Energy and broadband customers lost £300m to poor customer service last year

New Which? research has found energy and broadband customers lost an estimated £298m and 27.3 million hours to poor customer service in a year, as the consumer champion challenges firms to make urgent improvements. 

Which? surveyed more than 4,000 people to uncover how many people had a customer service issue in the year to May 2024 and how poor customer service impacted their finances, time and emotional wellbeing. 

As well as the huge losses in terms of money and wasted time, the consumer champion estimates 8.9 million energy consumers and 9.2 million broadband consumers experienced emotional harm as a result of poor customer service. 

In the energy sector, one in five (17%) 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. Almost a third (32%) of these consumers said that this left them financially worse off. On average, they estimated they were £137 worse off as a result.

In total, Which? estimates that 1.2 million energy customers were left £166m worse off due to customer service issues forcing them to give up trying to get their issue resolved.

In the broadband sector, one in seven (14%) who contacted their broadband provider said they gave up seeking a resolution due to problems they experienced with the customer service. Three in 10 (29%) said that this left them financially worse off, and on average they estimated they were £93 worse off as a result.

In total, Which? estimates that 950,000 consumers were £89m worse off due to giving up contacting their broadband provider.

A small proportion of consumers (1 to 2%) said they did not even contact their energy or broadband providers due to previous bad experiences with their customer service. This adds an additional £37 million to consumers being worse off due to poor customer service in the energy sector and an additional £6 million in the broadband sector, bringing the total estimated loss to poor customer service across both sectors to £298m.

Which?’s survey also looked at how much time consumers lost trying to resolve customer service issues. Over a third of people who contacted their energy firm (35%) and broadband provider (36%) reported having at least one problem that wasted their time. These issues included: not being able to reach customer service, phone calls being disconnected, being passed between departments and long call waiting times. 

On average, Which? estimates those who experienced time-wasting customer service issues lost almost 2 hours (112 mins) of their time due to energy customer service problems and 1 hour 38 minutes of their time due to broadband customer service problems.

The consumer champion estimates that consumers experienced time harm in 17.3 million customer service problems with their energy supplier and 18.3 million problems with their broadband provider in the past year.

This means that in total, energy and broadband customers spent an estimated 27.3 million hours in a year on customer service issues – 13.9 million hours for energy customers and 13.4 million hours for broadband customers.

Poor customer service also has a huge impact on consumers’ wellbeing. Over half of respondents that experienced at least one customer service problem reported feeling frustrated (55% of those having energy problems, 57% of those having broadband problems), around a quarter (25% in energy and 29% in broadband) said they felt angry and a fifth reported feeling helpless (21% in energy and 19% in broadband). 

More than one in ten of those who had experienced a customer service problem reported feeling upset or distressed. Feelings of helplessness and upsetness were most commonly reported amongst customers who did not receive a response to their email (43% feeling helpless and 41% upset) or spoke to an unhelpful or dismissive advisor (38% helpless and 33% upset).

Separate Which? research named Virgin Media, Scottish Power and British Gas the worst energy and broadband firms for customer service. The consumer champion wrote to all three firms about their consistently poor performance. Although British Gas and Virgin Media say they are making improvements, our research shows many of their customers remain dissatisfied. Which? will continue to monitor these changes and whether they make a meaningful difference for 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.”

In response to the research an Ofgem spokesperson said: “Energy consumers deserve an easy and reliable service from their supplier. We’ve been working hard with the sector to drive up standards and create a more customer-centric energy future. This includes strengthening our procedures to take firmer action against suppliers when things go wrong and toughening up the rules around customer bills for greater accuracy.

“It’s clear the work of government, regulator, consumer groups and suppliers is starting to make a difference and customer satisfaction is slowly rising. But there is lots more work to be done to ensure exceptional customer service is the norm across the board and the energy sector is among the best sectors for how customers are treated. We will use all the powers at our disposal to get there.”