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EWON Insights Jul-Sep 2020
- Customer complaint issues
Customer complaint issues
Customers identified 7,868 different issues associated with the 4,373 complaints opened this quarter. This was an 8.4% increase on the previous quarter when 7,526 issues were identified.
Disputed high bill complaints numbered 1,717, an increase of 33.6% on the 1,285 received in the previous quarter. This issue continued to be the most significant billing issue, representing 21.8% of all issues raised this quarter.
The significant drop in complaints relating to customer service was noted last quarter and this trend continued this quarter. This decrease was despite the difficulties that retailers encountered due to COVID-19. These numbers reflect well on retailers and their commitment to service customers in difficult times.
We have been monitoring complaints relating to payment difficulties to gauge the impact of the AER Statement of Expectations. We had 207 complaints about payment difficulties which was a slight increase of 17 more complaints than the last quarter. Retailers’ commitments to supporting their customers has been extremely positive, however with government income support reducing and rent and mortgage relief coming to an end, it is expected that payment difficulties will increase next quarter.
| Primary issue | Secondary > Tertiary issue | Jul - Sep 20 | Apr – Jun 20 | Jan – Mar 20 | Oct – Dec 19 | Jul – Sep 19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billing | High > disputed | 1,717 (21.8%) | 1,285 (17.7%) | 1,455 (16.9%) | 1,862 (18.4%) | 1,731 (16.9%) |
| Customer service | Poor service | 634 (8%) | 604 (8.3%) | 726 (8.4%) | 1,079 (10.6%) | 1,113 (10.9%) |
| Billing | Estimation > Meter access / not read | 428 (5.4%) | 437 (6%) | 434 (5%) | 513 (5.1%) | 412 (4%) |
| Billing | Opening / closing account | 397 (5%) | 395 (5.4%) | 385 (4.5%) | 466 (4.6%) | 513 (5%) |
| Customer service | Failure to respond | 344 (4.4%) | 348 (4.8%) | 309 (3.6%) | 415 (4.1%) | 404 (4%) |
| Customer service | Incorrect advice / information | 217 (2.8%) | 263 (3.6%) | 305 (3.5%) | 382 (3.8%) | 388 (3.8%) |
| Credit | Payment difficulties > current / arrears | 207 (2.6%) | 190 (2.6%) | 387 (4.5%) | 407 (4%) | 451 (4.4%) |
| Credit | Collection > credit rating | 192 (2.4%) | 174 (2.4%) | 184 (2.1%) | 210 (2.1%) | 307 (3%) |
| General | Energy / water | 180 (2.3%) | 139 (1.9%) | 207 (2.4%) | 189 (1.9%) | 176 (1.7%) |
| Billing | Meter > fault | 170 (2.2%) | 115 (1.6%) | 114 (1.3%) | 167 (1.7%) | 144 (1.4%) |
| Total number of issues per quarter | 7,868 | 7,256 | 8,618 | 10,138 | 10,217 |
