Energy 'big six' castigated for 'abject' service to customers

BRITAIN'S biggest energy providers have been criticised by a consumer watchdog for their "abject" customer service.

A survey of the nine top gas and electricity providers by Which? has shown that the largest companies are the losers in the satisfaction stakes, with the "big six", which serve a total of 25 million UK households, failing to keep the majority of their customers satisfied.

Propping up the table was nPower, which received the lowest score of any company in any industry.

It had a rating of only 27 per cent, meaning nearly three out four customers expressed dissatisfaction with the service they were given.

Consumer magazine Which? Money surveyed almost 8,000 homeowners on their gas and electricity suppliers and discovered that only the smaller companies such as Good Energy and Utility Warehouse kept their customers satisfied – though they could not match the larger companies on price.

The report showed British Gas is still the most commonly used provider among Which? members, even though it achieved a customer service score of only 37 per cent.

Which? Money said the results showed an ongoing downward trend, describing the service by the six biggest companies as "abject".

"Our latest satisfaction survey adds to the dismal picture of Britain's utilities in 2010," it said.

"Just one in five Which? members thinks privatisation of the energy industry has benefited British consumers. We can't say whether a state-owned company would keep its customers any happier, but it probably couldn't do much worse than many of the current lot.

"For the fourth survey in a row, we have found that only the smaller suppliers are any good at keeping customers satisfied. However, while deserving of praise, these companies serve less than 130,000 households."

Marieke Dwarshuis, director of Consumer Focus Scotland, said: "The low level of confidence and satisfaction revealed by this survey puts the gas and electricity market at rock bottom when it comes to customer experience.

"Scottish consumers must also be more demanding in their pursuit of both better rates and better customer service from suppliers in order to help promote competition and drive up standards.

"We intend to launch a campaign later this year aimed at raising consumer awareness about the potential benefits of switching their energy supplier."

Earlier this month, Consumer Focus Scotland published a scathing report which concluded that the gas and electricity sector continued to be ranked lowest out of 45 UK markets in terms of consumer confidence.

It said the proportion of customers who reported that they had cause to complain about gas and electricity services was twice the average for UK markets as a whole.

Energy firm nPower reacted to the survey by claiming that the figures used were out of date and insisting it was committed to good customer service.

Julie Jaglowski, its residential customer services director, said: "Our aim is to see our customers happy, not just satisfied – and we've been working really hard to make customer service the focus of our company.

"While we're disappointed at this particular survey's results, we're already seeing significant results from the 200 million we're investing in our systems. Our external complaint levels have dropped by 56 per cent in the last 12 months."