British Gas wins Money Mail’s Wooden Spoon award for poor service
Today Money Mail can reveal the winners of the 2022 Wooden Spoon Award.
Energy giants received nearly a third of the votes in our annual poll. John Lewis won silver with 13.8% of the vote and BT won bronze with 13% of the vote.
Hundreds of readers voted and were selected from a list of eight candidates announced at the beginning of December.
Out of gas: British Gas parent company Centrica boss Chris O’Shea (pictured in the mockup) refused to accept the trophy
In a year of soaring electricity bills, they complained of long phone waits to speak to British Gas staff, inaccurate billing and missing government support vouchers.
He was also furious to learn that while British Gas’ parent company Centrica’s profits soared last year, service levels fell.
To add insult to injury, Centrica boss Chris O’Shea has repeatedly spoken out about his company’s dismal service from Money Mail and explained how he’s getting it right. I declined the request.
He also refused to accept the trophy in person. This is how bosses, from the director of HM Revenue and Customs to the chief executives of major banks and telecommunications giants, have traditionally won our Wooden Spoon Award. I was forced to mock up the photos I had.
It’s a matter of customer service and many loyal UK gas energy users say Mr O’Shea’s reluctance to get involved on the issue means he doesn’t appreciate it enough. You will be afraid.
The infamous award is the company’s Home Care Category Wins 2021 Wooden Spoon After a flood of complaints about boiler service covers.
A year ago, O’Shea received an award for a Zoom call while working from home.
Mr O’Shea, who reportedly earns £875,000 a year after bonuses, benefits and shares, said:
“Daily Mail readers, like all our customers, are important to us, and we continually improve what we do and how we do it.
“We make a real difference in people’s lives, and we know more right than wrong.”
British Gas blamed for call center queue
Many customers said they voted for British Gas because the phone lines were slow. In some cases, the waiting time for him was over an hour.
You also mentioned that it can be difficult to get a direct response from British Gas staff when you want to inquire about your bill or ask for help.
Geoffrey Matthews of Glamorgan made multiple phone calls to inquire about the bill, but was unsuccessful. “After waiting nearly an hour, I managed to talk to one person.After a few minutes, I was disconnected.In the end, he had to go online and use the chatbot service.
Candidates: Hundreds of readers voted from a list of eight candidates announced at the beginning of December.
According to O’Shea, British Gas has been under a lot of pressure this winter and is working hard to answer calls more quickly.
“Our call volume has increased by more than 50% this winter and we have created a further 700 jobs in the UK to manage this. has processed your inquiry.
“Our clients are asking for more help and advice than ever before and we want to support them through this cost of living crisis, so each of these naturally has more time. Is required.”
Inaccurate utility bills
Another big complaint was the billing accuracy. Margaret Wilson said she spent hours on the phone with British Gas after receiving her inaccurate bill.
The 82-year-old from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, almost doubled her monthly bill even though she had credit. She was able to reduce her bill after almost a month of her calls.
In November, Money Mail revealed that some customers had seen their direct debits increase aggressively with little warning. O’Shea said:
We don’t always do things right, but as a trusted brand, our customers appreciate that we are a sustainable and trustworthy company. When things go wrong, we do everything we can to fix it.
“That’s why 200,000 customers have joined us in the last 12 months, and why we were able to step in and save hundreds of thousands of customers last year from nine energy suppliers that collapsed. .”
In November, some British Gas customers revealed a positive increase in direct debits with little warning.
lost voucher
Since the Energy Bills Support Scheme started in October, Money Mail has received a steady stream of complaints about delayed vouchers from British Gas and households not receiving any vouchers at all.
These are significant government subsidies of £66 or £67 each month to help homes withstand price increases this winter.
Eleanor Dolan, from Dartford, Kent, says she has not received her October, November and December vouchers in mid-December after numerous calls. “I’m overwhelmed,” she says. So far, 43 readers have helped raise a total of £3,796 after giving case papers to British Gas.
O’Shea said:
“This has been a difficult task, but we have successfully fulfilled well over 20 million of these payments, and our prepaid meter vouchers have the highest redemption rates in the space.”
Runner-up: John Lewis came in second with 13.8% of the vote. A reader was appalled that after switching providers, he made all his credit card customers reapply.
John Lewis wins silver medal
Readers were appalled when a retail giant forced all its credit card customers to reapply after switching credit providers from HSBC to NewDay.
Others say standards are dropping at department stores.
A spokesperson for John Lewis said, “Last year we changed credit card providers. We are working hard to provide the best possible customer experience in 2023 and beyond.”
l.boyce@dailymail.co.uk
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/news/article-11670949/And-Wooden-Spoon-shoddy-service-goes-British-Gas.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490 British Gas wins Money Mail’s Wooden Spoon award for poor service
