ScottishPower was ordered by Ofgem in order to improve its services or risk a ban. Ofgem ordered ScottishPower to improve its customer service or face a ban. Customers of ScottishPower are frequently left waiting on the phone for too long, which results in over 25% of calls being abandoned. Many also report that their bills have been sent late. Ofgem stated that ScottishPower must reduce call wait times from two minutes to one minute by January, and the amount of past due bills by December. The consequence of failing to meet these targets will be a suspension in sales. Sarah Harrison, Ofgem senior partner responsible for enforcement, stated that “Scottish Power’s customers experience unacceptablely long call waiting time and a dramatic drop in customer satisfaction. “Ofgem will take immediate action to improve the situation for Scottish Power customers. This intervention shows how consumers are not getting value from the energy market. The third investigation that we’ve used the new conduct standards to ensure fair treatment of consumers is the one we just launched. This sends a strong signal to suppliers that they must up their game to provide the best service possible to consumers. Neil Clitheroe is the chief executive of Scottish Power. He wrote an apology letter, apologizing “unreservedly”, to those customers who received poor service in the last few months. “We will fix every problem and pay the appropriate compensation to ensure no customer is left behind.” If any targets are not met, proactive sales must be immediately suspended. Caroline Flint, Shadow Energy Secretary said that this is another instance of big energy companies failing customers. David Cameron’s leadership, people pay more for electricity and gas than ever before. But the service that they get is often not satisfactory.
Ofgem orders ScottishPower to improve customer service, or risk a ban on sales
