Analysis: The customer is always right - energy companies are just a bit slow in realising it

Poor customer service has dogged the energy industry for years. Consumers are concerned about price, but they also care about service.

Our last annual Customer Satisfaction Report revealed that Britain's big six suppliers had pulled their socks up, but still less than six in ten of us are satisfied with their service.

The energy companies are shooting themselves in the foot, as we all love to talk to our families and friends about our experiences, whether it's the shop assistant that goes the extra mile or the company that can't stop getting things wrong.

We like to give our views and recommendations and, in a way, that's how many company reputations are made or broken.

So what has gone wrong? Research shows that the energy industry ranks really poorly against other industries and organisations for being inaccurate.

In fact, energy suppliers have consistently been voted the worst for getting bills wrong since 2007, this year losing out only to the Inland Revenue.

For many of us the only "real" contact we have with energy suppliers is talking to them when something has gone wrong.

Energy companies aren't like the shops you visit regularly, or the bank you go into a couple of times a month.

Most of us actually communicate with our suppliers infrequently and often this is prompted by a query or something going wrong.

Thankfully, four in ten energy billing queries are sorted out within a week. But on average, billing inaccuracies take just over two months to resolve.

This is a long time, but the important thing is how they are dealt with: the customer should be kept informed, treated politely and have simple and clear explanations of what has happened and why.

If it's dealt with well, it can actually improve a customer's perception of the company.

This is why it's so important that all businesses take customer service and complaints handling seriously and why Ofgem should make this a top priority.

It has to send out a strong message to suppliers that they have to tighten up their complaints procedures and that customers are made fully aware of the option to go to the Energy Ombudsman if they reach "deadlock".

And yes, there will be some arguing that a 2.5 million fine for a company of British Gas's stature isn't enough.

I'm not one of them. British Gas cares about its reputation (I know, because it asked me to be an independent and critical chairwoman of its Consumer Board) and has started to make inroads into improving its customer service and its complaints handling. The fine will have hurt - not financially perhaps - but it will have hurt.

And just in case everyone thinks it's all doom and gloom with energy suppliers, actually it's not. There are some very positive signs. Fewer households are being billed inaccurately, less money is being owed as a result and less time is being taken to resolve mistakes. This is all extremely welcome but, as Ofgem's fine shows, there is certainly no room for complacency.

• Ann Robinson is consumer policy director at uSwitch.com, the independent price comparison and switching service.