Eon warned over ‘severe deterioration’ in call wait times

Ofgem has said customer service across energy retailers is “just not good enough” after its latest review of the sector found failings at all 17 suppliers probed.

Eon was judged to have the biggest problems around call waiting times and abandoned call rates, with the regulator noting a “severe deterioration in standards” since its last review.

Ofgem has ordered the supplier to make “significant and sustained improvements” in these areas and to submit weekly reports on call wait times. Eon said this work was already underway and accepted its standards had slipped for “a short period of time when demand increased drastically and unexpectedly across the industry”.

In its fourth deep dive into energy supplier standards, this time specifically on customer service, Ofgem found “weak policies and pathways” for customer journeys and complaints being unresolved. The regulator said people were “left waiting for hours on the phone on several occasions” with some calls simply not picked up and slow responses to letters. It criticised inadequate monitoring of customer service staff, weaknesses in agent training and inconsistent scripts for handling complex calls.

It accepted that suppliers are facing more complex cases and a greater volume of contacts – with some reporting call numbers up by 300%  – but stressed they had a responsibility to rise to the challenge.

Ofgem added it was examining where it could introduce “stronger, more prescriptive minimum consumer standards”.

As well as issuing a provisional order to Eon, Ofgem found:

• Moderate weaknesses at 11 suppliers (British Gas, E Gas & Electricity, EDF, Good Energy, Outfox the Market, Ovo, Scottish Power, So Energy, Utilita, Utility Warehouse and Tru Energy).
• Minor weaknesses at five (Bulb, Ecotricity, Green Energy, Shell and Octopus)

Ofgem’s director of retail Neil Lawrence said: “From being on hold for too long, to not being given clear information, or sometimes not getting through to suppliers at all, this review has highlighted that customer service is just not good enough. In a world where customers need to be confident in consistently great care and support, it is clear that improvements need to be made.

“We also know from talking to suppliers that the calls they are getting are more and more complex. But we expect suppliers to respond dynamically to this, updating processes, call handling scripts and having enough people to deal with the current issues and complexities.

“The ask on suppliers may be greater due to these complexities but it’s clear today that some suppliers have risen to the challenge better than others.”

He warned that if standards did not improve the regulator would be forced to take further action.

Ofgem said the findings from its market compliance review tallied with early indications from its regular poll of 3,000 customers which show that overall satisfaction is now “amongst the worst ever seen since tracking began in 2018”.

The latest survey shows a fifth of consumers who have fallen behind on paying their bills felt they did not receive appropriate support for their needs. One in 14 consumers who pay by prepayment meter (PPM) said they did not receive any support when they contacted their supplier for help.

Meanwhile, a quarter of respondents said it was difficult to contact their supplier via their preferred channel – a record high for the energy satisfaction poll. Ofgem said early findings suggest the reasons for customer contact are also becoming more complex, meaning that calls are taking longer to resolve.

Explaining its decision to issue a provisional order to Eon, Ofgem said the supplier’s performance on call waiting times and abandoned call rates was “very poor and represented a severe deterioration in standards from when Ofgem previously analysed their performance”.

An Eon spokesperson responded: “We can’t and won’t shy away from the fact we weren’t able to provide the service our customers demand and deserve for a short period of time when demand increased drastically and unexpectedly across the industry, with a trebling in the number of people wanting to speak to us. But we can reassure our customers that even before Ofgem’s review we had already introduced a number of measures which are leading to improvements that will get us back to levels of service we can be proud of.

“We will work constructively with Ofgem but we are already delivering a range of improvements for customers. These include prioritising our most vulnerable customers with specialist teams, with average wait times now less than two minutes. We are also recruiting hundreds more Energy Specialists and agreeing with our trade union partners to include greater overtime working to ensure we are there for our customers when they need us.”

Separately Ofgem has launched an “urgent” investigation into claims that PPMs were forcefully installed at the homes of vulnerable British Gas customers