According to a YouGov survey, which questioned 6,552 UK consumers, only 34% of British Gas customers would recommend the provider to a friend and only 40% think that it offers value for money.
Although British Gas’ overall customer satisfaction levels had increased from 52% to 60% in 12 months, and its customers had recorded an 11% increase on last year’s performance, uSwitch said that the utility remained the lowest in terms of satisfaction for the second year running.
Scottish and Southern Energy emerged as the best UK supplier in the report for the third year in a row, with 70% of its customers stating that they were happy with the service provided. Meanwhile, Powergen came out as the most improved supplier, and was voted the third best provider overall.
ScottishPower was not so successful in the poll. Indeed, the utility was the only supplier to witness a dip in its customer satisfaction levels, causing it to drop from second to fourth place in the ratings.
Ann Robinson, consumer policy director at uSwitch.com, commented on British Gas’ position, saying: Price cuts could have been a vote winner, but the small increase in customer satisfaction smacks of a missed opportunity. Ms Robinson added that, despite its recent price cuts, the utility is still the second most expensive supplier in the UK.
Nevertheless, uSwitch did praise British Gas’ decision to employ an additional 800 customer service staff, the equivalent of one for every 20,000 customers. The website commented that the move could solve the problem that the utility has with maintaining its customer base.
Ms Robinson concluded that now that British Gas’ competitors have also cut prices, the battle for market share will be won on customer service.
