Revealed: the BEST and WORST energy firms for customer service
Smaller energy suppliers are continuing to outperform the Big Six when it comes to customer service, a new poll of MoneySavingExpert.com users reveals, taking four of the top five spots in the latest customer service rankings.
Gas-only supplier Zog Energy and Octopus Energy came in joint top, followed by fellow minnows Bulb and Tonik. Zog, which has around 9,500 customers - after adding around 2,500 in the last year, scored 94% 'great ' for service, while Octopus, with a 93% 'great' rating, has around 220,000, up nearly 100,000 in the last year.
The only big(ish) name in the top five is Ovo Energy, which came in fifth for the second time in a row after being knocked off second spot by the smaller suppliers.
At the bottom of the table, Green Star Energy - a new supplier in our rankings - took second-last place, just ahead of Iresa. It's no real surprise Iresa took bottom spot - with only 19% rating in 'great' and a massive 67% 'poor' – given the issues many Iresa customers have experienced, leading energy regulator Ofgem to actually ban it from taking on new customers until its service improves.
SSE was the only big six supplier that actually saw an improvement in the 'great' service score - British Gas, EDF, and Npower all saw theirs fall, while E.on and Scottish Power's 'great' rating remained the same as last time.
Guy Anker, deputy editor of MoneySavingExpert.com said: "As if big energy firms whacking households with huge bill hikes wasn’t enough, now we’ve the evidence their service is shocking, too. None are in the top six, while the majority are down in the bottom half.
"However, all energy customers should remember this is an open market. If you’re not happy with your provider, don’t moan. Ditch and switch and you’ll usually save anyway."
Rank | Provider | 'Great' | 'OK' | 'Poor' |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 (3) | Octopus Energy | 93% (90%) | 6% (6%) | 1% (3%) |
1 (-) | Zog Energy | 94% (96%) | 4% (2%) | 2% (2%) |
3 (2) | Bulb | 90% (95%) | 8% (3%) | 3% (2%) |
4 (4) | Tonik Energy | 76% (86%) | 17% (10%) | 7% (5%) |
5 (5) | Ovo Energy | 76% (80%) | 16% (16%) | 9% (5%) |
6 (6) | Avro Energy | 66% (73%) | 26% (20%) | 7% (7%) |
7 (10) | SSE (i) | 53% (44%) | 31% (35%) | 16% (21%) |
8 (7) | First Utility | 53% (60%) | 26% (24%) | 22% (16%) |
9 (9) | EDF | 43% (46%) | 34% (34%) | 23% (19%) |
10 (11) | Flow Energy | 48% (44%) | 20% (22%) | 32% (34%) |
11 (13) | E.on | 36% (36%) | 42% (36%) | 22% (28%) |
12 (15) | British Gas | 28% (30%) | 41% (33%) | 32% (37%) |
13 (16) | Scottish Power | 29% (29%) | 30% (31%) | 41% (41%) |
14 (17) | Npower | 23% (27%) | 31% (31%) | 46% (41%) |
15 (-) | Green Star Energy | 26% (-) | 22% (-) | 52% (-) |
16 (14) | Iresa | 19% (39%) | 14% (17%) | 67% (44%) |
Results and ranking from November 2017 in brackets
Order calculated by 0 points for 'poor', 1 for 'OK' and 2 for 'great'. 4,305 votes in total – we've ignored providers with fewer than 100 votes. The percentages may not add up to 100% owing to rounding. (i) Includes Atlantic, Scottish Hydro, Southern Electric and Swalec.
MoneySavingExpert.com carries out an energy firm customer service poll twice a year, and ranks all providers attracting at least 100 votes. Over 4,000 users took part in our May 2018 poll.
To switch energy providers, you can do a full comparison via MSE’s Cheap Energy Club and filter results to show only those with a certain rating, based on its service polls.
Read the full story here.
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