Feedback on Utility Point

tk47

I've eventually received a reply from UP about my challenge to the DD increase.

They have agreed they could find no justification for this increase and so have agreed it should never have been changed.

Unfortunately, they were too late to stop the increase this month, so they took the extra £4 anyway

To resolve this, they propose to take £8 less next month (i.e. £4 less than my previous, usualy monthly payment) and then revert to the previously agreed monthly payment.

poppellerant

I've also had the email telling me that my direct debit will creep up by £4 each month. It seems odd to me that a lot of people are seeing £4 increases - I don't see another amount being mentioned.

I have emailed UP objecting to their proposed increase, as my account is more than two month's direct debit in credit. I have yet to receive a response, despite emailing them about a week ago. Their phone lines remain typically hopeless.

gobeye

£9.08 increase for me this month which I have challenged. I am well over £100 in credit and my gas usage would have to treble over winter for me even to meet my new direct debit amount. I will await their response.

Chocmonster7

I received the email about the DD review last week and this morning received another telling me they were upping my DD by £20.71 that's a 46% rise!

I'm currently £87 in credit with them but have now noticed that even though I've been giving them regular readings they've been using estimated ones.

On checking their own yearly projections it would work out £10 a month less then they are demanding now.

Have tried to get through on the phone once so far this morning but had to leave a message. Hate having to waste time on this kind of fight.

muffinhead

Chocmonster7 wrote: »

I'm currently £87 in credit with them but have now noticed that even though I've been giving them regular readings they've been using estimated ones.

Submitting the meter readings on the last day of the billing period stopped the estimated bills for me.

Chocmonster7

Still hadn't heard from Utility Point after also sending them an email so called them again, yet again had to leave a message but finally someone phoned me back.

All I got was the waffle about "industry standard" and told how I must have lied about my consumption when I signed up.



Then I tried to tackle the problem of giving readings but them still estimating. I was then talked to like a 5 year old yet he couldn't understand my point about them being wildly inaccurate when sometimes the readings were only a day apart.



I'm not impressed at all, thinking of swallowing the £72 exit fees to get away from them. :mad:



Ironically I've now had the monthly email asking me for a meter reading, will not be entering that until the day before the statement day and see if they estimate it again!

PennineAcute

Chocmonster7 wrote: »

Ironically I've now had the monthly email asking me for a meter reading, will not be entering that until the day before the statement day and see if they estimate it again!

I have always given readings the day before my bill, and have never had estimated.

Chocmonster7

PennineAcute wrote: »

I have always given readings the day before my bill, and have never had estimated.

I've only found this out from reading posts here as they don't mention anything about exact dates in their email wording:

To make your next statement as accurate as possible, we ask if you could kindly provide a meter reading. Without one we'll have to use estimated or deemed readings, which means you might be paying too much or too little.

Have never had other energy companies estimate things just for one days difference, they've just used my readings before.

poppellerant

Chocmonster7 wrote: »

Then I tried to tackle the problem of giving readings but them still estimating. I was then talked to like a 5 year old yet he couldn't understand my point about them being wildly inaccurate when sometimes the readings were only a day apart.

I'm not impressed at all, thinking of swallowing the £72 exit fees to get away from them. :mad:

Ironically I've now had the monthly email asking me for a meter reading, will not be entering that until the day before the statement day and see if they estimate it again!

I have to say I have notice their estimates can be biased against the customer. But I've always put this down to them perhaps expecting my usage to peak throughout winter.

My statements are due on the 15th, so I try to remember to submit a reading on the 14th. I'm only human and sometimes I either forget or I'm not able to take readings on the 14th. This is when I usually get estimated readings.

Terresa

Chocmonster7 wrote: »

...
Have never had other energy companies estimate things just for one days difference, they've just used my readings before.

I don't know who you have used before, but unless you provide a meter reading on the last day of the billing cycle (or the supplier obtains their own reading - as rare as hens teeth nowdays, unless you have an active smart meter) then the supplier can only use an estimated reading for billing.

Of course, if you submit a meter reading shortly before the end of the billing cycle (and importantly, that meter reading is subsequently approved by the independant meter reading agency) then that should help the accuracy of any estimated read used for billing purposes ... but it will still be estimated.