Energy firms leaving customers hanging on phone for up to 41 minutes

ENERGY customers are being left on hold for up to 41 minutes, analysis by Which? has found. The consumer watchdog tested 36 energy companies with more than 400 calls to see how long they took to answer the phone.

Which? said the provider that came bottom was Scottish Power, which left customers on hold for an average of 21 minutes.

This was over 20 minutes slower than the fastest company, So Energy, which took just 38 seconds on average to answer calls.

Bulb Energy, which took an average of 19 minutes before calls were answered, had the longest single callwaiting time of 41 minutes and 48 seconds. Which? calculated that it would be quicker for a Bulb customer living 25 miles away in Harlow to travel by train into London’s Liverpool Street station, next to Bulb’s headquarters, to make a complaint in person.

EDF Energy was the best of the Big

Six, answering calls in three minutes and two seconds on average.

The watchdog found that over a fifth of suppliers kept clients waiting more than 10 minutes before answering.

Natalie Hitchins, head of home products and services at Which?, said: “If you are tired of poor customer service and wasted time on the phone, then you should switch to a provider that can better meet your needs, and potentially save you hundreds of pounds.”

The results were, however, an improvement on last year when the average call answer time was 27 minutes 21 seconds with Spark Energy while the longest single wait was 72 minutes 40 seconds from Utilita.