Energy company complaints

D_M_E

There are a LOT of complaints about the various energy companies, both big and small.


We hear and read complaints about


incorrect billing, being stuck on the wrong tariff (not the one signed up to);


breach of contract (by the customer as well as the company, it must be said);


unwillingness of the companies to apply the back billing code;


taking many, many months, and in some cases, years, to produce a bill;


harassing people to pay a bill for energy which they have not had supplied by that company;


the use of bailiffs at the wrong address,


and an ineffectual ombudsman, to name but a few.


We also have evidence that the company representatives do not listen to either what the customer has to say, or what the complaint is about, nor do they bother to actually read what, if anything, either by email or letter, the customer has written - there is plenty of evidence of this on this forum and, I suspect, on other forums as well.


I would suggest that everyone who has an ongoing complaint does all of the following:


1. Complain to your MP, make them earn their Parliamentary salary - if enough people complain by email/post, or better by both, then questions could possibly be asked and debated in Parliament.


2. Complain to the Energy Secretary, who is currently Amber Rudd at the time of writing. If enough people complain by email and/or post - better still, both - then the Energy Secretary may well sit up and take notice and actually DO something when they find themselves swamped and unable, as a result, to get on with anything else.


3. Use social media, for example Facebook, to complain - I think all the energy companies have a presence there and they do not like people complaining where all the world can read and see how long it takes them to resolve your issue.


4. Keep an account of the time and money you have spent in resolving, or trying to resolve, your issue, and charge them the cost of every call made and letter sent and at least £20 per hour of your time spent hanging on the phone and writing emails/letters sorting or trying to sort your complaint.


5. Make the Ombudsman award a decent level of compensation - at least, say, £500 - instead of the current office tea money levels being set, and give the Ombudsman the power to enforce it and ensure any such compensation is paid in a timely manner - in days, not months or years.


I also think there should be a petition started on the Government website to get the issue debated - I think the petition only requires 100,000 signatories to get a debate - is this correct? - and, given the number and variety of complaints, this should be easy to achieve.


These are just my thoughts on the issue, come on, people, add your own comments.

modsandmockers

You make some very good points, but the energy companies are in a position which is similar to where the banks were prior to the meltdown - most of their customers have been with them for years, they trust them completely, and they see no reason to question their practices. Their energy supply continues without interruption, they don’t bother to read their multi-paged bills because they don’t expect to be able to understand them, they assume that their bills are based upon accurate meter readings, they accept their monthly payment plans without question, and therefore they hardly ever need to make any use of ‘customer services’. They are paying ‘standard variable’ prices, and have no idea how much cheaper it could be.

I think that the energy companies’ ‘customer service’ provision is probably dominated by MSE members (amongst many other skinflints, troublemakers and good-for-nothings), and it’s therefore not particularly surprising that they don’t feel an overwhelming need to improve. I think they regard ‘customer service’ as a euphemism for ‘a war of attrition’.

Shalashashka

4. Keep an account of the time and money you have spent in resolving, or trying to resolve, your issue, and charge them the cost of every call made and letter sent and at least £20 per hour of your time spent hanging on the phone and writing emails/letters sorting or trying to sort your complaint.

Good idea, however most companies use a standard matrix to calculate any form of monetary compensation owed that reflects time and effort to resolve a complaint. Demanding a company pay you compensation to the tune of £x per hour or per letter is unlikely to pan out how you'd like it to.

Phone bills and receipts for recorded deliveries are another matter and can be refunded penny for penny completely separate to any perceived compensation owed.

5. Make the Ombudsman award a decent level of compensation - at least, say, £500 - instead of the current office tea money levels being set, and give the Ombudsman the power to enforce it and ensure any such compensation is paid in a timely manner - in days, not months or years.

Financial awards can be made to reflect time and trouble taken and to place a customer into a position that they were in prior to the reason for a complaint. An Ombudsman is neither a compensatory body or there to punish companies, they simply investigate and propose a resolution to outstanding complaints consumers have that are not being resolved. Once a complainant accepts this, the decision is binding on the company to enforce that. The Ombudsman cannot force a company to make payment within a certain time frame.

My advice is to follow a companies complaints procedure, give it an opportunity to resolve a complaint and act in good faith that it wishes to retain you as a customer.

If issues persist, contact an Ombudsman.

Then leave the service provider. Naturally over time if a company persists in poor practice it will be stung in it's back pocket. Much more effective than public libel on Facebook and letters to MPs.

My $0.02

modsandmockers

Shalashashka wrote: »

Naturally over time if a company persists in poor practice it will be stung in it's back pocket. Much more effective than public libel on Facebook and letters to MPs

'it will be stung in it's back pocket' - I really wish that were true! Unfortunately, it is the customers who are routinely stung - either because they say nothing, and pay high prices, or because they complain, and get no response.

Normal 'market forces' do not appear to operate in the retail energy market!

D_M_E

modsandmockers - It's not just MSE members, skinflints and the rest complaining, and I like your comment


"I think they regard ‘customer service’ as a euphemism for ‘a war of attrition’.


Shalashashka - I'm not advocating libel, keep it factual and only write, as I said, what you can prove.


I also think that poor profits will make them take notice that they must be doing something wrong and do something about the cause of this in order to increase customer satisfaction, fewer horror stories and therefore a more solid bottom line.

modsandmockers

My attempt at making a joke about skinflints, ne’er-do-wells and MSE members failed miserably, and I apologise for that...

...but I still think that the vast majority of energy complaints come from the minority of customers who take the trouble to look closely at these things. And, almost by definition, that will be the same (minority) group of customers who insist on exercising their right to pay less than the standard variable rate.

Only yesterday, I was contentedly ranting to my ex-partner about the problems which our daughter is having with Co-op Energy, and she was totally unsympathetic. She (the ex-partner) has been with e-on since she moved into her flat ten years ago, and she has had no problems whatsoever. Her power supplies have never failed, and on a couple of occasions, e-on have reduced her monthly direct debit. She has never had cause to contact e-on’s customer services.

She is one of the majority of energy-users who have absolutely no problem at all with their energy supplier, and is happy to pay whatever they ask. As a low user, she doesn’t see any point in spending hours of her life worrying about the possibility of saving less than a quid or two a week on her energy bills.

Privatisation was intended to take us all into a better, post-nationalisation, world but it hasn’t really worked. The best call centre service which I have recently experienced came from Anglian Water, who do not even claim to be playing in a competitive market. They answer the phone and offer an immediate call-back. Their call centre operatives understand the customers’ questions and are allowed to make decisions.

Despite the clarion calls of D Cameron and MSE Martin, the energy companies continue to make switching as slow, unreliable and unintelligible as possible. And they apply the same parameters to their ‘customer service’.

janb5

I too have had massive problems with CO operative Energy who used to be good. I am now moving to Flow....[URL="file://\\even"]even[/URL] the name is soothing!


Co op have £1000 of my money not rebated to me and refused to let me to speak to a manager because there wasn't one available. Since they put in a new website the system has failed miserably. They wont give me back my money " until they receive the new meter readings"....em - those will be supplied by me! "

lisa110rry

For the avoidance of doubt, I was among those alleging breach. I could not accept that the energy company (Extra Energy in my case) should be allowed to estimate my usage for the 12 months after my contracted fix with them ends and use this to raise my dd before my contracted fix ends. Never mind the fact that I fully intend to move away from them as soon as I can without penalty, I am in my right mind and fully able to make sensible decisions! I should add here that whilst denying breach, my dd was reduced to the previous amount, though not until after a higher payment was taken, the extra-over of which should be refunded to me or in my opinion (and the CAB's) they remain in breach.

I completely agree that government should investigate the energy companies and if we can get a petition going on the government website I, for one, would sign up.

I have had nothing but trouble with energy companies since 2000, when we were "stolen without permission" by Virgin Energy. I have been told I could not possibly calculate my energy use, what balderdash, I do it every month because I like doing it.