Utility Warehouse, take care

SPlatten

We switched to Utility Warehouse a few years ago, back in February this year we switched our Energy again.  Today we got a bill from Utility Warehouse for June which included a bill for Energy for £78.00, I've emailed Utility Warehouse to query what is going on.  Bills from March up to and including May show Energy at £0.
If we hadn't noticed, this would have been deducted, we still have land line phone and mobiles with Utility Warehouse.

Neil_Jones

SPlatten said:

We switched to Utility Warehouse a few years ago, back in February this year we switched our Energy again.  Today we got a bill from Utility Warehouse for June which included a bill for Energy for £78.00, I've emailed Utility Warehouse to query what is going on.  Bills from March up to and including May show Energy at £0.
If we hadn't noticed, this would have been deducted, we still have land line phone and mobiles with Utility Warehouse.

This situation is almost always caused by not reading meters.

Robin9

Is this actually for energy or for the landline and mobile rental ?

Can you post the bill - blank out the personal info

SPlatten

I've spoken with Utility Warehouse today and it seems that what has happened is that when we switched provider, the new provider did not send the final meter reading details back to Utility Warehouse until mid May.  As a result this is the final electricity bill from Utility Warehouse.  This has left us very confused because before we left Utility Warehouse we had a smart meter installed (by Utility Warehouse).  We were also £150+ in credit.  Switching provider hasn't gone smoothly and its seems that our bills have dramatically increased between switching, we switched again from Scottish Power to Bulb, but between March and June our usage seems to have increased considerably and again we were in credit bit now owe £455.

Talldave

Does the meter reading they've used on this "final" bill match the opening reading(s) you provided to Scottish Power?

You say that your bills have increased dramatically - this can only be down to your consumption increasing or you switched to a supplier with higher rates than the one you were with (which I doubt since you were with Utility Warehouse).

Can you list out the standing charges and unit rates from UW, SP and Bulb?  And your monthly consumption whilst with each of those suppliers?  Maybe we can see what's been going on?

SPlatten

To be honest I really don't know it was too long ago.  I don't have time to go through the statements right now, I've now paid all the amounts, so hopefully things will work out better with Bulb, its just that each time we switched it was because the rates offered by the new provider were lower, however it seems the actual charges are considerably higher and no are usage had not increased.

Robin9

Don't forget that your UW Smart Meter is probably no longer smart and you should be reading your meter (no meter reader will call)

Talldave

SPlatten said:

To be honest I really don't know it was too long ago.  I don't have time to go through the statements right now, I've now paid all the amounts, so hopefully things will work out better with Bulb, its just that each time we switched it was because the rates offered by the new provider were lower, however it seems the actual charges are considerably higher and no are usage had not increased.

If the rates were lower, you would be paying less. Anything else is a mathematical impossibility!

It is quite possible for a comparison site to quote "save £xxx by switching today" for a tariff with higher rates than your existing ones.  This is because they "fake" the savings by assuming that at the end of any fixed rate period of your current tariff you would do nothing and pay the suppliers astronomically high default rates.  That's how they create amazing savings figures that are just not real.  And that's how you can be conned into switching onto a tariff with higher prices whilst being duped into thinking you were making savings. Always check the rates of a potential tariff and do the maths against what you're paying.  Sometimes it is worth jumping ship from a fixed tariff, even having to pay exit fees, if prices have fallen a lot.  But often it's better to wait until your fixed tariff ends.

SPlatten

What bugs me is that several times when I was switching I was in credit, however despite the credit I still ended up in dept.

Robin9

Some of the Utilities have an odd way of what appears on the online bills  in that they show all the credits you make in the form of DD' but don't add any details of the energy costs until a quarterly or six monthly bill is prepared. This can be very misleading.

Hasbeen

SPlatten said:

 just that each time we switched it was because the rates offered by the new provider were lower

It is definitely the rates you are looking at per kWh and standing charge per day?

Not the comparison site saying you will save £££s?