Consumers do not have to battle energy suppliers on their own
Many business electricity consumers battling poor customer service by energy companies were unaware they could have queries and complaints handled on their behalf.
Julian Morgan, managing director of the UK’s leading price comparison, switching and advice service for energy users, said energy consumers did not have to deal with suppliers on their own as reputable and independent services like ours can handle billing queries and other problems on behalf of customers. It is part of what we do, which many consumers do not realise.
We have helped hundreds of frustrated domestic and business energy consumers resolve issues that they have been unable to sort out themselves, despite their best efforts. Sometimes customers have struggled for months to get a problem sorted with no luck but once they have turned to us, we have been able to help.
If you’re battling poor customer service then we can take on the battle for you
These problems can be as simple as querying a bill through to more complex issues like sorting out months of overcharging. We are able to do this because we’re experts when it comes to energy suppliers, we can talk to suppliers in their own language and will not be fobbed off. Many customers are unaware that a good switching and advice service will offer a free contract management service, which includes this kind of help.
Mr Morgan’s comments follow the release of a new energy complaints league table that shows a significant increase in customer complaints for the Big Six energy companies.
Npower topped the table, recording 202 complaints per 100,000 customers in April to June, five times more than the best performing company, SSE. The figures, from watchdog Consumer Futures, were compiled before the latest round of prices rises, which started to come into effect this month.
Mr Morgan said that while the cost of energy was a key factor for consumers when choosing a supplier, customer service was also crucially important. Dealing with problems such as large back bills, confusing bills, direct debit complications and overcharging could be deeply frustrating and stressful for customers when supplier complaints handling was so poor.
Business Electricty suppliers decide to put customers first – both in terms of pricing and they way they handle complaints and queries – consumers will continue to mistrust them. The consolation is that services like the Energy Advice Line can help consumers resolve these issues because finding the cheapest energy deals is only part of what we do. We continue helping customers long after they have chosen the best energy deal.
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