A Which? survey of 4,101 nationally representative UK adults in May 2024 revealed 45% had contacted their broadband supplier in the past year and 42% had contacted their energy provider. Of these around two in five had a problem relating to how long it took to reach a person who could help, or how long it took to reach a resolution.
In total energy and broadband customers have lost an estimated £298 million, and 27.3 million hours to poor customer service, impacting finances, time and emotional wellbeing.
Financial costs of poor customer service
Poor customer service is leaving consumers out of pocket when problems aren't resolved. One in five (17%) people who had contacted their energy provider said they gave up trying to get their problem resolved due to the issues they experienced with customer service. A third of this group said that this had left them financially worse off by an average of £137.
In the broadband sector, 14% gave up trying to seek resolution. Again, a third said it left them worse off – on average by £93.
We estimate that as a result of poor customer service and unresolved problems, last year 1.2 million energy customers were £166 million worse off and 950,000 broadband customers were £89 million worse off.
A small group (1-2%) didn't even try to contact their energy or broadband companies due to previous bad experiences with customer service teams even though this left them financially out of pocket – to the tune of £37 million for energy customers and £6 million for broadband customers. This brings the total estimated loss across both sectors to £298 million, purely as a result of poor customer service.
Customers lose hours on the phone
We also surveyed customers on how much time was spent trying to resolve issues. On average, energy customers told us they spent 112 minutes of their time due to customer service problems and broadband customers spent an average of 98 minutes.
This included people who couldn’t reach customer services despite continuous attempts, customers given false promises by the customer services team and customers who waited on hold and were then disconnected.
We estimate that customers spent 13.9 million hours (1,600 years) on customer service issues in energy and 13.4 million hours (1,530 years) in broadband over a year.
Energy and broadband customers feel stressed and frustrated
Unsurprisingly poor customer service also has a negative impact on customers' emotional wellbeing. More than a half of people who'd experienced at least one customer service problem told us they felt frustrated. Around a quarter felt angry and a fifth reported feeling helpless. Others said they were irritated, stressed and anxious.
In total, we estimate 9.2 million broadband customers, and 8.9 million energy customers experienced a detrimental effect on their emotional wellbeing because of poor customer service. This includes people who couldn't reach customer service teams despite continuous attempts or who waited on hold for long periods only to be disconnected.
Customers told us of emails going unanswered, being batted between different departments without receiving a helpful response, and unhelpful or dismissive advisors. Others were given false promises such as an issue had been resolved only to find out later that it hadn't.
Discover the in 2024.The need for energy and broadband reform
Our latest research highlights the enormous scale of harm experienced by consumers as a direct result of poor customer service from their energy and broadband companies. These are essential services that consumers rely on every day and with utility prices expected to rise customers must be able to easily access support in a way that suits their needs.
Our Customer Service Counts campaign has called on these companies specifically to make urgent and significant improvements to their customer service teams. We want to see a range of easily accessible contact methods, problems resolved in a timely and efficient way, and customers treated with empathy and care.
In July we wrote to the CEOs of British Gas, Scottish Power and Virgin Media about their consistently poor performance. Although British Gas and Virgin Media say they are making improvements, our research shows these are not yet being felt by their customers. Which? will continue to monitor these business' performance to see whether improvement initiatives make a meaningful difference to customers.
Rocio Concha, Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy, said:'Our research lays bare the dire state of customer service in the energy and broadband sectors - with nearly £300 million lost to poor service in a single year. The impact in terms of wasted time and on people’s emotional wellbeing is just as concerning.
'It is never OK for firms to provide sub-standard customer service, but in essential sectors providing vital services millions rely on every day such as energy and broadband, it is completely unacceptable.
'Previous Which? research named Virgin Media, Scottish Power and British Gas the worst energy and broadband firms for customer service. Any firms falling short in the energy and broadband sector need to up their game and give consumers the customer service they deserve. No-one should have to spend hours going round in circles, put themselves through emotional turmoil or lose their hard-earned money because of poor customer service.'
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/poor-customer-service-cost-energy-and-broadband-customers-298-million-last-year-aNOTq0n4itHK