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Increase in people not happy with energy firms

December 5, 2008 by admin  
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A has indicated that an increasing number of people are no longer happy with their , with this year’s price hikes playing a large part in how satisfied consumers are with their energy suppliers. The study was recently carried out by price comparison website uswitch.com, and found that whilst around 33% of consumers were dissatisfied with their energy supplier this time last year, this figure had now risen to around 41% of consumers.

However, according to one industry official the level of complaints about energy firms has been falling despite the suggestions that more people are not happy with the big six energy suppliers in the UK. The survey was carried out at the end of September and involved polling over five thousand consumers. Out of those polled around 45% said that energy firms still offered value for money.

Ann Robinson, consumer policy director at uswitch, said: “Price rises were never going to be a vote winner, but this year’s increases have hit people exceptionally hard, and inevitably it has damaged their perception of the industry.”

This year alone energy prices have increased by an average 38% in total following two prices rises within the space of this year, compared to a rise of 32% in 2006.

The Energy Retail Association has, however, questioned the finding from the survey, stating that complaints had been falling month on month to their lowest levels of record.

One spokesperson said: “Customer service is an issue that all energy companies take exceptionally seriously, our competitive market means that customers make decisions to switch supplier based on more than just price differentials. The survey highlights this and is a useful indicator of where individual suppliers need to improve.”

Tags: energy, market, energy firms, following, recent report, spokesperson, month, useful indicator

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