Utility Week lockdown poll reveals customer satisfaction issues

Two thirds of consumers say they have not been received any proactive contact from their energy supplier during the coronavirus lockdown, a new poll commissioned by Utility Week has shown.

Of those who have had contact with their supplier, almost three in 10 say the experience has been worse than before the pandemic.

The survey of c2,100 customers between 5 and 11 May, conducted by Harris Interactive, also shows that while email and telephone remain the main channels for communicating with suppliers, the lockdown has seen a significant proportion using social media to do this for the first time.

The majority of respondents (64 per cent) said coronavirus had not increased worries about being able to pay their energy bills. For the remaining 36 per cent, the main source of anxiety was around increased consumption leading to an unaffordable hike in their bills. Some 12 per cent of those worried about paying said this was because they had been furloughed, while six per cent said they had lost their job.

Despite these concerns, only 11 per cent had chosen to contact their energy supplier.

Of these, 51 per cent graded the overall experience as good or very good against 13 per cent for poor or very poor. On the clarity of the information provided, half thought this was good/very good against 19 per cent classifying its as poor/very poor.

When it came to comparing the experience pre and post lockdown, 41 per cent said it was the same, 27 per cent a bit or much better and 28 per cent worse or much worse.

Mark Brenton, head of energy research at Harris, told Utility Week the fact that only 33 per cent of respondents could recall any proactive communication from their supplier during the lockdown was worrying for the industry.

He said: “It may be the case that there has been something in the post or inbox that has been overlooked when people’s priorities are understandably elsewhere. Even so, it is a concern that the message isn’t getting through to many customers.”

Brenton said that while it seemed those who had got in touch were generally happy with the experience, there was still work to do.

He added: “One in five are saying they didn’t feel the clarity of information was up to scratch, which is worrying, as is the fact that almost three in ten feel the experience was worse than pre-lockdown. Trying to maintain consistency is clearly going to be a big challenge in the current environment.”

A quarter of respondents said they had used social media to contact their energy supplier during lockdown – with 80 per cent of those doing so for the first time.

Brenton said: “It shows that people are looking at different channels, possibly because they have found or they fear they won’t be able to get through quickly enough via traditional means.

“Social media is already a real area of focus for a lot of the challenger brands and these results show it’s likely to become an increasingly important tool for communication across the sector.”

A report on the full findings will be published exclusively for Utility Week readers in the coming weeks.