Following from my previous article about the energy supplier Extra Energy (dated 09.06.16) it has just been announced that the Company is to be investigated by the energy regulator Ofgem, after a record number of customer complaints.
Ofgem will examine whether Extra Energy broke the rules on billing, customer service and complaints handling. Ofgem
will also look at claims that account holders were prevented from transferring
to rival energy suppliers.
Citizens Advice said that
Extra Energy had had more complaints than any other energy supplier for the
past five years. The company- which has over 400,000 customers - claims that
most of their customer service problems have now been fixed.
If Ofgem decides that
Extra Energy did break the rules on dealing with customers, it has the power to
impose a fine of up to 10% of the company's turnover.
The Company claims it
has now made a series of improvements which include:
- Taking on 150 extra staff
- Becoming "less aggressive" with sales
- Reducing call waiting times to an average of 45 seconds
- Moving to new offices in Birmingham
- Extra Energy also admitted that it had expanded too quickly.
The Customer Service Blog
has tried to contact Extra Energy for comment, and we will publish it here if
they choose to comment publicly to us.