First Utility Reviews

1.2 Rating 127 Reviews
4 %
of reviewers recommend First Utility
1.2
Based on 127 reviews
Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods
Courier
Customer Service
Communication Channels
Telephone, Live Chat, Email
Queries Resolved In
Over A Week
Customer Service
1.1 out of 5
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First Utility 1 star review on 30th September 2022
Anonymous
First Utility 1 star review on 16th July 2022
Brenda Price
First Utility 1 star review on 16th July 2022
Brenda Price
First Utility 1 star review on 16th July 2022
Brenda Price
Anonymous
Anonymous  // 01/01/2019
The technical support is extremely poor. Be a customer for 5 months and STILL have no reliable broadband. The signal keeps dropping out and the technical support suggested it was my living room lighting!!! Please do not take a contract with these people NB have contacted the Ombudsman re their "service"
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Posted 4 years ago
very bad company dont join them please you will regret for the rest of your life.
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Posted 4 years ago
THEIR GAS AND ELECTRICITY DEALS ARE SECOND TO NONE AND I HAVE JUST RECENTLY PURCHASED THEIR BROADBAND WHICH IS INCREDIBLE VALUE. THE SALES AND AFTER SALES CARE IS FIRST CLASS. I HAVE BEEN RIPPED OFF WITH OTHER SUPPLIERS OF ENERGY AND BROADBAND SO WHAT A RELIEF TO KNOW THEIR IS A REALLY DECENT COMPANY OUT THEIR WHO CARE AND CONSIDER THEIR SERVICE TO CLIENTS A PRIORITY. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. MANY THANKS TERRY MASON
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Posted 5 years ago
Easy online switch process.. cashback incentives aside i was constantly kept in the loop on my switch progress... a good experience.
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Posted 6 years ago
Not only did first Utility find me the best energy providers to cut my costs in energy, when I had a health problem they proactively helped me to ensure I could afford my needs sympatheticaly and refunded some money in credit I had. Best Customer award for them!
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Posted 6 years ago
I'm with First Utility for few years now and last year I installed smart metre. My new tariff starts next month and I have got an email saying they have worked out my monthly bill which is £61, which I don't understand because I'm always on credit. And also the main idea of installing smart metre is you don't get estimate bill and you pay what you use. If this is not happening then why roll out smart metre? Not really happy the way the companies are making profit from us even after the smart metre installed.
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Posted 5 years ago
I don’t know why I’m being charged so much for.. according to the box attached to the gas and electric I should be paying around 30£ a month. I’m paying 86… on my account it says I’m using around 75£ but they recommend I up my payments to 106… you taking the P*ss!? We’re all struggling for money atm I’m suppose to be a fixed plan where the payments don’t change and then they up it and they are upping it again???
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Posted 1 year ago
Queried on simple information on the meter reading so i could submit it in time to pay the difference and go back to my monthly payments! Some questions were answered other were given in a very patronising manner. Advisor wasn't the best with her customer service skills. Forgot to chase up my £50 cash back for referring a family member but doubt any of us 2 will be getting anything from the company! Total rubbish. Will be looking for a new provider!
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Posted 4 years ago
Shell Energy are thieves! Upped my DD £40 to £152 without my permission, which I can’t afford. It’s just me, one. Advised them of this, called and amended the DD. I have £235 in credit on my Shell account which they used to cover the bill of £152 from and then, decided to reverse it & keep attempting the direct debit! They don’t care about you as a customer, just want to take as much money from you as they can. Amassing your money in the credit which they don’t even want you to use. So hard to lower your direct debit or use your credit or even get it refunded to you! I have about 3 complaints on my file, worse customer service each month. I would use another company. My customer service agent today heavily insisted that I close my complaints because they helped and advised me sufficiently (in their opinion), despite me being clearly upset that my previous issues hadn’t been resolved nor had the issues today. I literally cannot afford to pay the £152 and begged them to use the credit & stop taking the DD from my account as the bank charges £10 for insufficient funds. Shell do not care.
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Posted 4 months ago
Absolutely terrible customer service. On the phone 2and half hours .. over 2 on hold or shunted around queuing systems Eventually a clerk told me I was rude & was going to cut me off. Couldn’t help me & said I’d get a call back. 6 days on, no call back. Wrote an email to complain that evening & still no reply. Charging me for broadband I cancelled a while back. They just don’t give a toss & will quite easily cut you off for no good reason.
First Utility 1 star review on 30th September 2022
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Posted 1 year ago
Several months ago a man came to my house and asked to have a fire hydrant placed on my property. I said no because my property is heavily wooded and I didn’t want my trees cut down. There are places just several feet from my place that have no trees but they both belong to a business so I guess they were not about to ruin their yards. On June 14 of this year they came here while I was gone and cut a very large section out of my property. They completely removed at least 2 dozen trees. The space is large enough for 2 cars to park. My trees are gone and it is so ugly. They put their hydrant in. It will soon turn into a dump when people just pull into that spot and leave trash and brush. I am almost 80 years old and fell in my yard recently breaking my hip. If it turns into a dump I could get a fine unless it is cleaned. I can’t see it from my house so I can’t stop it. I will have to clean it in days the hip pain is not real bad or pay to have it done out of my social security. I have lived here over 30 years and that company has ruined my property.
First Utility 1 star review on 16th July 2022 First Utility 1 star review on 16th July 2022 First Utility 1 star review on 16th July 2022
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Posted 1 year ago
Was moved to shell energy phone and broadband from post office , wished I had looked at reviews as broadband so slow if anything at all, put on hold while waiting then transferred to another person after two and half hours waiting only to be transfered yet again told them download speed but was accused of fibbing so stuck in18 month contract avoid, avoid, avoid.
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Posted 1 year ago
So this is now the 3rd company I have an issue with. Transferred to them via switchd in October 2021. A £700 credit was transferred to them. I finally spoke to someone via their live chat today. They're now trying to tell me I'm due them £700. In summary they're trying to tell me in a 6 month period, I've wracked up £1,400 in utilities. I appreciate this is totally chaotic times however £1,400 in six months? Any comments/advice appreciated.
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Posted 1 year ago
Very very poor. I had no bills or communication from shell after they took over previous post office broadband I tried logging into my post office account to pay my monthly fee. I could not log in as this was no longer available, clearly they had changed to shell , I had no notification. I was then sent a text message some months later saying I owed 3 months broadband payments. I couldn't pay the three months in one payment so I phoned up. It was impossible to be put through to a human when phoning up multiple times. I sent an email to customer service on 22/4/22 I am yet to have any response to date 24/5/22. Very very poor !!
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Posted 1 year ago
1 star is far too much for this company, I was moved to them because of my supplier went bust in October and as my supplier had already increased my monthly charge from £66 to £99 for the winter months and I was in credit of £242 before they went bust I didn’t expect a problem, as we were suppose to be protected by Ofgem!. I never received a bill from shell energy but I supplied meter readings every time I was asked and continued to pay my direct debit like I was asked to the higher amount for the winter months! 5 months later shell send me a bill that says I am being charged £847!!! For the months they have taken over to now! Not taking into account the money I have been paying as asked £99 a month they have charged me £847 on top! I straight away emailed to asked what is going on and shells response is they charge more than my previous supplier and nothing I can do! At no point was I ever told shell were going to charge more than twice what my supplier who went bust was charging me! I do not use any more energy than previous years. So now she’ll want £380! A month! To cover the cost of what they want to charge and the amount they have now put me into debt! I have complained and they have tried to say it is my previous supplier problem they should have told me to put my payments up! How would they have known what shell were going to charge?? So I have complained and complained and got no where only other than they have offered me £50 good will for a short fall in their service!! I have refused this and asked for a deadlock letter so I can at least get some help from the ombudsman because I cannot take the stress anymore and they are just plain rude and not helpful, I feel I have been taken advantage off by being put with them and I cannot leave and now I am in debt to them. I have today raised the complaint to the ombudsman and gave them all the evidence and what a surprise I have had an email to say shell have been in contact with them! Within hours “to query the acceptance of your complaint”
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Posted 1 year ago
Everything from communication over 4-5 hours last ng cut off rearing same result, services didn't care just want money. Using dead dad (⁷+years) email no access, blaming post office for not delivered letters etc everyone apart them is at fault avoid, avoid, avoid go somewhere else. Would of giving zero if that was an option
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Posted 2 years ago
Shell energy complaint. My issue has been on going from December 2022. It has now been over a week and no one has contacted me regarding my complaint and I have expressed many times for a manager to contact me. This is not the first complaint I have logged a complaint with Shell since they started providing energy to us. I am extremely disappointed and unsatisfied with the services so far and no one seems to take ownership and fully resolve the issue. Time and time again I get told you are sorry and will sort this and promise me a better outcome. I would now like to log this with ombudsman, however Shell have not compiled to the complaint procedure. I have tried to call and everytime I call I get told that someone was working on my case and you will get the person to call me back, this has not happened. You speak with some people who are incompetent and does not speak good English with poor quality telephone service. If it wasn't for the way the energy prices are I would of switched buy now, however I am strongly looking into this.
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Posted 2 years ago
A company run by the most gormless budget of morons, billing me for an account I have never had; yet you cannot talk to anyone, any communication is never answered, and all you get is demands for money I do not owe, as I have never had an account! A company not to be touched under any circumstances, for anything for ever! How these idiots think they can run a company defies logic! Stay clear-does not rate any stars, and please read other reviews. I rest my case
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Posted 2 years ago
SHELL BROADBAND IS THE WORST ISP I'VE EVER USED. The service tests quite well on a speed checker, but in the real world, it is sluggish and unresponsive and can take 10 to 20 seconds to load or refresh a web page. I always use a wire connection, but if I connect to my upstairs neighbour by wifi, on the same laptop, the service is much better. Every six months or so, the service begins to falter and has to be rebooted - sometimes three times a day. Typically, the correct lights are illuminated, but there is no connection to the internet. When I manage to get through to Shell, they go through the same questions and checks that they previously did and the service becomes useable again - for a while. This time, they said they needed to send an engineer around, but that they would charge me for their time, if they couldn't find a fault, I wasn't able to be at home, or in some undefined way the engineer decided that I was responsible for the problem. What did I do? I left. THE WORST ISP EVER.
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Posted 2 years ago
Was moved to Shell from Green via SOLR process. Closed account at end of November with final reads due to the sale of the property. Once Green balance was credited, the final bill was deducted and the remaining credit refunded by cheque. Super smooth and a happy customer. A few months on they are now demanding the cheque amount back, hassling me with daily emails to make payments and set up direct debits for a closed account. When I speak to Customer Service they tell me I owe nothing, but their collections system keep hassling me. You can't get through to collections, the call volumes are always too high. No wonder if they're doing this to other customers, which they are as I can see from the reviews. To top that the emails are now threatening to damage my credit rating unless I pay an amount I do not owe. An absolute disgrace. Automation is no excuse for incompetence.
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Posted 2 years ago
First Utility is rated 1.2 based on 127 reviews