- The Guardian Saturday 30 April 2022
(^58) Money
Consumer champions
Miles Brignall
Why won’t property fi rm
accept we have moved?
Last summer we moved house
from a Taylor Wimpey home we
had lived in since it was built.
Our entire move was beset by
disasters, but while most were
eventually resolved, one problem
continues. The property company
that manages our old house – a
fi rm called First Port – won’t accept
that we have moved out.
As part of the move we had to
pay £200 for a management pack
to transfer our property to the new
owners. This we duly did. Soon
after we had moved I cancelled
the direct debit to First Port for
our service charges.
I have written and phoned to
confi rm we have moved. Despite
this I continue to get emails from
the company, and have received
the invoice for this year’s bill.
I rang again, and was told
that we would be removed. The
property transfer team got in
touch to tell me that the buyers’
solicitors needed to send over
some paperwork. I got in touch
but First Port staff claim they still
haven’t received it. They’ve also
said they will not accept a Land
Registry title change as proof we
have moved.
The buyers of our house
completed the forms and are
happy for the costs to shift to
them, but First Port is refusing
to engage with any method of
sorting this out. Please help.
AB, near Reading
First Port says it off ers “award-
winning property management
built around your home” but it
also seems to have rather too
many unhappy customers who are
struggling to get someone to sort
out admin problems. The online
reviews of this fi rm show you are
by no means alone in trying to get
your management bills moved to
the new occupier.
Happily, the fi rm’s press team
quickly got on the case and the
transfer has now been recorded on
its system. Hopefully that will be
the last interaction you will have,
and it should bring to end what
sounded like a nightmare house
move, with this just one of several
other unrelated problems.
A First Port spokesperson
says: “We are sorry for the initial
delay in resolving this, while we
received and verifi ed the relevant
documentation from external
parties. We look after 310,000
homes across England, Wales and
Scotland, and while the majority
of our reviews are positive, we
continue to work hard to improve
our service for all our residents.”
When will my smart meter
become smart again?
My gas and electricity smart
meters became strangely
uncommunicative with Shell
Energy just days before the 1 April
tariff increase.
Shell’s reply to my question
about when it expects my smart
meters to become smart again
seems to suggest there’s a major
“industry wide issue” and it is
unable to do anything about this.
The letter suggests Ofgem is aware
of a problem that is aff ecting a
great many other households.
But I don’t remember reading or
hearing anything in any news
outlet about this. Is this true?
LD, by email
We get the occasional letter from
readers whose smart meter has
lost its ability to be read remotely,
but have not seen a big increase
in recent weeks. That said the
smart meter programme has been
a bit of a disaster so I wouldn’t be
surprised if what you have been
told is true. The regulator Ofgem
said it was “not aware of any
issues aff ecting connectivity or the
communications of smart meters”.
Shell Energy also backtracked
and now says that your smart meter
inquiry could have been handled
a lot better, and that it’s “sorry for
the incorrect information” you
were provided with.
On a positive note it has now
promised to get to the bottom of
your meter problem and has been
in touch. In the meantime have
others suff ered a loss of smart-
ness? Email the usual address.
And fi nally: part one
A letter prais es the little known
French shoe manufacturer Arche,
which has just resoled reader BM’s
rubber soled sandals for a second
time – the only thing it cost her was
the postage back to France. “They
off er a service to resole most of
their shoes for free, which I fi nd
good and very ecological. It’s a
great service,” she writes.
And fi nally: part two
This is my last Consumer
Champions column for a few
months as I am taking an extended
period of leave. My excellent
colleague Zoe Wood will be holding
the fort in my absence – email
your letters to the usual address.
I am sorry if I have been unable to
publish your complaint this year.
Sadly, we can only deal with a
fraction of those sent in.
We welcome letters but cannot answer
individually. Email consumer.
[email protected] or
write to Guardian, 90 York Way,
London N1 9GU. Include a phone
number. Letters are subject to our
terms: gu.com/letters-terms
▲ A reader’s smart meters lost touch
with their Shell Energy account
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