Customer service

Dear Jacqui

Perhaps a good resolution for this new year would be to improve the amount of personnel operating the telephone customer contact centre.

I have tried numerous attempts over a period of time to make telephone contact with customer service to sort out a problem, and all I keep getting is the annoying 'your in a queue' etc etc message.

If customers must be left hanging on for indefinite periods at least let them know how far down the queue they are.

Your 'Live Chat; isn't much better, which operates at a snails pace leaving customers in limbo not knowing if anyone is there. Having said that, I will say on a couple of occasions that the online chat has failed a member of the team have phoned me back almost immediately. So it's not all doom and gloom.

But it still does not detract from the fact that I am still trying to sort out a billing issue without as yet much success.

on 01 February 2010 12:44:53

Thanks for your comment Stephen.

It's always good to get suggestions on where we can improve and I'm sorry that you've had problems getting in touch with us over the phone. We currently have 5 UK based contact centres who respond to enquiries from over 9 million customers and we aim to answer all calls in around 20 seconds. At the moment, because of the time of year and the recent adverse weather conditions, we are receiving a lot more calls than usual and unfortunately it does mean that some calls queue. We do draft in back-office staff at peak times to try to shorten the queues, but we can't always let you know where exactly in the queue you are.

I'm glad you've tried our Web Chat facility which we introduced late last year. It's a relatively new idea for us and unfortunately not without it's teething problems, but it's good to know that our team have got back in touch with you after any problems.

If you still need help with your billing issue, please e-mail me, headofcustomerservice@scottish-southern.co.uk, with your details and I'll arrange for one of my team to get in touch with you.

on 03 February 2010 12:30:55

hi
i am an existing customer and have just visited the uswitch site and after entering my details , one of the results was from atlantic, which showed a saving of approx £170 is it possible that i could save that amount and if so why have i not been informed from yourselves of a potential saving

regards

neville crook

on 21 February 2010 18:12:38

Thanks for your questions Neville. Unfortunately, the deal you've mentioned is only available to new customers. You do have the option to switch to another tariff, but the potential savings would not match up to £170.00 a year that they've quoted and you would lose any potential offer you might have on your existing tariff. In the meantime we'll work with Uswitch to ensure that the 'new customer only' message is made more prominent.

on 01 March 2010 11:27:02

When are you going to drop your prices like all the other big players have? Why are you dragging your heels?

on 09 March 2010 19:33:50

Thanks for your questions John. We announced early last week that we'll be reducing gas prices from the end of March 2010. At that time, the only other supplier to have announced a price reduction was British Gas earlier in the year. Since our announcement both Eon and Npower have also said they'll be reducing prices, but it looks like we'll still be the cheapest gas supplier in the UK.

on 11 March 2010 08:51:12

Could you please explain why the bill I have received today is for a period of only 2 months, and 8 days, and not the normal 3 months. i.e. a quarterly bill?
I remain,
Yours faithfully,
C.M.Baxter.

on 28 April 2010 13:57:47

Thanks for your question Mrs Baxter. Having looked at your accounts, it looks like your previous quarterly bill was for a period of around 4 months and was based on an estimated meter reading. As you may already know, we read your meters every six months and your recent bill was based on an actual reading taken by one of our agents. The bill is therefore only for a period of around 2 months, as you previously paid for around 4 months use. This has brought the billing cycle back into line, so you should receive regular quarterly bills from now on.

on 06 May 2010 09:29:55

I am absolutley distraught to find my electricity bill was £890 for 15 months!!!!!!!!! apparently as a chap was not able to fit us a new metre our account was suspended though we knew nothing about it. I am now told we can pay £100 a month over 18months to catch up!!!!! Are you guys serious all we want to do now is move to another provider. As a family of 6 our holiday this year is now non existant, THANKS. Where is your commitmant to your customers who rely on you sending out bills on time and quaterly as you promised!!!!!!

on 28 April 2010 16:35:56

I'm sorry to hear of the problems you've experienced with your electricity account and bills. I'd like to investigate the matter fully to resolve this for you. It would be great if you could e-mail some details to headofcustomerservice@sse.com so I can make sure one of my team contacts you directly to help.

on 06 May 2010 09:38:32