British Gas customers still can’t get no satisfaction

It’s official – despite cutting prices by £207 and satisfying 11% more customers now than six months ago - British Gas is still Britain’s worst energy supplier.

But, latest independent Customer Satisfaction Report from uSwitch.com reveals narrowing gap between British Gas and nearest rival, npower, and delivers consumer verdict on the Big Six energy suppliers:

Worst provider – British Gas is voted worst provider for the second consecutive time

Improving at last - British Gas customers are beginning to see an improvement to its service – more than half (55%) are now satisfied, 11% more than six months ago

Biggest improver – Powergen improves its satisfaction levels by 11% and moves up into 3rd place

Biggest decline in customer satisfaction – ScottishPower, one of the last two suppliers to announce price cuts, is the only supplier to see customer satisfaction levels drop and falls from 2nd to 4th place in the league table

Most at risk – npower is now only 2% ahead of British Gas for customer satisfaction

Best overall provider - Scottish & Southern Energy wins consumers’ votes for the third successive time – 70% of its customers are satisfied with its service

Big Six service levels slightly up - consumers report a small improvement in Big Six service levels - 60% are satisfied compared with just over half (52%) six months ago

Poor value for money - less than half of consumers (45%) think that the Big Six give value for money and only 39% believe that they give customers the best available deal

Environmental concerns – more than three quarters (78%) of consumers think suppliers don’t have a good attitude towards the environment.

The latest Customer Satisfaction Report - published by uSwitch.com, the independent online comparison and switching service - reveals that British Gas is still Britain’s worst energy supplier. The energy giant scraped in last out of the Big Six suppliers for customer satisfaction, despite cutting prices twice this year and shaving a total of £207 off its average energy bill. Service levels across the industry though are slightly up, with 8% more consumers satisfied now than six months ago.

However the report, based on responses by over 6,500 energy customers, highlights the disappointing service consumers continue to receive from suppliers. Despite being charged around £200 per household too much for energy, only 60% of consumers are getting a satisfactory service, only 38% would recommend their supplier to a friend and only half (50%) rate their supplier’s customer services. Even ‘bread and butter’ services such as billing and meter reading get the thumbs down. Only 61% of customers are satisfied with billing and just over half (52%) are satisfied with meter reading. However, consumers are slightly more satisfied with the value for money now offered by the Big Six – 45% are satisfied now compared with 40% six months ago.

British Gas was the first to cut prices and has seen its customer satisfaction rating increase by 11% compared with six months ago. Just over half (55%) of its customers say they are now satisfied with its service. This compares sharply with the best supplier, Scottish & Southern Energy, where almost three quarters (70%) of customers are satisfied. However, the gulf between best and worst suppliers has closed slightly to 15% – it was 17% six months ago. More importantly, British Gas is closing in on its nearest rival in the customer satisfaction stakes – there is now only a 2% gap between British Gas in 6th place and npower in 5th.

This will be taken as a positive sign that British Gas is on the right path, although it clearly still faces some huge challenges. Energywatch reported in April that British Gas had received a record number of complaints and the company itself announced in March that it had lost over a million customers in 2006 with poor customer service playing a key part.

British Gas has invested in new customer service systems and new MD, Phil Bentley, has made a firm commitment to improving service. At the moment though, only a third (34%) of customers would recommend the provider to a friend and only 40% think that it offers value for money. This suggests that the company’s overall increase in customer satisfaction may be down to goodwill created by its lead in cutting prices and consumers are yet to see any real improvement to its service.

ScottishPower may have paid a steep price for only recently announcing price cuts. It is the only supplier to see its overall customer satisfaction levels decline over the last six months. This, coupled with rivals’ customer service improvements, was enough to see it slip from 2nd place – the position it has held for the last year – to 4th place.

EDF Energy, the other supplier who held back on reducing prices, has seen a small decline in the number of customers who would recommend it to a friend (38% compared with 39% six months ago). But apart from that it has emerged unscathed and has actually improved its satisfaction rating - 59% of customers are satisfied now compared with 56% six months ago. This 3% improvement has allowed it to take 2nd place.

Powergen is the supplier showing biggest improvement. The company has invested heavily in its customer service and brought its call centres back to the UK. A year ago it was voted worst supplier for customer service but now, in a strong reversal of fortune, consumers have ranked it as the third best provider.

Ann Robinson, Consumer Policy Director at uSwitch.com, says: “Suppliers have done little to help themselves. Over the last six months they have come under intense scrutiny from the regulator, consumer groups and MPs and have seen bad press about complaints, billing issues and prices. On all fronts the industry has been found to be lacking.

“Suppliers are not pushing the right buttons for consumers. Even with prices coming down, only 45% of customers think they are getting value for money - nowhere near enough. Price cuts could have been a vote winner, but the small increase in customer satisfaction smacks of a missed opportunity.

“The key thing for the energy giants now is to take stock and listen to what customers are saying. But more importantly, customers also need to carry on taking matters into their own hands and change suppliers if their current one is failing them. Strangely enough, the one aspect of service that the suppliers are getting right is the transfer of customer accounts. Switching numbers hit a high of 4 million last year and Scottish & Southern Energy, voted best supplier three times in a row by consumers, gained over one million new customers. This is the language that the industry understands and responds to best.”