Wooden spoon winner Scottish Power tops the complaints list

SCOTTISH Power — the energy firm that won Money Mail’s Wooden Spoon for terrible customer service in January — has received more complaints than eight other energy firms combined.

Latest figures from the independent energy Ombudsman show that in the first three months of this year Scottish Power customers lodged 8,840 complaints — 173 per every 100,000 of its customers.

Serious customer service failings led regulator Ofgem to ban the firm making telesales calls in March.

Npower was the next worst firm with 3,322 complaints.

British Gas was responsible for just 1,189 complaints — only eight per 100,000 customers. Scottish and Southern energy fared best with 302 complaints or just four per 100,000 customers. In January, when the firm won the Wooden Spoon Award, Scottish Power boss Neil Clitheroe promised that the business was turning a corner. He pledged that in one year’s time there would be a very different scenario for how many complaints the firm received. At the height of the problems, customer service staff had 19 people waiting on the line.

This is the first time the energy Ombudsman has published its quarterly complaints figures for the ten biggest suppliers. Some 85 pc of all complaints were about inaccurate, late or missing bills.

If you have a complaint about an energy firm, you should first contact your supplier. If it is unresolved after eight weeks, or you and the firm have reached a deadlock, you can call the energy Ombudsman on 0330 440 1624. Or you can write to Ombudsman Services: energy, PO Box 966, Warrington WA4 9DF.

Customers who win their case are typically paid £100 in compensation.