Tweet
Consumer watchdog names and shames the best and worst gas and electricity companies
EDF has been named as Britain's most complained about power company, according to figures published this week.
The watchdog Consumer Focus says that while the number of overall complaints about gas and electricity companies fell over the past 12 months, some are still much better at handling problems than others.
Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) remains the least complained about, says Consumer Focus, with just 36 complaints per 100,000 customers between April and June.
At the other end of the table EDF was, by far, the most complained about – it received 126 complaints per 100,000 customers.
Consumer Focus – which tends to see the complaints that the power companies don't resolve to the customer's satisfaction – says its reduced opening hours in this period is likely to be a factor in a 25% fall in complaints overall.
The figures also show that two companies have turned around their customer services. British Gas, which for many years was at, or near, the bottom of the complaints league, now has the second fewest complaints.
Npower, another firm with a poor record, has also moved up the table with a three-star rating. In October 2010 it could only manage one star, the same as EDF currently.
"The big rise in complaints about EDF (19%) leaves the firm with the worst complaints rating since npower's one-star last winter. Its poor performance is likely to be due, in large part, to the implementation of a new billing system," it says.
Miles Brignall
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
More...
