Energy suppliers slammed for putting customers on hold

Study found waiting times for the biggest suppliers are on the rise

Some energy suppliers are leaving their customers on hold for up to 30 minutes, according to new research from Which?.

The consumer watchdog made 768 phone calls to 33 energy companies to uncover the energy firms that answer their phones fastest, and those that keep customers waiting.

The longest average wait to speak to a person was with Eon, at 14 minutes and 18 seconds, while the fastest was the green energy supplier Bulb, who answered, on average, in 27 seconds.

The biggest UK supplier, British Gas was the second slowest, with a time on hold of 9 minutes and 33 seconds, which is more than double the wait of 4 minutes and 14 seconds seen a year ago.

Of the 26 firms, small supplier Spark Energy kept a researcher on hold for the longest time – more than 30 minutes.

“It’s unacceptable that the worst performing energy suppliers keep their customers waiting on the phone for so long,” said the consumer group’s managing director of home services, Alex Neill.

“If you are unhappy with the service you are getting from your energy provider you should consider switching to another.”

An Eon spokesman commented: “Clearly these aren’t the findings we want to see. We’ve since taken steps to deliver improvements and believe these have already had a positive impact since this survey was taken a couple of months ago.”