How to complain about your energy firm, as Ofgem names and shames worst customer service offenders
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Have you experienced poor customer service from your energy company? How to complain about your provider as Ofgem name and disgrace
- Energy bills are skyrocketing, but customer service is lacking at all energy companies
- Consumers say they can’t speak to the energy company’s staff or have to wait for hours
- We explain how you can make a complaint about your energy supplier
The major energy company Eon has ‘serious’ customer service problems, according to regulator Ofgem, but customers of all providers are affected.
An Ofgem review said Eon, which has 5.5 million customers, had a ‘very poor’ record, with customers dropping calls and long phone hold times.
The regulator added that this “represented a serious deterioration in standards from when Ofgem previously analyzed their performance.”
However, all of the energy companies reviewed by Ofgem had a weakness in customer service.
Poor customer service from energy companies is coupled with record high gas and electricity bills
Ofgem discovered ‘moderate weaknesses’ at British Gas, E Gas and Electricity, EDF, Good Energy, Outfox the Market, OVO, Scottish Power, SO Energy, Utilita, Utility Warehouse and Tru Energy.
Meanwhile, it found “minor weaknesses.” Bulb, Ecotricity, Green Energy, Shell and Octopus.
Many energy company customers can’t talk to anyone to even make a complaint, Ofgem found – and up to half just hang up in frustration.
Ofgem said common problems with energy companies are:
- Customers spent hours on the phone
- Employees of the energy company do not answer the phone
- Slow responses to written complaints
- Lack of information on how to file complaints
- Employees cannot handle complex calls
- Poor customer service staff training
- Many customer complaints confirmed by the Energy Ombudsman
Ofgem director of retail Neil Lawrence said: ‘From being on hold for too long, to not getting clear information, or sometimes not reaching suppliers at all, this research has shown that customer service just isn’t good enough.’
An Eon Next spokesperson said: “We cannot and will not shy away from the fact that we were unable to provide the service our customers demand and deserve for a short period of time when demand increased dramatically and unexpectedly across the industry. with a tripling of the number of people who want to see us.
“However, we can reassure our customers that even before Ofgem’s assessment, we had already put in place a number of measures leading to improvements that will bring us back to the level of service we can be proud of.”
How to escalate your energy complaint
If you cannot find a solution with your energy company, you can submit complaints to the Ombudsman Energy.
This is a free service that handles customer energy complaints related to customer service, billing, supplier switching and more.
Before you can make a complaint to the Energy Ombudsman, you must first speak to your supplier and make a formal complaint.
If you don’t hear anything within eight weeks, or if it’s been eight weeks since they made a final decision, you can go to the Energy Ombudsman to submit another complaint.
It can take months to get a decision. However, it is possible to appeal if you believe the Ombudsman has been unfair.