MAJOR energy firms have been ranked from best to worst, with rivals said to be “miles apart”.
It comes as part of Which?’s annual supplier survey on customer satisfaction.
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Households have been battered lately by high energy prices, with the energy price cap increasing from £1,834, to £1,928 a year from January 1.
Prices are also predicted to remain above pre-2021 levels until the end of the decade.
Which? said that while fixed deals have been slowly returning to the market, it had seen few that were much cheaper than the price cap.
This means the quality of a firm’s customer service was the major factor in differentiating providers.
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Overall, a quarter of people Which? surveyed who had engaged with their energy firm in the last year to get help with a problem said the company had made it difficult.
Which? is now calling on providers to tackle customer service failings.
Following the research, which was carried out in October 2023, several major providers have fallen to the bottom of the annual league table.
Where did your energy firm rank?
The watchdog surveyed more than 9,000 energy customers for the customer satisfaction survey and also assessed 18 energy firms’ behind-the-scenes practices and policies to compile an overall score.
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British Gas ranked the lowest, but Which? found there was little to separate the other big firms with the lowest customer scores.
These include Boost, Scottish Power, Ovo Energy, Shell Energy, EDF Energy and E.ON Next.
At the other end of the scale, Octopus Energy, Ecotricity and E (Gas & Electricity) got the highest customer scores.
Octopus Energy received an overall score of 73% and was the only supplier to achieve a five-star rating for overall customer service.
Ecotricity and E (Gas & Electricity) scored 72% and 71% respectively.
Both received four stars for their overall customer service and quality of communications about energy costs.
British Gas, Boost, Scottish Power, Ovo Energy, Shell Energy, EDF Energy, E.ON Next and British Gas all received customer scores of less than 60%.
British Gas was named the worst performer overall though, after Which? factored in its assessment of its customer service practices, followed jointly by Boost – part of Ovo – and So Energy.
British Gas, which supplies more than a fifth of households in Great Britain, received an overall score of 56% and scored just two stars for most categories.
These included accessibility – or whether a customer can engage with it effectively – value for money and accuracy of energy payments.
The research found British Gas also received three stars – an average score – for customer service overall.
It got just over half marks for customer service and just one point out of 10 for performance against its smart meter targets.
The firm also received four out of 10 for how it handled complaints, largely due to the volume of customer complaints it received per 100,000 customer accounts in the first half of 2023 in comparison to other suppliers.
‘It was a massive struggle to contact British Gas’
Which? spoke to customers who had been left disappointed by British Gas’ customer service.
Unfortunately, due to the incorrect logging of meters, Peter was billed for two properties on his estate.
He contacted the British Gas customer service call centre several times but found their advisors weren’t able to resolve his issue.
It took months to resolve his issue and he found he was often left on hold – even in online chats.
He said: “It was a massive struggle to make contact with [British Gas], and when I did the overseas call centre could only handle items on the sheet in front of them.
“I was passed around from advisor to advisor, and eventually told that I must own two properties. I logged a formal complaint and it took months to reach a resolution. I also had the angst of final demand letters.
Peter has now switched to Octopus Energy and said: “Octopus and British Gas are miles apart.”
Which? director of policy and advocacy Rocio Concha said: “With energy prices still punishingly high and limited chances for consumers to save money by switching suppliers, good customer service is more important than ever.
“While Octopus Energy, Ecotricity and E were all named Which? Recommended Providers and scored highly for their customer service, others fell short of customers’ expectations.
“Which? is calling for any providers who are falling short on customer service to up their game and ensure customers can contact them easily and get the answers they need.”
A British Gas spokesperson said: “This survey is behind the curve and is based on data that is up to a year old.
“Since that period, we’ve targeted more than £25 million of investment on improving service and customers are seeing a difference – this includes hiring 700 new contact centre agents and extending our opening times.
“We continue to be focused on customer service and helping our most vulnerable customers through our sector leading £100 million customer support package.”
How to complain about your energy company
If you have a complaint about your energy company, then you should take it to the Energy Ombudsman.
They handle issues between customers and suppliers.
If you’ve tried to resolve a problem with your provider and you’re getting nowhere, the Energy Ombudsman will look at your case and see if they can help you deal with the complaint.
It helps resolve issues on billing, installations and delays, loss of service, customer service, and switching suppliers.
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If they help take your complaint on, they can only help back bill you for 12 months.
That means you won’t be able to get help getting money back before this.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories.
