Feedback on Utility Point

bristolleedsfan

Today marked 10 weeks since final Bill, emailed complaint amd posted on Twitter that £90.88 credit had not been refunded, latter lead to phone call received early PM

Resolution that I sought was £30 +£30 compensation plus exit fee refunded ( 1 fuel)

U.P adamant in phone call that they would not be refunding exit fees in addition to paying £60 compensation, I got them to meet me nearly halfway, they agreed to additional £15 goodwill compensation matching what they charge customers for late payment thus total £75 compensation

angei010

DONT BOTHER.  looked good on the site but i am cancelling my switch as they came out more expensive than my old tarrif and i was waiting 20 minutes on the phone before i hang up.  staying with my current supplier who actually answer the phone

HonestJohn

Recently left Utility Point. Final bill and refund of credit received within the relevant timescales.

rob37uk

I left Utility Point Gas on 9th September 2020. Getting the credit balance refunded is like getting blood out of a stone.
On 16th October, I received an email from Utility Point saying:-"Good Afternoon, We can confirm we have received the final verified meter readings and we have been able to produce your final bill.
Please be advised you are currently in credit by the amount of £138.73
This will be refunded within the next 10 working days.
If you have any questions regarding this, please do not hesitate to contact us"
On 28th October, 2 days before the 10 working day deadline, I sent a reminder email to Utility Point.
"Please note that Friday, 30th October, will be 10 working days since you advised me that my closure credit balance would be refunded to me.
Please ensure that the refund is paid by that deadline.
It is now 7 weeks since I transferred my energy to a new provider. Please note that if the refund is not paid to me by this Friday, I will be making a claim for the automatic £30 compensation due from you under the February 2020 Ofgem ruling"
On Friday, 30th October, I received an acknowledgement email saying:-
"I have now escalated this query to my managers in order to chase your refund.
I am very sorry for this delay"
On Sunday, 1st November, I sent an email to Utility Point saying:-
"As you will see in the email trail below, you undertook to refund £138.73 within 10 working days of the final bill date of Friday,16th October.
Despite a reminder sent on Wednesday, 28th October - you have failed to refund my money in the time laid down by the regulator. This has now triggered an automatic £30 penalty in accordance with the February 2020 Ofgem ruling which means that the refund due is now £168.73. This email will start your internal complaints procedure. I give you a further 10 working days to send me this refund, either by cheque or as a direct bank account credit.
If this refund is not received by close of business on Friday, 13th November, I will be commencing court proceedings to recover my loss and will be making a formal complaint to Ofgem and engaging the services of the Energy Ombudsman"
On 5th November, I received this acknowledgement:-
"Good morning Mr Baynes
Thanks for your email. I apologise that your refund still has not been processed. I have forwarded this on to our payments team.
Warmest Regards
James, Utility Point Ltd"

We'll see if the refund does arrive by Friday 13th November but I have my doubts and a claim through the HM Gov Small Claims Court will otherwise be submitted that evening.

thelight

I had exactly the same issue when I left them 12 months ago for my electricity. I'm in the process of leaving them now for my gas so will be interesting to see if the same thing happens. On the plus side, I came out £60 up in compensation last time so I'm not too bothered

UnclaimedEnergy

Will be interesting to see if more people start having this issue.

Around winter last year they started taking a good 2-3 months to refund customers who switched away (was a lot in the £300-£500).

They've recently put their fixed tariffs at the same level of the price cap. Means they either don't want to win customers at the moment, or can't afford to take on more customers at a lower price.

UnclaimedEnergy

Looking into it a bit more... November 2019 was when they priced themselves as one of the cheapest on the market up until around about Lockdown (March 2020)

Looks like they're hoping to get customers who have that fixed tariff ending to renew on these expensive tariffs and lock them in with the exit fee.

rob37uk

UPDATE for my post on 7th November****** On 10th November, being the 7th working day since their promise of the refund arriving, my refund actually was paid direct to my bank account together with the £30 automatic compensation. Well Done Utility Point at last but it really shouldn't need the threat of legal action to get my own money back.

furlan76

I would like to personal experience to the long list of this thread. Getting the final bill and refund from Utility Point has been a real nightmare and it has been cause of distress to be honest because I feel to be treated as a fool. It's been since end of august that they have been holding on approx £300. they have been coming up with excuses over and over again just to delay the refund and kick the can down the road. 10 days ago I told them that I would raise a formal complaint to OFGEM since they failed to address the issue, at that point they eventually rang me, apologised and promised that I would get my refund within the usual 7-10 days. Today upon chasing them on the payment they responded that because of a backlog my refund was further delayed. Now, that really was the straw that broke the camel's back. I don't care about their silly excuses about the backlog, and I am fed up with the usual 7-10 days time to make a refund when if I want to make a bank transfer to someone I get it done right now and the person will get it in the bank account within hours. why 7-10 days? do they transfer money using pigeons. if there is a will there is a way but clearly there is no will to return the refund and they prefer to hold on it as long as possible for cash flow considerations. I am going to raise a formal complaint to the energy ombudsman because they have shown no real interest in resolving the issue, only empty promises and no actions. at least someone in utility point will have to waste few hours/money to deal with that formal complain. Never had such a bad experience before. I would highly recommend anyone to avoid them. By the way I have been their customer for more than 2 years hence I would have expected a much better treatment. 

bristolleedsfan

Never seen so many pages of 1 star reviews all on same subject, chasing credit refunds

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.utilitypoint.co.uk