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Citizens Advice hopes new ratings system will encourage suppliers to improve service
Green energy supplier Ecotricity has come first in a Citizens Advice customer service ratings system.
The online system ranks the 18 biggest energy suppliers with a score of between one and five, based on a combination of different factors, including complaints, bill clarity and ease of switching.
Ecotricity has topped the rating system with a score of 4.25, while Extra Energy has come bottom of the list with 2.5.
The ratings will also appear as part of Citizens Advice’s online price comparison tool, so people will be able to work out the best deal for them.
Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy said the new system will “make it easier for people to tell how good a supplier is at customer service”.
“We also hope the tool will encourage suppliers to improve their level of customer service with customers now able to scrutinise their performance across a range of difference service factors, from complaints to ease of switching,” she added.
Ecotricity founder Dale Vince said his company has put a “huge amount of effort into making our customer service the best in the industry”.
“But it’s also great to see an organisation like Citizens Advice pull together a ratings system that’s about more than just price,” he added. “Comparison sites and the media seem to only focus on price, but that’s just part of the story.”
Vince claimed customers look for “greenness, customer service and price” from their energy company. “And it’s no coincidence that greenness and good customer go hand-in-hand either; both are the result of being driven by ethics, not the bottom line.”
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