British Gas, Scottish Power and Ovo must “urgently” improve their customer service operations, a consumer watchdog has said.
A survey carried out by Which? revealed these energy suppliers are the worst in the sector for responding quickly and effectively to problems.
This comes as households continue to struggle with fluctuating energy bills during the cost of living crisis.
According to Which?, “all too often” consumers are being left on hold, saddled with unhelpful chatbots loops or moved around between departments without their request being sorted.
Based on the group’s consumer survey, energy is currently the worst performing sector for customer service.
Scottish Power was at the bottom of the list, with received a satisfaction score of minus 13 out of a possible 100 for how long it took to get in touch with a person who could help, and a score of three for how long it took to get an answer to an issue or query.
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British Gas is under fire from consumer champion Which?
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Following closely was Ovo Energy with a satisfaction score of minus seven for how long it took to get in touch with a person who could help and seven for how long it took to get an answer to an issue or query.
While British Gas fared slightly better, with a satisfaction score of 16 for the length of time it took to get in touch with a person who could help and 23 for getting an answer to an issue or query, this was far below the ratings given to suppliers such as Octopus Energy.
One British Gas customer shared how she spent a total of 43 hours on the phone and sent 24 emails trying to fix a billing issue for more than a year.
According to the consumer, staff lacked empathy which caused her distress as she was made to repeatedly explain that her husband had died.
On these findings, Which? director of policy and advocacy Rocio Concha said: “Scottish Power, Ovo Energy and British Gas all fared poorly in Which? research on which firms are best for giving quick and effective solutions when things go wrong.
“Failings in this area are particularly unacceptable when sky-high energy prices have left families and households struggling to make ends meet.
“While many consumers will rightly consider switching, these firms must urgently make improvements so all customers are getting the standard of service and support they need and deserve.”
Responding to the survey, British Gas said it was investing more than £50million in customer service and referred to its recent hiring of 700 extra contact centre staff.
A spokesman said: “We’re also helping our most vulnerable customers through our sector leading £140m customer support package.
"It’s important that data used by Which? reflects the here and now and isn’t behind the curve.”
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Energy bill payers have been forced to pay more in recent years PAScottish Power cited a “more robust” Citizens Advice study which found 98 per cent of customer emails were replied to within a two-day period.
A spokeswoman said: “We’ve worked tirelessly to improve and enhance our services for all of our customers and will continue to do everything we can to help them.”
Ovo described Which?’s findings are “unrepresentative” of its typical service levels and said average speed for answering customer calls was around one minute with 96 per cent of customers who sent emails getting a response within two working days.
An Ovo spokeswoman said: “Whilst we recognise that we don’t always get it right, our customer data suggests that seven out of 10 customers are ‘very satisfied’ with the service they receive from us.”
