I'm an idiot. Feel as though I was tricked into switching to Utilita. Any advice?

lowla

I'll begin by stating that I am a bit naive at the best of times.

yesterday my door went at 10am. I'd just gotten to sleep after working all night (finished at 8am). Would normally not have answered, but they were persistent and wouldn't go away (probably because I'd left the downstairs light on so they knew somebody was home).

Anyway, I answered the door (without my glasses on, so everything was a bit blurry) and a lady in a suit answered. She quickly told me her name and said that she didn't know if I was already aware, but everybody is being switched to smart meters over the next few months and she wanted to discuss an installation date with me, telling me that my neighbours had all agreed on a date in July - would that suit me, too?

I immediately assumed that she was from the council. The council have been doing lots of repairs/home improvements on properties in my area over the past 5 years (kitchens/bathrooms/changing old plug sockets etc) so I let her in coz i didn't ike standing on the doorstep in my pjs.

She ended up staying an hour! She was very nice and chatty and went off topic a lot talking about how she used to be a support worker too etc etc. I honestly thought she would only stay 5 minutes til i looked through my diary and sorted out a suitable installation date.

She went on and on about the benefits of a smart meter. This is when I began to get suspicious. I sensed she was trying to sell something to me. Then she assured me that installation and the meter was free of charge. She wanted to save me money. I said something along the lines of, "I hope so. If it's mandatory that the council wants us to switch to these meters, I don't see why we should pay for it. I'm quite happy with my current meter (one with a key that you top up when needed)." She went on again about a few more benefits of the smart meter.

Then she asked who my current gas and electric supplier are. I got really suspicious here and said Brittish Gas - but I don't want to switch. She said that I must switch to Utilita (first I'd heard this name in the conversation) in order to get the smart meter. So I reluctantly said okay, still thinking it was mandatory that I switched to this smart meter since it is a council property (still thought this woman was from the council! Yes i really am that daft). I told her that my gas was monthly bill - not prepaid - and I was happy to keep it that way. She tried for a while to get me to make that a prepaid meter too, but I said I really don't want to unless I have to.

Then she made a call to someone and gave them all my details. And then my home phone went. The woman told me it was a comfort call, just someone from the company making sure she's done her job right and explained everything to me.

So the phone call lasted about 10 mins. The man on the phone just went through all the same personal details the woman had done. Then asked if the woman had went through the terms and conditions and discussed such and such with me. She hadn't really, but she seemed really nice and I didn't want to get her into bother (she'd told me about her family and her young daughter and her sick father - I really liked her) so I said that yes, she had explained everything thoroughly. Then he explicitly said: "Are you fully aware that you are giving your consent to switch to a contract with Utilita as your electricity supplier."

THIS is when it finally dawned on me what was going on. :mad: She was just a typical door to door saleswoman - not someone from the council. Usually i can tell sales people straght away from their opening line: "Hi there, how are you today?" or similar. But this woman started the conversation by telling me that everyone is switching to smart meters and she wanted to discuss installation dates with me - making it sound as though it was mandatory.

Mad at myself for being so daft. I sighed and said yes, I'm aware I'm entering into a contract. Because I would have felt guilty backing out at that point -the woman had spent almost an hour at my home and I felt guilty that I'd have wasted her time if I said no after all that. Got off the phone, hurriedly signed something. Then the woman rushed off, telling me to read through the welcome pack at my leisure.

As it turns out, i have 14 days from signing up to cancel the switch over service - so that's a relief.

I'm trying to do my homework about whether or not this is a good supplier after all. I feel as though I'd only be cancelling out of the principle of the matter - that I feel slightly cheated into switching.

But their smart meters do sound really good. And works out about the same price as British Gas are now.

I can apparently leave them at any time as I won't be tied to a contract.

but my main issue is - If i do decide to leave them in future - will i need to give them back the smart meter? Do i need to pay for them to uninstall it?

So say in a few months I want to go back to British Gas - will i have to pay Utilita to uninstall this new meter, then pay British Gas to install the old meter?

So sorry for the epic novel here! Just feeling really angry at myself for falling for a salesperson's tricks. And I'm worried this anger is clouding my judgement over whether or not switching to this company is actually a good choice for me.

Thanks for any advice/input.

macman

All suppliers are installing smart meters, there's nothing unique about this company, they're just using it as a cynical way to get you to switch. And they're not mandatory, in a council property or any other.
If you leave Utilita your smart meter will become a dumb meter for the new supplier, no meter change will be required. If that supplier subsequently wants to install their own smart meters, it will be at no cost to you. Smart meters are not currently compatible across different suppliers.
If you want to switch away from BG, use a comp site and then a cashback site, all you need is your annual usage and postcode-why pay commission to a devious doorstepper when you can keep it for yourself?
'Apparently' it will be about the same cost as BG? You sound like a cold caller's dream punter-she is hardly going to tell you that her tariff is more expensive! 5 minutes on a comp site will tell you the cheapest tariff.

footyguy

lowla wrote: »

I'll begin by stating that I am a bit naive at the best of times.

yesterday my door went at 10am. I'd just gotten to sleep after working all night (finished at 8am). Would normally not have answered, but they were persistent and wouldn't go away (probably because I'd left the downstairs light on so they knew somebody was home).

Anyway, I answered the door (without my glasses on, so everything was a bit blurry) and a lady in a suit answered. She quickly told me her name and said that she didn't know if I was already aware, but everybody is being switched to smart meters over the next few months and she wanted to discuss an installation date with me, telling me that my neighbours had all agreed on a date in July - would that suit me, too?

I immediately assumed that she was from the council. The council have been doing lots of repairs/home improvements on properties in my area over the past 5 years (kitchens/bathrooms/changing old plug sockets etc) so I let her in coz i didn't ike standing on the doorstep in my pjs.

She ended up staying an hour! She was very nice and chatty and went off topic a lot talking about how she used to be a support worker too etc etc. I honestly thought she would only stay 5 minutes til i looked through my diary and sorted out a suitable installation date.

She went on and on about the benefits of a smart meter. This is when I began to get suspicious. I sensed she was trying to sell something to me. Then she assured me that installation and the meter was free of charge. She wanted to save me money. I said something along the lines of, "I hope so. If it's mandatory that the council wants us to switch to these meters, I don't see why we should pay for it. I'm quite happy with my current meter (one with a key that you top up when needed)." She went on again about a few more benefits of the smart meter.

Then she asked who my current gas and electric supplier are. I got really suspicious here and said Brittish Gas - but I don't want to switch. She said that I must switch to Utilita (first I'd heard this name in the conversation) in order to get the smart meter. So I reluctantly said okay, still thinking it was mandatory that I switched to this smart meter since it is a council property (still thought this woman was from the council! Yes i really am that daft). I told her that my gas was monthly bill - not prepaid - and I was happy to keep it that way. She tried for a while to get me to make that a prepaid meter too, but I said I really don't want to unless I have to.

Then she made a call to someone and gave them all my details. And then my home phone went. The woman told me it was a comfort call, just someone from the company making sure she's done her job right and explained everything to me.

So the phone call lasted about 10 mins. The man on the phone just went through all the same personal details the woman had done. Then asked if the woman had went through the terms and conditions and discussed such and such with me. She hadn't really, but she seemed really nice and I didn't want to get her into bother (she'd told me about her family and her young daughter and her sick father - I really liked her) so I said that yes, she had explained everything thoroughly. Then he explicitly said: "Are you fully aware that you are giving your consent to switch to a contract with Utilita as your electricity supplier."

THIS is when it finally dawned on me what was going on. :mad: She was just a typical door to door saleswoman - not someone from the council. Usually i can tell sales people straght away from their opening line: "Hi there, how are you today?" or similar. But this woman started the conversation by telling me that everyone is switching to smart meters and she wanted to discuss installation dates with me - making it sound as though it was mandatory.

Mad at myself for being so daft. I sighed and said yes, I'm aware I'm entering into a contract. Because I would have felt guilty backing out at that point -the woman had spent almost an hour at my home and I felt guilty that I'd have wasted her time if I said no after all that. Got off the phone, hurriedly signed something. Then the woman rushed off, telling me to read through the welcome pack at my leisure.

As it turns out, i have 14 days from signing up to cancel the switch over service - so that's a relief.

I'm trying to do my homework about whether or not this is a good supplier after all. I feel as though I'd only be cancelling out of the principle of the matter - that I feel slightly cheated into switching.

But their smart meters do sound really good. And works out about the same price as British Gas are now.

I can apparently leave them at any time as I won't be tied to a contract.

but my main issue is - If i do decide to leave them in future - will i need to give them back the smart meter? Do i need to pay for them to uninstall it?

So say in a few months I want to go back to British Gas - will i have to pay Utilita to uninstall this new meter, then pay British Gas to install the old meter?

So sorry for the epic novel here! Just feeling really angry at myself for falling for a salesperson's tricks. And I'm worried this anger is clouding my judgement over whether or not switching to this company is actually a good choice for me.

Thanks for any advice/input.

What advice do you need?

As mentioned above, if you do decide to have a smart meter from any company, if you then switch supplier, the smart meter will continue to act as dumb meter with any other supplier.

Best to consult a comparison site to find the best supplier & tariff for you.

If you are happy with BG, but just like the idea of a smart meter, BG are rolling them out.
Look here to see if you are eligible.
https://www.britishgas.co.uk/upgrade/smartmeter/

SwanJon

macman wrote: »

If you leave Utilita your smart meter will become a dumb meter for the new supplier, no meter change will be required.

While the above is true for a credit (Direct debit, quarterly bill) meter, for pay as you go/prepayment meters your new supplier will need to change then meter or you won't be able to top up - and they'll need to arrange it for the day you swich as you woun't be able to top up with the old supplier once you leave them.

Sadly there is no consistency in smart meter types yet so changing supplier for prepayment isn't as easy as it is for credit meters.

You can also switch your electricity to a DD to get better deals - see the MSE article here:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/switch-prepaid-gas-electricity

macman

OP already has a credit meter, not a PPM. Interesting that the sleazeball rep attempted to persuade her to switch to a PPM-higher agent commission presumably?

SwanJon

Macman - looks like OP has one of each:

lowla wrote: »

I'm quite happy with my current meter (one with a key that you top up when needed).... I told her that my gas was monthly bill - not prepaid - and I was happy to keep it that way. She tried for a while to get me to make that a prepaid meter too, but I said I really don't want to unless I have to.

Utilita are a 99% prepayment company - I think all their smart meters are prepayment.

If you have one of each with the same supplier it shoudl be straightforward to switch the PPM to credit, then all the DD tariffs are available.

[Deleted User]

That girl was conning you.I believe all doorstep sales are banned now, and rightfully so. sounds like a blatent switching con.The Utilita smart prepay is nt any good ( Liberty Secure ) and they charge a good amount, approx £100 if you want to rid yourself from Utilita as other suppliers (other than Ovo ) can t support that meter. Their prepay rates are nt too bad tho.Credit meters on fixed one year deals are much cheaper than prepay rates

macman

Doorstep energy sales have not been banned, but all of the Big Six have voluntarily suspended such sales: all other suppliers are free to ply their sleazy trade.

[Deleted User]

macman wrote: »

Doorstep energy sales have not be banned, but all of the Big Six have voluntarily suspended such sales: all other suppliers are free to ply their sleazy trade.

We are seeing the results in all these "bent " salesmen who ruthlessly preyed on customers offering much reduced direct debits.We see the results of this with many of the force fitting of prepay meters causing misery with huge catch up bills. Should be illegal for all suppliers to doorstep sell or what EON do with their trailers in town centres offering "energy advice "

melspur

I had the same thing as the OP, the guy at my door never told me I'd be switching suppliers either, just had a funny feeling ever since I signed for the meters, that something wasn't right. Thank goodness for MSE. I knew if something was up, somebody would have posted in here. Just rang and cancelled. Thanks to the op for posting this, a quick search has just made me feel much better.