British Gas has again emerged as Britain’s worst energy supplier for customer service after a slide in satisfaction over the last six months, figures from a leading consumer group reveal.
A Which? report shared with the Guardian found that the service offered by British Gas has worsened across all its satisfaction measures since its last analysis of the energy sector last year.
While customer service has broadly improved across the industry, it has declined for customers of British Gas, according to the survey of 4,000 adults across the country.
Rocio Concha, a policy director at Which?, said: “It is never OK for firms to provide sub-standard customer service, but in an essential sector like energy, which provides vital services millions rely on every day, it is unacceptable.
“British Gas and any other firms falling short need to up their game and give customers the service they deserve. They must focus on ensuring that calls and emails are answered promptly and that customers are being provided with helpful advice and support.”
The findings come weeks after the supplier was toppled from its position as Britain’s biggest energy supplier for the first time in 40 years, losing out to Octopus Energy. The chief executive of British Gas’s parent company, Centrica, said last week that the ousting should “galvanise” its staff to focus on customer service.
Chris O’Shea said: “What I look at, on a daily basis, is how quickly they’ve answered the phones for our customers, what is our complaint rate, what is the price we have given our customers, what is the service they’ve been given? That will continue to be my obsession.”
The Which? survey found that more than half of people who had contacted British Gas for help reported a problem with the response they received, and a third were dissatisfied with how long it took to get in touch with a person who could help.
Once customers did get through to the supplier the survey showed that 15% reported speaking to unhelpful or dismissive advisers and 14% said they were not given good advice or support.
“These sentiments are extremely concerning, as they show that British Gas customers are facing issues both at the start of their customer service journey and are often left without a satisfactory resolution,” Which? said.
A spokesperson for British Gas said the findings were “at odds with the latest customer satisfaction findings published by organisations including the industry regulator Ofgem, Citizen’s Advice and Uswitch”.
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They added: “These independent studies have all confirmed that we are going in the right direction, and our customer service is improving, with the number of complaints down and call wait times cut by 60% compared to 2023. Delivering the best possible service to our customers continues to be a top priority for British Gas.”
British Gas was found to be one of the industry’s worst for customer service in Which?’s previous report in May last year, alongside Scottish Power.
The latest survey, in November, showed greater satisfaction among Scottish Power customers, “demonstrating that it is possible to improve customer satisfaction in a short period of time”.
It found that 71% of Scottish Power customers who contacted the supplier were satisfied with the service they received and 14% were dissatisfied, giving a net satisfaction score of +56. That is an 18-point improvement from six months prior, according to Which?, which puts the supplier in line with the industry average.
