Company failed to warn customer of change in payment plan and instead took lump sum all in one go
I have been trying to resolve a billing issue but failing to find anyone at First Utility who can help.
I switched to a smart meter in February 2012 last year and without me realising, First Utility stopped billing me by direct debit. The last bill I paid was in January 2012. I did not notice my direct debits had stopped until November 2012 when they sent me a bill for £2,096. Just before Christmas they took the money from my account.
I phoned them and they told me to contact my bank to refund the amount, which I did. Then they told me they would send me details of the accumulated bill and offer payment terms as this is a large amount to pay in one go and it was not my fault in the first place.
Since the beginning of this year I have had various bills for £814, £1,137 and £3,142, plus a scary letter from the collections agency demanding £2,810.
Their customer service is very frustrating. Can you help? CM, Harpenden
As regular readers of the column will know, First Utility is a name that crops up repeatedly – usually over issues with inaccurate billing and a lack of customer care. This letter is no different, but was particularly farcical because of the additional muddle First Utility got itself into while resolving it.
Days after we bought this case to the company it sent us a statement apologising and saying all had been resolved. However, when we spoke to you to check this, you said they had not even contacted you. We went back to First Utility and they said they considered it resolved when they spoke to you in late December. They don't appear to have even looked at the substance of your subsequent complaint to us.
We asked them to look at this again and this time someone called you. However, after 45 minutes on the phone to them you were still not clear how much you owed, if anything – and neither were we.
We then spoke to Dave D'Arcy, director of customer operations at First Utility. He explained that, as it turned out, it had been inaccurately billing you since 2009. He said as a result you owed £1,800 but he agreed with us that, because this was FU's error and communication had been terrible, it would wipe off the debt. It has also credited your account with a further sum by way of apology.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@guardian.co.uk or write to Bachelor & Brignall, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number
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