Yahoo Finance 'First Utility hiked my bills because I'm not online'
I am 85 and joined First Utility in 2014. I paid £66 a month by direct debit for gas and electricity and gave the firm my meter readings in the first week of each month.
When my contract ended late in 2016 I gave First Utility my readings and discussed the prices for my new contract. We agreed £70 per month. Then, contrary to that arrangement, I was told that my direct debit would be for £78 per month.
JM, West Yorks.
You report that you were told the £70 per month deal would not apply after all because you had not carried out the change online. You do not believe this had been a problem in the past. So it lost you as a customer as you switched to another provider.
Then a bill came from First Utility for £22 while you believed it owed you £100. You challenged this and were told that you actually owed £411.
In fact First Utility said: “After we offered him the cheapest deal, which at the time was a tariff only available online, we emailed a direct link to simplify the process.
“We are sorry that Mr M found it difficult to successfully switch his tariff online and we apologise for the undue stress he experienced during the process.”
Further to my involvement it turned out that First Utility had based the high bill on incorrect meter readings that had been submitted.
However, during the switching process, the new supplier provided correct final bills which showed that £22 was owed. First Utility took this by direct debit.
First Utility said it is completely transparent about what tariffs there are which is why you were directed to its website. However it should not go back on a deal you understood had been agreed.
Its spokesman said: “We are very sorry for the confusion Mr M has experienced. We spent some time reviewing his account and listening to the phone calls he made to us before switching supplier. We can confirm that, to date, Mr M’s account is fully paid and he is not in debt with First Utility.
“We have apologised to Mr M for any undue stress we may have caused and sent him copies of his last few invoices to put his mind at rest about his payments.”
Despite this you went to the energy ombudsman which acknowledged First Utility’s actions and closed the complaint.
