Energy News

Suppliers failing their customers on complaints

Tuesday 30 June, 2009

By becca.talbot@consumerchoices.co.uk

Britain’s “big six” energy suppliers have been told by regulator Ofgem to improve the way they deal with customer complaints.

Less than one in four households said they were satisfied with the way grievances were dealt with, according to a new poll by energy regulator Ofgem.

Research found that customers were particularly unhappy with the number of times they had to contact their energy supplier, when suppliers failed to return calls, and the attitude of staff.

Ofgem chief executive Alistair Buchanan said: “It is in suppliers’ best interests to ensure that the service they provide is of a high standard.”

He said he expected to see improvements from all suppliers when the regulator looked at complaints systems again next year.

The survey, of 2,708 customers found customer satisfaction levels were still low, despite the companies having updated their handling systems.

Of the “big six,” Scottish & Southern Energy and E.ON (www.eonenergy.com) had the highest approval rating of 29%, calculated from the proportion of customers who said they were satisfied with the way their complaint was dealt with.

Npower (www.npower.com) came bottom of the poll with 16%.

Npower said that it had completely revised the way it handled complaints, including full staff training.

“We are disappointed with the audit results but they were not unexpected. We are confident that these changes [to its complaints-handling system] will result in much improved customer satisfaction.” an Npower spokeswoman told the BBC.

Npower also came bottom in another energy supplier customer satisfaction survey last October.

Regulator Ofgem has demanded that the “big six” publish details about the number of complaints they receive, so customers can use the information when deciding to switch energy suppliers.

Ofgem also said an audit of this information “raised concerns” as to whether EDF was properly recording all its complaints. The regulator is now investigating the company’s compliance with regulations.

Audrey Gallacher, customer services expert for energy watchdog Consumer Focus, said: “Sadly these poor ratings come as no surprise. Energy suppliers are consistently rated as giving poor customer service.”

“To help combat the high levels of complaints about energy billing, the government must roll-out smart meters as soon as possible to make bills more accurate,” added Gallacher.

“In the meantime we would urge consumers who are dissatisfied with the service they receive to vote with their feet and switch supplier.”