I recently switched to First Utility to take advantage of a fixed rate and also to take up the offer of a Cosy controller smart thermostat.
I was given a date for the installation with about a month’s notice, and arranged to be at home. A week before the installation date I received an email cancelling the appointment – with no explanation and no details of who I should complain to.
I rang First Utility and asked them to send on the controller and explained that I would arrange for my own heating engineer to do the installation and then send the bill to First Utility.
I was told someone would call back, but have heard nothing. I also rang Cosy and was told that, due to popular demand, it had run out of the units. I was not at all impressed.
I’ve had a further email saying that the engineer was unable to fit the controller (despite the fact that my system matched the specification). I was told that the technical people were not available and that they would ring me back. I have not heard from them.
I had switched supplier to take up the offer of the controller and have been let down. I received a Gourmet Society card as an apology which is virtually useless because I live in Kendal where there are few, if any, places to use it. MS, Kendal, Cumbria
We contacted First Utility which admitted it had been overwhelmed by the demand from prospective customers. It said: “It is great that customers are taking advantage of the tariff extras on offer, and we have been particularly blown away by the popularity of our Cosy smart thermostat offer.
“Unfortunately, this meant that we did run out of Cosy products for a week. We have been in touch with all of the affected customers to rearrange installation and we have sent them a free Gourmet Society card to apologise for the inconvenience. There are now no more problems delivering and installing the thermostat.”
In your case, you are discussing a number of options with the firm, including First Utility paying for the changes needed to your heating system which would allow the installation of the Cosy.
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