The most common energy company complaints
A fifth of energy customers who had made contact with their energy company in the past year told us they were frustrated with how long it took to get a response.
A fifth were also dissatisfied with how easy it was (or wasn’t!) to get in touch with their provider at all.
We surveyed 10,218 energy customers in October 2022 and asked about their customer service experiences.
The most common reason to contact their energy provider was to give a meter reading, followed by querying a bill, debit or credit balance.
4% had got in touch to make a formal complaint.
Among those who complained, people tended to be more dissatisfied with how their complaint was handled than the outcome itself.
Keep reading to see how long people typically wait for their complaint to be resolved, plus what you can do to get yours seen to.
There are few reasons to switch energy supplier at the moment, but that doesn't mean energy companies can rest on their laurels when it comes to customer service.
See the best and worst energy companies for 2023 as rated by their customers
Common energy company customer service problems
The biggest bugbear for customers contacting their energy company is how quickly (or slowly) they get a reply – whether that’s how long it takes to answer the phone or reply to an email, or get a response on live chat or social media.
22% of those who contacted their energy company in the past year told us they were dissatisfied with speed of response.
Other reasons for dissatisfaction were:
- ease of making contact (20%)
- the variety of contact options available (19%)
- ease of finding the right contact details (18%)
- customer service contact hours (15%).
The energy companies with the most dissatisfied customers
31% of Scottish Power customers who had made contact with the company told us they'd been dissatisfied with the response time.
That's compared to just 11% of Octopus Energy customers.
More than a quarter of Boost and Utilita customers were dissatisfied with the variety of contact options on offer.
You can use phone, email, post and at least one other channel to contact them both, according to our analysis.
Just 13% of Utility Warehouse customers told us they were dissatisfied with its contact options, but you can only use phone, email or post to get in touch.
We factored companies' contact options, as well as many other aspects of energy firms' practices, into our overall assessment of energy companies.
Find out which firm is our Which? Recommended Provider for energy and how we chose it.
Most common energy company complaints
Formal complaints to energy companies increased 14% in the last three months of 2022, compared with the three months previously, according to Ofgem.
British Gas received the most complaints per 100,000 customers according to Ofgem’s latest data. GEUK received the fewest, of the energy firms included in our investigation.
The most common reasons for complaining, according to our survey, are:
- a problem with your bill (45%)
- pricing/cost of energy (29%)
- meter accuracy (4%)
- managing your payments (17%)
- a problem with your direct debit/credit balance (17%)
- installing or removing a meter (15%).
See tips on how to cut your energy costs and find out what help is available if you can’t pay your energy bill.
Long wait times to resolve formal energy complaints
One in five of those who had made a formal complaint in the past year told us that they had given up pursuing it.
Of those who persevered, 35% said their complaint was closed within two weeks. However 22% said their complaint took longer than two months.
After two months of waiting, you can take your complaint to the Ombudsman for energy. It's independent and looks at disputes between energy customers and companies.
Nearly half of complainants we surveyed were dissatisfied with how their complaint was handled. Whereas a third were dissatisfied with the outcome itself.
How to get your energy company complaint resolved
Follow our tips to give yourself the best chance of getting your complaint resolved:
- Contact your energy provider straight away when something goes wrong. Find its contact details on its website, your online account or app, or on your bill.
- If it’s a simple complaint, one message or phone call might resolve it. Try this first in case there’s a quick fix.
- Make a formal complaint if it’s not quick and easy to solve. This makes sure both you and your energy firm know it’s an official complaint, rather than just a customer service enquiry.
- Follow your energy firm’s complaints process. This should be set out on its website or your bill. It should give timescales so you know what to expect.
- Explain the problem clearly and say what it is you want them to do about it.
- Note down the dates and times of any phone calls you make, the name of who you speak to and the details of what is said. If you’ve had a complex discussion, it’s worth sending a follow-up email so there’s a record of your understanding of what was said. If you email, use live chat or social media, keep a copy of the messages. It’s a useful record, and vital if you need to escalate your complaint.
- Keep an eye on your phone or email in case your provider asks for more information to solve your complaint.
- Contact your provider if you haven’t heard anything after four weeks. The Ombudsman recommends you do this to check your complaint is being processed.
- You should get a ‘deadlock letter’ when your supplier has made a decision on your complaint. Usually this sets out its final offer.
- If you don’t feel your complaint is resolved, escalate it to the Ombudsman. You can also do this if you have been waiting more than eight weeks since making your complaint and haven't had a resolution. The Ombudsman will investigate and come to a decision. If you agree with it, the provider has to comply.
Find out how to complain to the Energy Ombudsman.
