Toto Energy ‘may be in trouble’ following rise in complaints

Complaints resolution company Resolver says it fears Toto Energy might be in “trouble”, after revealing it has concerns about three energy retailers.

The three suppliers in question are Avro Energy, Solarplicity and Toto.

Speaking on behalf of Resolver Martyn James told Utility Week that the complaints regarding Toto were “of concern” and could be a sign the company is in trouble.

He said: “We have continued to see large numbers of complaints about Toto and in recent months we have seen refund credit issues grow to 60 per cent of their complaints.

“Satisfaction with complaint handling is very, very poor with just 9 per cent of consumers feeling that their complaint was handled satisfactorily.

“This is of concern to us because refund issues are often a sign of trouble at the company.

“When we saw this with some smaller energy firms last year, they subsequently went under. Now I don’t want to create a self-fulfiling prophecy here, but the cases about are not a good sign.”

Avro and Solarplicity are two other suppliers which were also shown to have had a number of complaints regarding refund credit issues.

Utility Week yesterday (21 January) revealed the Energy Ombudsman opened investigations into a total of 1,035 complaints regarding Solarplicity in 2018, with billing issues being the main driver of complaints.

Avro Energy meanwhile, which is based in Leicestershire, was also revealed to have been subject to 177 investigations into complaints last year.

Complaint volumes regarding Avro, according to Resolver, have been “increasing rapidly every month” – by at least 50 per cent.

“More than half of the complaints are about refund credit issues – as well as customer service, direct debit and final bill issues,” James said.

“Satisfaction with complaint handling is low with just 20 per cent of consumers feeling that their complaint was handled satisfactorily,” he added.

Meanwhile the company said it has seen a “recent spike” in complaints related to refund credit issues at Solarplicity – as well as a “steady number” about poor customer service.

James said: “Satisfaction with complaint handling is low with just 15 per cent of consumers feeling that their complaint was handled satisfactorily.”

Solarplicity came bottom of the annual Which? satisfaction survey published on 21 January and ranked second from bottom in the most recent Citizens Advice table for customer service, ahead of One Select which ceased trading on 10 December.

Meanwhile Toto Energy ranked fifth from bottom in the Citizens Advice Table, which covered the period July to September last year. The supplier climbed from bottom place in the league table published in October 2018 for customer service between April and June 2018.

Toto was criticised in March last year for transferring thousands of customers to Utilita Energy without adequate communication.

Toto Energy, Avro Energy and Solarplicity have all been contacted for comment.