Is it right to continue to use coronavirus as a reason not to deal with complaints?

mac.d

Most energy companies are currently only dealing with emergencies, but as we're now moving through the phases of easing the lockdown, do you think it's acceptable for them to still not deal with complaints, and how long should it take for them to start dealing with them again?

Swipe

Totally understandable at the start but I think it's been unjustifiably used as a convenient excuse for many customer service departments, especially once they got their home working arrangements sorted out. There's nothing more frustrating than sitting on the phone for 10 minutes listening to a long winded message, only for someone to immediately pick up as soon as the message ends.

greyteam1959

Using it as an excuse, yes I agree 

frederick1950

Its the same with most companies whether they are utility company , phone company or whatever.
They have to say they are only dealing with emergencies otherwise they would be inundated with calls.
It is possible to get through if you persist.
Most people just dont have the patience.

Gerry1

frederick1950 said:

It's the same with most companies whether they are utility company , phone company or whatever.
They have to say they are only dealing with emergencies otherwise they would be inundated with calls.

Don't see the logic in that.  Obviously there were problems at the start of lockdown because it would have taken time to configure the phone systems to route calls to homes and to set up virtual networking.  The availability of the remaining office based staff would also have been reduced by those that became self isolating, and perhaps some did get coronavirus.

But three months on the comms and computers should all be running smoothly, and you can probably still work at home even if you are self isolating and don't have symptoms.

If they had sufficient staff before the outbreak, they should be offering a near-normal service now.

frederick1950

As I basically said , they are offering a near to normal service as possible and you  can get through if your patient.
I have got through to Three several times , to Sky , Virgin , Octopus and Edf amongst others .
No problem.

binny74

mac.d said:

Most energy companies are currently only dealing with emergencies, but as we're now moving through the phases of easing the lockdown, do you think it's acceptable for them to still not deal with complaints, and how long should it take for them to start dealing with them again?

I don't agree with the premise of your thread.

Most, if not all, suppliers have a complaint procedure which you have been able to follow throughout the pandemic. If, after 8 weeks, you were unable to obtain a satisfactory resolution from the supplier, you could take complaint to the ombudsman.

I'm sure the ombudsman service would allow you to contact them earlier if a complaint raised following the suppliers complaint procedure was being returned as non-deliverable.

Which particular energy supplier are you having difficulties complaining to?

UnclaimedEnergy

If there is still a supplier, after over 100 days, which is using Covid-19 as an excuse for poor customer service, then they don't deserve their customers.

Most suppliers have adapted and even excelled in some cases working remotely by reducing call waiting times etc.

If there is a supplier that is still making excuses then it's fair to name and shame to warn others of this.

stewie_griffin

BG, E.ON and Octopus energy all have offices in Leicester, so the local lockdown could mean offices that had been reopened are now shut again. Also I'd imagine that there are quite a few employees on furlough as it's not always possible to work from home i.e. no internet connection.

brewerdave

Customer service, complaints and the difficulty of making them , was featured on WatchDog on Tuesday night. IKEA and Sainsburys were mentioned but in general many companies are still using the Covid excuse - altho they are happy to flog you stuff over the net!!

mac.d

I've no problem naming and shaming. This is British Gas, and its been both as a written letter and email, sent to their Complaints Management Team and the customer complaints email address given in their 'How we deal with your complaints' document from their website.

The issue dates back to I think early March, and was partly dealt with in April, but they have since ignored further emails. And now the complaint letter has come back "We’re unable to monitor letters to this address/this email address at the moment, but we hope to get back to our normal level of service very soon. We’re really sorry about that, and understand your reason for getting in touch is important."