good tariffs now waiting to be changed over.

Lodge a complaint and insist that they backdate the change to the date you requested it. They are obliged to and in my experience as customer they will with very little fuss. Any issues then take it to the Ombudsman after 8 weeks.

2010

Yet another correct monthly bill from First Utility today.
DD taken on the correct day, correct bills monthly if you put your readings in when they email you.

Of course the added bonus is, they are the cheapest tariff for me as well as the £50 payment when I switched without any problems last Feb.

FU may have had issues in the past (any company with over a million customers are bound to have a few problem consumers) but I can`t fault them.

C_Mababejive

I have been with FU for at least a year and have just signed up for another year. I have never had any problems. The website is very good and has great functionality and FUs prices are amongst the keenest in the land. Whats not to like?

IcelandicWarrior

It seems First Utility are back to their old self despite the £2m investment they committed to last year
I left First Utility in May this year and still do not have a final statement. In the mean time they have continued to charge my account with estimated usage and standing charges.
Their initial email about leaving them advised a 6 week timeline to have the account closed and final statement. I called when this time was up and was advised it could be three months!!
It is one thing to be slow closing an account but to continue making additional charges to it when they no longer supply my gas/electricity is not acceptable under any circumstances.
Meanwhile I have stopped my direct debit with them and I am ignoring their alerts that it has not been possible to collect payment. I am in credit with them in excess of £500. Should I expect to get interest on this sum as part of the final settlement of my account? I think I should but I also think there is about as much chance of that as of them closing my account before the end of this week.
Must go as I need to complete the letter of complaint (aka final demand) I am sending to them.

joncombe

IcelandicWarrior wrote: »

It seems First Utility are back to their old self despite the £2m investment they committed to last year
I left First Utility in May this year and still do not have a final statement. In the mean time they have continued to charge my account with estimated usage and standing charges.

They did the same to me. It is quite wrong to continue to charge standing chargest and estimated usage after the supply has switched. They know the date when this occurs (becuase it pops up when you login). I resolved this by complaining to them on Twitter. I also submitted a complaint online via their website (don't bother to phone, they claim they don't have a complaints department) stating that OFGEM requires them to produce a final bill within 30 days of the switch completing and they had not done this. It was then sorted in a couple of days.

macamer

I switched my Gas and Electricity from SSE to First Utility in July 2014 as they were offering the best tariff at the time. After about 4 months I realised that they were not accepting the meter readings that I was sending in. I called them on numerous occasions over a 4-5 month period and was always told, "don't worry the computer will automatically update and you next bill will be correct". This never happened and after much more pestering, I sent in photos of my meter and eventually the meter readings were accepted. This took almost 10 months to resolve, but I was refunded my overpayment and given £100.00 for my time.

I have now received a bill from SSE for 1 years’ worth of Gas (~£550) and it turns out that FirstUtility didn't transfer my gas account correctly in the first place. So, I have been paying for someone else's Gas while still racking up a 2nd bill with SSE. It has all started again, calls every week and numerous emails. This still is not yet resolved, I am being told to wait 28 days and it will sort itself out……………………..

Through all my dealings with First Utility customer service my experience has been that they take months to reply to emails (if at all) and on the phone you always get the feeling they will do anything to get you to go away rather than try to solve the problem. I have been;

• Hung up on after waiting on hold for 15 mins
• Told I will be transferred then hung up on
• Transferred to the wrong department
• Put on hold at a couple of mins before the office shuts so that it automatically hangs up on you
• Told so many times that I have lost count, that if I just wait a month for the next bill the computer will magically fix the problems
• Promised calls back that I have never received
• And, every time you talk to someone the whole ordeal has to be explained again, they never tell the person they are transferring you what the history is.

Swipe

What a absolute nightmare, macgamer!

However, I'm sure our resident FU apologists will be along shortly to reiterate that they've never had a problem with them and that their phone calls get put through immediately and their emails answered the same day.

2010

Swipe wrote: »

However, I'm sure our resident FU apologists will be along shortly to reiterate that they've never had a problem with them and that their phone calls get put through immediately and their emails answered the same day.

You took the words right out of my mouth.

Thanks, no need to post my satisfaction with FU now.

SnakeDoctor_2

Attempted to join FU in early May (web site said that they couldn't supply energy to my house). After numerous phone calls I finally got transferred in late June. Then someone screwed-up my smart (not) electricity meter. Haven't had a bill using all the readings that I've submitted yet and the only thing that I can use the web site for is getting estimated bills. There's more woes but I though that I'd keep this brief. Yeah, a really efficient, customer caring company - NOT.
They really know how to treat new customers don't they?

2010

I`ve been with FU since last Feb and every month they send me an email asking me to put my readings in by midnight on a certain date.
Every month i get an accurate bill to the last penny.
The DD are taken on the day they said they would be for the correct amount.
I would say to anyone thinking of switching to FU, don`t be put off by the odd negative comments.
When you`ve got well over a million satisfied customers there are bound to be a few hiccups with a few.