British Gas fined for keeping Click Energy customers on hold on premium rate number

British Gas has today been reprimanded and fined £5,000 by ICSTIS, the premium rate services regulator, for keeping customers who call up regarding its Click Energy tariff on hold for long periods on a premium telephone line.

ICSTIS has insisted that refunds should be given to all consumers who were kept on hold and has also criticised Cable and Wireless, the provider of the premium rate service, for failing to make British Gas aware of its responsibilities around the code of practice on premium rate telephone services.

Tim Wolfenden, Product Strategy Manager at uSwitch.com comments: “It is unacceptable that Click Energy customers have been forced to pay 75 pence per minute when they need more information or have a query with their tariff. This is compounded by the fact that this same group of customers yesterday saw energy prices increase 12.5% for gas and 9.5% for electricity after British Gas lifted a price freeze which was enforced in September 2006.

“It is activities such as these which further undermine consumer confidence in British Gas and contribute to its poor customer service rating. British Gas really needs to pay more attention to the needs of its customers otherwise people will continue to switch away.

The ICSTIS investigation found that there was no message at the start of the call to inform customers about the cost of the call. They were asked to input a phone number and immediately put on hold. In addition, British Gas call centre staff were found to be giving incorrect information on the cost of the calls when queried by consumers, saying they were three pence and 60 pence, neither of which was correct.

“Based on these findings it is not surprising that British Gas came last for overall satisfaction in uSwitch.com’s Energy Customer Satisfaction Report with more than 56% of customers not satisfied. British Gas receives almost three times more complaints per million customer accounts than the other suppliers yet it remains the most expensive supplier - 12% more expensive than the other ‘Big 6’ for gas.

“Thankfully, consumers are increasingly aware of British Gas’ shortfalls and are switching away in droves. It appears the dominant energy supplier is losing traction as its market share slips to 50% after losing around a million customer accounts in 2006.”