Big not best in power survey
Powershop has proven itself to be the little energy company that could in Consumer NZ’s latest customer satisfaction survey.
One of the smallest players in the market, Powershop topped the annual survey and received the consumer watchdog’s ‘‘people’s choice’’ award.
Customers rated it above average on competitive pricing, helping with saving energy, helping to select an appropriate plan, value for money and customer support.
Meanwhile, several of the big power players were found wanting, with Contact rated worst for competitive pricing, customer support and resolving problems quickly.
The survey found only 45% of
Contact customers were very satisfied. Overall, 52% of New Zealanders reported being very satisfied with their power company.
Contact acting chief customer officer Bryan Middleton said it was disappointing to be the lowest ranking retailer in the survey.
‘‘We know we can do better.’’ Middleton said Contact had almost 530,000 customers across its electricity, broadband and gas services.
Since last year it had been working on a raft of changes to improve customer service experience, which included launching new support channels, so it was easier to get in touch, regular updates to its apps and a digital bill.
‘‘We note Consumer NZ has recognised we have made an effort to improve our customer service, and that this may take more than one survey cycle to be realised.’’
Other big providers – Genesis, Trustpower and Mercury – also failed to impress.
Customers rated Genesis below par on almost all performance questions. Trustpower was rated among the worst for competitive pricing and value for money, while Trustpower’s customers rated it well below average for helping with selecting the most appropriate plan.
A Mercury spokesperson said it was always looking to improve and would consider the results alongside its own customer research.
Consumer’s Powerswitch manager, Paul Fuge, said the results showed the smaller players were doing a better job of keeping their customers satisfied.