Suppliers shamed on business electricity

Suppliers shamed on business electricity

This is Money

20 November 2007

It isn't only individuals who are suffering sub-standard service from electricity suppliers - businesses are also reporting widespread dissatisfaction, according to Energywatch.

The energy industry watchdog has published a league table showing how well, or badly, the major suppliers serve their business customers.
As with private customers, businesses get the worst service from the UK's largest electricity supplier, British Gas.

The Energywatch table is not simply a log of the number of complaints received about a company but shows the number of complaints per 10,000 customers. Energywatch included complaints about billing and disputes about renewing contracts in their results.

It shows that British Gas customers are six times more likely to contact Energywatch with a problem than customers of Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), the best performing supplier. SSE is also the best performing supplier for private customers. British Gas was the worst performing supplier in all complaint categories, except sales, where it came out on top.

Npower performed only marginally better than British Gas. Next worse was Powergen, followed by Scottish Power. EDF Energy was the second best performer, behind SSE, which came top.

Worryingly, none of the 'Big Six' suppliers received a 'satisfied' rating from their customers in the research and four out of ten customers said they would not be happy to recommend their supplier to another business.

Paul Savage, Energywatch business service manager, said: 'The findings highlight widespread dissatisfaction among small businesses when it comes to their electricity suppliers. More than 2,000 businesses contact Energywatch's expert business team each month for help in resolving problems with their energy supplier.

'Calls are on the increase as more and more small businesses seek help and advice. A staggering 90% of calls come from small businesses that have had a raw deal from their energy supplier and need help to resolve disputes about billing, transfers or the way a contract has been sold to them.'