First Utility new exit fee scam switching tariffs

Alpha_5

Thanks, all being well it won't be necessary anyway!

Has anyone else voted with their feet and changed supplier?

John214

Good morning :-)

In my previous posts on this thread I made reference to referring this matter to the Energy Ombudsman, which I did, and have finally had an acknowledgement - not a decision, as of yet :-)

I did Google the Energy Ombudsman and read some appalling comments as to how they handled matters, but kept an open view, as thousands make representation, and surely they can't be that bad......

I made my submission, via online, but the limited characters in the details of the claim was somewhat useless, so I made reference to the details of the claim and associated paperwork - emails, deadlock letter and contract terms, would be submitted by snail mail. I received a confirmation email of my submission, along with a web reference number. I sent the documents with a letter, quoting my web reference. Some 3 weeks later I receive an email informing me that my submission can't be dealt with, as I haven't obtained a deadlock letter, and the email now quoted a case number, with no web reference. So I phoned, to discover a web reference is converted to a case number, and my documents (which quote the web reference) have not been allocated to the case number. It would appear they have no system of linking the two, until you point them in the right direction :-) great start I thought. So, I now have a case number, which accessible online, and all of my documents are in a folder - which seems somewhat difficult to access. The summary that the case handler has abbreviated seems reasonable and accurate and the matter is now awaiting First Utility to submit their points and papers.

I await the telephone call (which is what I was told would happen) to discuss the matter - which may be to have me see their point of view and compromise, which will not happen, the matter can be decided on the papers, Feb16 to Apr 17 is a longer tariff than Feb 16 to Dec 16.

Anyway, I await further development.

At last the sun has come out, and summer is on it's way :-)

Biggles

John214 wrote: »

Feb16 to Apr 17 is a longer tariff than Feb 16 to Dec 16.

Which is, of course, not relevant. The fact is that, under their terms, it's still a short-term contract. Changing from one short-term contract to another triggers the exit fee, it doesn't matter which is longest.

John214

Hi Biggles.

Thanks for reply, but unforstunately I don't agree with your comment.

As a consumer, the email notification from First Utility quite simply states 'These fees will be waived if a longer fixed price tariff with First Utility is selected' and throughout my 3 years with them, everytime I have moved tariff, extending my locked in period, no exit fees have been charged. When I changed tariff in Feb 16, I was still under the contract terms of this email from my previous change in Nov 15. I maintain Feb16 to Apr17 as opposed to Feb16 to Dec16 is a 'longer fixed price tariff'. I have become aware that First Utitilty have changed their terms and conditions, as of Dec15/Jan16 and this is represented in the changing of the wording on the confirmation emails, which now omits the aformentioned statement, and clarifies that £30 exit fees will be charged if moving before the statutory period of days before the tariff's end date. I further understand that the exit fees will be waived if moving before your end date from a 1 year to 2/3 year or 2 year to 3 year tariff. I accept and have no problem with FU changing their terms and conditions, but not retrospectively. There was/is no reference to what is meant by a longer fixed price tariff in the terms and conditions of FU, but they have decided it is this 1/2/3 year period of tariffs, as opposed to what I consider, and the principle they have established in letting me continually extend my locked in tariff period. My argument is that at the time of my move in Feb16, my terms and conditions were such that I was entitled to move to a 'longer fixed price tariff' without exit fees, but if I should choose to move now before my contract end date - because I am under new terms and conditions as per my confirmation email of my change in Feb16, I would incur £30 exit feees, which I accept. Terms and conditions are suppose to be that both parties have an understanding of their agreement. If you bought an electrical item from a manufacturer who offered a 3 year warranty across it's entire range, under the terms and conditions, and you made a claim after 2 years, to discover that the company has subsequently changed it's policy 3 months ago that they now only offered 1 year warranties, would you walk away and accept the loss, or would you make representation and argue that at the time of your purchase the item came with a 3 year warranty, and as such the item should be repaired or replaced.

Anyway, hopefully I am not alone in my view, and it will be interesting to see the Energy Ombudsman's decision on it.

The sun has now gone in :-(

John214

Hi.

Though that greeting may just be to me :-)

I hate the way threads die of death of you never know what the outcome was, especially if your dealing with am institution that will take ages to reach a decsion.

Anyway, submitted my papers on the 14th April, case registered with Ombudsman on the 3rd May.

Latest info I have....First Utility disputed that the matter could be elat with by the Ombudsman, as it's about terms and conditions !!!! - relevant to a tariff charge as far as I'm concerned. So the matter was referred to an Ombudsman, who has decreed that the matter does fall within the terms of reference of the Ombudsman to investiagte. The Ombudsman has therefore again requested the dispute file from First Utility. I am told to expect this to take 2 weeks to be received, and then a further 6/8 weeks for the matter to be investigated and reported by the Ombudsman.

I await the outcome :-)

jblackmore

I'm really surprised, as I've always felt Ombudsman existed to deflect complaints from their 'mates'/ex-colleagues, certainly last time I had a complaint with ombudsman, they refused to look at it claiming it was 'a commercial matter' which covers pretty much all complaints

Best of luck, and look forward to outcome.

Just to update, my 'get out of jail' card was I previously had a long running issue with F:U being unable to provide any bills or usage information for ~1 year, as a result they agreed if I chose to leave in future they would waive any exit fee's, they did manage to fluff this up, charging me exit fee's then crediting them back, then charging again, but it got cleared up eventually.

I moved to GB energy who have no exit penalty and price looked OK to me, switch was painless and so far no issues - hardly a high expectation when all they have to do is run a website which I type meter readings into and they calculate charges, but it seems to be a challenge for energy providers

Snap63

This could have been written by me!! A customer of FU since they started, have moved various family members & friends to their company, thus increasing their customer database. I manage these accounts & have ALWAYS been able to internally switch to a newer, cheaper tariff 'in house' as I was told "we waiver the exit fee if you sign-up for a longer term" (i.e.the end date for the contract).


Have done so with no exit fees on at least 8 occasions on various accounts, each time EXTENDING the contract term, UNTIL THIS YEAR when I tried to transfer my own Dec 16 plan to May 17 (thus extending my contract by a further 5 months) & was told I would have to pay a penalty of £30 per fuel (which is what I prefer to call it - the whole point was that I was NOT leaving the company thus NOT exiting as a customer.) Tried to explain to CS that I could actually get a much cheaper tariff with at least 5 other companies at the time, but I was willing to commit to FU for a longer term instead of switching providers as a compromise for a moderately better in-house tariff (compared to the market as a whole).


Was told they had "changed their policy in December 2015" although they declined to explain why none of their customers had been informed of this decision at any time - so that the phrase within their t&c "MAY be charged an exit fee" now means "WILL be charged an exit fee" when you change to their newer tariffs, even though their website actively encourages you to "UPGRADE" (a cynical & sarcastic term methinks).


Do they have no regard for retaining their existing customers for the next year or so, except within the vice-like grip of an impenetrable lock-in? It seems to me that they actually want us all to leave in droves, they charge the same penalty whether we decide to leave - or if we stay for longer!!


I have opted to cut my losses & leave FU for a company with no penalty fees, incidentally at a much lower tariff cost (although this will be swallowed up by my exit fees) BUT at least I will have the peace of mind that I will not be 'fined' if I change & extend my tariff within the next 13 months.


P.S. Did the Ombudsman ever come to a decision?

alleycat`

My experience (for what it's worth).

I rather suspect it depends on whom you speak to.

I actually noticed this clause change at the time i was looking at their current available tariffs.
Having spotted the change i took the time to call them.

After speaking to a manager, as opposed to the call handler who didn't know what i was talking about, they agreed to make sure the fees were waived / not applied.

Whilst i totally agree it's a somewhat underhand change it still staggers me the amount of people that don't look at what they are "accepting".

It will be interesting to see if the Ombudsman actually does something useful for a change.
The campaign for clear English, in regards to contract terms, seems to have gone right out of the window.

tonycottee

Like others, I had always switched my tariff with FU to a longer term/cheaper one. I last changed a few months ago and soon after saw this thread about the fees. I contacted them after a week and said could I revert to my old tariff because I didn't want to pay which they said would be fine.
I checked my statement and they had taken the exit fee but had then returned it. Fortunately for me though, they kept me on the new tariff!

I think it's all a bit short sighted though, as I have stayed with them a lot longer than other companies as I kept switching tariffs. When this one finally ends, I will probably switch to another provider.

cantagalo

Just stumbled across this thread and thought it might be worth sharing my experience.

I rang First Utility on Monday to close my account as I am moving abroad. I was informed that I'd have to pay £60 in exit fees. When I complained, I was infuriated by the disingenuous way in which the guy tried to justify the charges.

He first said that it was required by the regulator and then said that it was done on the grounds of 'fairness' and that they had already bought the energy in advance (ignoring the fact that the new occupants of the house would be transferred to FU).

Anyway, I went ballistic and threatened to pursue the matter with OFGEM, the Ombudsman, my MP, the European Court of Human Rights and anyone else I could think of.

It worked. The charges were swiftly withdrawn so I guess the message is to kick up a fuss and not let them get away with this sort of nonsense.