Customer Feedback Report 2011
At ScottishPower we continue to work hard to deliver a high standard of customer service. Our aim is to provide you with a hassle free service to avoid you having to contact us, however, we understand that sometimes things go wrong and we are highly committed to resolving your concerns quickly and accurately.
In the year ending 30 September 2011, the number of customers referring their complaint to Consumer Direct fell by 54% in comparison to the previous year. In quarter 2 of 2011 (ending 30 June) we also improved from a 2-star to a 3-star rating on the Consumer Focus supplier comparisons for complaint handling.
Identifying and understanding your concern
During the 12 months to September 2011, you communicated with us more than 6.5 million times, by telephone, letter and email. While the vast majority of these contacts were the normal day-to-day business transactions of a typical energy company, there were some occasions (5.1%) where we felt it necessary to log your contact as a complaint. To us, a complaint is "when a customer tells us that they are unhappy or dissatisfied with any aspect of our services or products".
"Listening" is the first stage of our Customer First principle where we seek to satisfy every single contact from any of our current or potential customers. In 2011 we introduced our new automated customer satisfaction survey. We receive feedback from over 6,000 customers per week following contacts made to our customer service centres, and this feedback is used to proactively improve our service delivery to you. Since the launch of this feedback survey, over 86% of customers tell us they experience a "hassle free" service.
Handling your complaint
If we make a mistake, we’ll certainly apologise to you and try to take practical action to put things right. More often than not, we will offer you choices of resolution to your complaint so that we can tailor the outcome to your specific needs and expectations. We will always endeavour to return you to the position you would have been in but for our mistake. If that involves financial loss, we’ll consider any claim you make. Finally, we always try to ensure that the same mistake doesn’t happen again.
During the period 1 October 2010 to 30 September 2011 we received 93,032 complaints from our domestic customers where we were unable to fully resolve the complaint by the end of the next working day. Our policy is to only consider a complaint as resolved when the resolution has been fully agreed with the customer and the solution is implemented. For example, if we feel it is necessary to visit your property to check your meter or energy consumption then we will consider your complaint open until such times as we have completed the visit, gathered the necessary information and agreed a resolution with you. At no time will we close your complaint during this process and we work hard to keep you updated on the progress of your complaint resolution through contact by email, letter or telephone. We believe that this process is important in reassuring you that we are tracking your complaint at all times, through to full resolution.
More information
Further information on how we handle complaints is provided in our Complaints Handling Procedure. If you’d like a hard copy of this, please call 0845 2700 700, Minicom 0800 027 4900 (Monday to Friday 8am – 7pm, Saturday 8.30am – 1pm) or email contactus@scottishpower.co.uk.
Alternatively, you can write to our Customer Services Director at:
Customer Services Director,
ScottishPower Retail,
Cathcart Business Park,
Spean Street,
Glasgow,
G44 4BE
Finally, our complaints handling process has been designed to meet all the requirements of the 2008 Complaint Handling Standards introduced by our Regulator Ofgem (The Office for Gas & Electricity Markets). These Complaint Handling Regulations can be found on the following government website:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/pdf/uksi_20081898_en.pdf