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22 | NOVEMBER 2020 | UTILITY WEEK Customers Talking Points… Customer service ratings in energy The latest star ratings from Citizens Advice continue to be dominated by challenger brands. So Energy once again topped the rankings for customer service, with EDF as the top ranked major supplier. For full ranking: https://bit.ly/3djXuzW Comment Adam John Reporter J ust days aer Ofgem revealed that Tonik Energy owed £8.7 million in Renewa- bles Obligations (RO) and feed-in-tariff (FIT) payments, the supplier was no more. The Birmingham-based retailer became the third and largest to cease trading this year, with 130,000 customers being transferred to another provider. It's a familiar scenario; the regulator publishes its annual list of retailers who owe thousands, if not millions, in missed pay- ments, and some on the list exit the market shortly thereaer. Autumn is fast-becoming the energy sector equivalent of the 90s film Groundhog Day and Ofgem is coming under increasing criticism over its handling of the RO scheme. Outwardly, Tonik appeared to be doing the right things; securing major investment from Japanese firm Mitsui and using it to fund renewable technologies such as electric vehicles (EVs) through its tech arm, The Phoenix Works. However, the company's RO bill, its "average" Trustpilot rating and abysmal Citizens Advice ranking were clear indicators that all was not be well. One observer tells us that Tonik built its business on being able to raise funds and was investing "ahead of the curve", but that recent moves by the company to secure further investment suggests Mitsui was no longer continuing its involvement. The Japa- nese firm declined to comment. Further woes stemmed from its change of billing system at the start of the year, which resulted in a surge of complaints. Observers are keen to stress Tonik was "very forward thinking", that it pushed the agenda and was trying to do positive things for the industry in terms of funding of renewable technologies. Ultimately, however, all the signs pointed to a struggling supplier and this theme of Ofgem's RO "naughty list" being published followed by market exits is becoming all too familiar for the retail sector. No wonder there are those who are questioning whether a new approach is needed. Bournemouth, Bristol, United Utilities and Wessex have been praised by water watch- dog CCW as the sector's best performers on handling consumer problems in 2019/20. CCW's annual customer complaint handling report showed the highest level of disputes for four years at 84,649, which was skewed by a 57 per cent jump at Thames. Had the company held com- plaints steady on the previous year's fig- ure, the sector as a whole would have seen a reduction. Thames attributed the additional 12,619 complaints to a new billing system and an IT issue. Kelly McFarlane, customer experi- ence director, said the company was "not happy" with its performance and is deter- mined to improve. Disputes about metering issues and debt recovery accounted for 65 per cent of complaints. Written remonstrations fell in 2019/20 for two-thirds of water companies but the watchdog said "rapid improvement" is required from Southern and Thames as the only two companies to rate poorly across all CCW's eight performance metrics. Last year CCW challenged Northum- brian, Essex and Suffolk Water and Hafren Dyfrdwy to improve their complaint handling. The watchdog said each had taken "sig- nificant strides" . Hafren Dyfrdwy reduced the proportion of complaints needing esca- lation but remained in the poor perform- ing quartile. Likewise, Northumbrian and Essex & Suffolk received fewer criticisms but remained low compared to peers. WATER Improvements in water complaints skewed by steep rise at Thames Rating, April - June 2020 Rank Supplier Fewer Easier to Clearer bills, Easier Customer Overall complaints contact on time to switch guarantees rating 1 So Energy 5 5 4 5 3 4.6 ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ 2 Green 4 5 5 5 3 4.45 ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ 3 Igloo Energy 5 4 4 5 3 4.4 ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ 4 M&S Energy 4 5 4 5 4 4.35 ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ 5 EDF Energy 4 4 4.5 5 5 4.35 ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ 6 Octopus Energy 4 4 4 4 4 4.15 ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ 7 Co-operative Energy 4 4 4 4 4 4.0 ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ 8 Zebra Power 4 5 4 5 0 3.95 ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ 9 Outfox the Market 3 4 5 5 3 3.9 ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ 10 Bulb Energy 3 4 4 5 4 3.8 ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ It's Groundhog Day for the energy sector as another supplier exits the market