Former OurPower customer getting nowhere with Utilita!

keithc83

Hi there,


Having some major issues with Utilita. Almost the second i received notification of OurPower going bust and the intended switch to Utilita, I moved to EDF - simply as Utilita rates were too expensive and I didn't have a great experience. I had smart maters and regularly provided meter readings before that to OurPower - and was with them for less than a year. But somehow, magically, in the 3 weeks I was with Utilita, they have sent me a final bill for £316.50 - which is the equivalent of 4 months worth of regular gas and electricity usage.


How this is even possible I don't know.


I sent them this complaint:

[FONT=&quot]Hi,
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[FONT=&quot]I unwillingly transferred from OurPower to you in early February 2019. I had smart meters installed by OurPower and also had supplied meter readings separately as recently as January 2019.
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[FONT=&quot]I immediately switched away from you to EDF as soon as I was notified as your rates were too high and I'd had a poor experience trying to chat to your customer service reps.
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[FONT=&quot]My complaint revolves around 3 things:
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[FONT=&quot]1. I supplied meter reads and up to date readings to OurPower regularly - there is simply no way 1000 or more gas units (as your contact centre person told me) over and above normal usage can miraculously be used in the 1 month period i was with you before switching. Your information that you have - either that you calculated yourself, or were given by ourpower, is incorrect. I need you to investigate this and give me a detailed unit by unit breakdown of usage across the months I was with ourpower. I wasn't even with them for a year - so there's no way this could have happened and I'm almost 100% this is an error. Either OurPower have supplied you with incorrect information, or you have made a mistake on my final bill.
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[FONT=&quot]2. You, as Utilita Energy - took money out of my account in Direct Debit on more than one occasion without you being authorised to do so. I twice received DD instruction forms to sign and send back, which I deliberately didn't do as I knew i was moving away and didn't want to set it up - yet you took money from my account anyway? This is a serious breach of FCA regulations about authorised payments and I'm now very concerned about the security of my bank account as a result. Please tell me why you have done this and assure me that you will take no more payments from my account without my prior authorisation.
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[FONT=&quot]3. I have received letters stating i have 7 days to pay before I receive "further action" - I am formally advising you now that I will not be paying this bill until such times as we have full clarity on it, so please don't send any more threatening letters - it really doesn't help. I understand that I may be due to pay you a final bill, but it is most certainly not £316.50 - that's almost 4 months worth of energy usage.
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[FONT=&quot]Please investigate and respond as a matter of urgency.
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[FONT=&quot]Many thanks, Keith Crane [/FONT]

As far as they are concerned it's an "OurPower" issue and not theirs... and there's nothing they can do about it?! So eh... my question is... what CAN i do? and what SHOULD i do?


Totally confused by this whole thing.


Many thanks for any assistance you can provide

Pete99

If you've got all of the meter readings for that period, the standing charges, the unit costs, work out how much you owe and pay them that amount, the excess that they want is in dispute and it's up to them to sort it out, also tell them in writing that unless this is sorted out in X days / weeks whatever period you think is reasonable, that you will be charging them for your time dealing with their error, as long as you pay what you think you owe they'll probably go away, this works for most utilities and stops them cutting you off.

keithc83

Thanks for that. The good news is I’m with EDD now so they can’t cut me off (that I’m aware of!)

keithc83

EDF even! Sorry for the typo

bonus2010

Hi keithc83, you should have your final bill from Our Power, check that the closing meter readings there match the opening readings of your Utilita bill, and similarly for when you moved over to EDF. These readings should help you verify the bill you've got from Utilita or spot where an error has been made.

Clutha

While I'm waiting on Utilita to answer my phone call, here is my story, so far.

Left them asap due to ridiculous price hike after Our Power collapse,.
3 letters have since arrived indicating I owe them >£500 final payment.
3 replies have been sent querying this amount but all I get back is another bill, no details of how they reached amount.
Todays (21/06/19) mail from them informed me they intend to put the matter in the hands of an independent Debt Collector, nice.
11.5 mins I've been waiting on a response to my call. I've ended it.
Ho hum.

Last week I was informed my 75th birthday at the end of the year will not include a free tv licence.
Now the Utility bully boys are threatening me.
Don'tcha just love the UK ?

JennieMac

I too was switched from Our Power to Utilita. Following MSE advice I took a meter reading on 31st January and after doing the calculations, Our Power had overestimated my usage by about £20. It took a while for Utilita's welcome pack to arrive and once I'd seen the tariff and their power mix, I immediately switched to Bulb (who have been fantastic from day one). The switchover was on 22nd March. Nonetheless Utilita used the Our Power DD to take £56.17 from my account (my average monthly spend on electricity is around £49) on 26th March - but I know these things take time. However they took the money AGAIN on 26th April. I hadn't thought to cancel the DD (hindsight!) so I did so immediately.
Meanwhile they finally sent an invoice. It was not correct. I worked out the calculations including the repayment owed by Our Power and estimated Utilita owed me nearly all the second direct debit amount. I called Utilita on May 1st to tell them this. I was told it would be sorted out within two to six weeks.

It wasn't. I called again. I was told that as I was billed quarterly I would not receive my refund till the following month. I complained online on 24th June and received an automated reply telling me that the matter would be dealt with in 5 days. It wasn't.

I am lucky in that being without £40-odd isn't the end of the world - but what about people to whom it means the difference between eating or not? I am absolutely furious with Ofgem and Utilita.

If you're thinking of switching, MSE people, I can thoroughly recommend Bulb, and would rather live by candlelight than use Utilita!

PS Utilita are still sending me invoices and on none of them is the DD taken on 26th April shown. This is a relatively simple book-keeping matter and having run a company with £million+ pound turnover (in the 1980s, when a million was worth something...) I am distinctly unimpressed by Utilita's financial controls.

keithc83

For everyone - thank you very much.
After a lot of perseverance, an official complaint and investigation - they came back to say it was mistakes at their end and the actual balance was £5.42 which they wrote off as an “apology” instead!

Don’t pay hundreds of pounds until you are absolutely sure it’s correct!

JennieMac

After all that faffing around they should have sent you a bigger gesture of compensation!
I am still waiting for the £36 refund Utilita's billing department said they'd authorised on 19th July. It'll be a cheque (if it ever arrives) because though they're making everyone switch to smart meters, they themselves haven't heard of online banking and bank transfers.
Utilita means (approximately) useful. They're InUtilita - useless.

the31st

I've had something similar, but they didn't notify me they had got my account and now want me to pay £1800. Also the meter readings they are using are made up estimates as I didn't know I was with them they didn't get any meter readings from me.

the31st

Customer service is terrible