CITIZENS ADVICE SURVEY AND THE RECORD OF UTILITY COMPANIES ON CUSTOMER QUERIES

That this House is deeply concerned by the continued failings of utility companies to deal effectively with customer problems via their call centres, as evidenced by a Citizens Advice report which showed that three-quarters of respondents were unable to resolve problems in one telephone call and that a third of respondents had to spend more than half an hour trying to resolve problems with their call centres; notes that British Gas and BT are singled out as having the worst track record in responding to customer problems; and urges the regulators for telephone and energy companies in particular, to require much higher standards and information from utility companies, with punitive measures if necessary.