“CAN I SPEAK WITH A MANAGER?”€¦ · 14 steps water customers took to resolve complaints before coming to ewov 15 water customers’ perceptions of the service they received

1Can I speak with a manager? | An analysis of energy and water company performance in handling your complaint Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria) Ltd | ABN 57 070 516 175

An analysis of energy and water company performance in handling your complaint

“CAN I SPEAK WITH A MANAGER?”

RELEASED March 2015

2 Can I speak with a manager? | An analysis of energy and water company performance in handling your complaint Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria) Ltd | ABN 57 070 516 175

WHO WE ARE, WHAT WE DO

The Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria) (EWOV) is an

external dispute resolution (EDR) scheme, set up in 1995 as

Australia’s first electricity Ombudsman. Operating on an industry-

based Ombudsman model, EWOV is completely independent of

its industry, consumer, government and regulatory stakeholders.

We can deal with most sources of disagreement between

customers and energy and water companies—including the

provision and supply of a service, the failure to provide or supply

a service, billing, credit, payment arrangements, disconnection

and restriction, marketing, transfer, poles, wires, pipes, meters,

vegetation management and land. To 30 June 2014, we had

handled over 500,000 cases from energy and water customers,

mostly residential.

Using alternative dispute resolution processes, we work to

achieve efficient and fair resolution of complaints as early as

possible. We’re not a customer advocate; neither are we an

advocate for industry. Our role is to reach fair and reasonable

outcomes, having regard to good industry practice and the law.

From the cases we receive, we identify potential systemic issues

and, as appropriate, report these to the relevant energy or water

company and industry regulator. We put information about

energy and water complaints, issues and trends into the public

arena. We work with energy and water companies, regulators and

consumer groups to drive customer service improvements and

help prevent complaints.

Our policies and processes comply with the Benchmarks

for Industry-Based Customer Dispute Resolution Schemes

(National Benchmarks) published in 1997 by the Commonwealth

Department of Industry, Science and Tourism. These

National Benchmarks focus on the principles of accessibility,

independence, fairness, accountability, efficiency and

effectiveness.

OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

• Independence: impartial complaint resolution, not

advocacy

• Access: ready access for individual consumers

• Equity: fairness to all parties

• Quality: highest professional standards

• Effectiveness: high calibre people, supported by training

and technology

• Efficiency: optimal resource use

• Community awareness: community awareness building

• Linkages: effective stakeholder links and working

relationships

PURPOSE

EWOV’s purpose is to independently and efficiently resolve

disputes between customers and energy and water companies in

Victoria.

GOAL

To be a fair, impartial and highly respected dispute resolution

service.


When reviewing the graphs, please note EWOV rounds percentages to the nearest whole number, and as a result not all graphs will add up to 100%.

CONTENTS

4 THE OMBUDSMAN’S FOREWORD

5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

6 KEY FINDINGS AND SURVEY DEMOGRAPHICS

7 INTRODUCTION

7 METHODOLOGY

8 ENERGY CUSTOMERS

9 WHY ENERGY CUSTOMERS CAME TO EWOV

10 STEPS ENERGY CUSTOMERS TOOK TO RESOLVE COMPLAINTS BEFORE COMING TO EWOV

11 ENERGY CUSTOMERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE SERVICE THEY RECEIVED

12 WATER CUSTOMERS

13 WHY WATER CUSTOMERS CAME TO EWOV

14 STEPS WATER CUSTOMERS TOOK TO RESOLVE COMPLAINTS BEFORE COMING TO EWOV

15 WATER CUSTOMERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE SERVICE THEY RECEIVED

16 CONCLUSIONS AND NEXT STEPS

16 FOCUSING ON CUSTOMER SERVICE

16 PROVIDING RIGHT FIRST TIME RESPONSES

17 GLOSSARY

17 EWOV ISSUE CATEGORIES

FIGURES

4 FIGURE 1.

4 EWOV CASE NUMBERS FROM 1995 TO 2014

8 FIGURE 2.

8 WHAT ISSUE DID THE CUSTOMER RECENTLY CONTACT EWOV ABOUT?

8 FIGURE 3.

8 CASE LEVELS

9 FIGURE 4.

9 BEFORE CONTACTING EWOV, WHAT OUTCOMES WERE IMPORTANT TO CUSTOMERS FROM THEIR ENERGY COMPANY?

9 FIGURE 5.

9 WHY ENERGY CUSTOMERS CALLED EWOV

10 FIGURE 6.

10 HOW MANY TIMES THE CUSTOMER CONTACTED THE COMPANY TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE

10 FIGURE 7.

10 BEFORE CALLING EWOV, HOW MUCH TIME THE CUSTOMER SPENT TRYING TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE

10 FIGURE 8.

10 HOW LONG THE CUSTOMER GAVE THE COMPANY TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE BEFORE CALLING EWOV

11 FIGURE 9.

11 HOW CUSTOMERS RATED THE ENERGY COMPANY’S CUSTOMER SERVICE

11 FIGURE 10.

11 DID THE ENERGY COMPANY ESCALATE THE CUSTOMER’S COMPLAINT BEFORE THEY CALLED EWOV

12 FIGURE 11.

12 WHAT ISSUE DID THE CUSTOMER RECENTLY CONTACT EWOV ABOUT?

12 FIGURE 12.

12 CASE LEVELS

13 FIGURE 13.

13 BEFORE CONTACTING EWOV, WHAT OUTCOMES WERE IMPORTANT TO CUSTOMERS FROM THEIR WATER COMPANY?

13 FIGURE 14.

13 WHY WATER CUSTOMERS CALLED EWOV

14 FIGURE 15.

14 HOW MANY TIMES THE CUSTOMER CONTACTED THE COMPANY TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE

14 FIGURE 16.

14 HOW MUCH TIME THE CUSTOMER SPENT TRYING TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE BEFORE CALLING EWOV

14 FIGURE 17.

14 HOW LONG THE CUSTOMER GAVE THE COMPANY TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE BEFORE CALLING EWOV

15 FIGURE 18.

15 HOW CUSTOMERS RATED THE WATER COMPANY’S CUSTOMER SERVICE

15 FIGURE 19.

15 DID THE WATER CORPORATION ESCALATE THE CUSTOMER’S COMPLAINT BEFORE THEY CALLED EWOV


THE OMBUDSMAN’S FOREWORD

One of the key objectives in the EWOV Strategic Plan for 2014 to

2017 is to drive continued customer service improvement by our

scheme participants. This means that although our primary role

remains to assist Victorian energy and water customers to resolve

their complaints with their companies, one of our strategic

priorities is to share our knowledge to drive customer service

improvements, ultimately minimising complaints to EWOV.

The good news is that this is already happening. Following five

years of record complaint numbers, EWOV has seen case receipt

slow significantly over the last five quarters. But this drop in

case receipt does not suggest we should be complacent about

analysing trends or identifying areas for improvement.

EWOV’s unique industry position means that we have the

opportunity to gather and share insight into the experiences of

energy and water customers. With the research in this report,

we’ve used our unique position at the interface between

customers and companies to examine companies’ performance

in managing customer complaints before they reach my office.

It‘s important to note that not all customers have complaints or

customer service gripes about their energy or water companies.

For the vast majority of Victorian households, the day-to-day

workings of these essential services carries on without issue.

However, the results of our customer survey strongly indicate that

for the most part, customers expectations and resolution goals

are reasonable, and energy and water companies could be doing

more to engage with their customers and meet their expectations

when they first make contact.

This survey was conducted as an additional section in our regular

quarterly customer satisfaction survey as well as over the phone

when customers called our office. Customers who needed our

service during the 1 July 2014 to 30 September 2014 period

received an email about this survey, and customers who phoned

during 22 October 2014 to 1 December 2014 were asked if they

wanted to participate. We asked about their expectations and

experiences when they attempted to resolve their energy or

water issue themselves before coming to EWOV.

What we’ve found is that the surveyed customers were

overwhelmingly not happy about the service they received from

their company, and that more work needs to be done at the

customer service entry points to improve customers’ experiences.

I urge companies to consider these results when deciding

what else they could be doing to resolve customer concerns

when they first make contact. My hope is that this will continue

the trend of fewer customers needing to involve the external

dispute resolution services of my office, saving the industry costs

and providing a better service to Victorian energy and water

consumers.

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

2013

to 2

014

2011

to 2

012

2009 to

2010

2007

to 2

008

2005

to 2

006

2003

to 2

004

2001 t

o 2002

1999 to

2000

1997

to 19

98

1995

to 19

96

FIGURE 1.

EWOV case numbers from 1995 to 2014

“These results strongly indicate that energy and water companies could be doing more to engage with their customers when they first make direct contact.”

Cynthia GebertEnergy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria)


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

After receiving feedback from 1,645 survey respondents, EWOV

has found that many customers are dissatisfied with the Internal

Dispute Resolution (IDR) they have received from their energy

and water companies.

Customers told us that when they contact their company with

a problem, the first priority is for it to be fixed. They also want

to be heard and to receive information. While attempting to

resolve their concerns directly, customers are providing multiple

opportunities for resolution by calling their company more than

three times (76%), spending more than three hours on their

resolution efforts (62%) and allowing companies more than a

month to fix the issue (51%).

Overwhelmingly, however, customers told us that they are not

receiving the customer service they expect from both energy and

water companies’ call centres and managers: 86% and 83% of

respondents, respectively, said that the call centre and manager’s

customer service was poor or needed improvement. Customers

told us that they had difficulty getting their issue escalated

internally at the energy or water company: most customers (93%)

said that they either weren’t offered or were refused an escalation

to a manager, or that they were only provided escalation after

they had requested it. Customers called EWOV for assistance

because no resolution was offered (45%) or the company did not

fix the problem as it promised (44%).

Clearly, there is room for improvement in IDR. Staff training,

access to resources (to ensure correct information is provided

to customers), and making sure that the customer’s issue is

fixed (as promised) are areas of focus for energy and water

companies based on the feedback received in the survey.

EWOV recommends that energy and water companies use the

information in this report to improve the customer service they

are providing their customers and the way in which they resolve

customer complaints – right the first time.


KEY FINDINGS SURVEY DEMOGRAPHICS

Customers said they received service that was poor or

needed improvement - from:

96%

59%50%

89%75%

Proble

m fi

xed

Custom

er se

rvic

e ges

ture

To b

e hea

rd

Info

rmat

ion

Apology

93% of customers advised that when they were trying to resolve their issues with the

company they either:

Were only

provided

escalation after

they had

requested it

Weren't o�ered an escalation

Were refused an

escalation to a

manger

93%

28%

32%

33%

Allowed their company more than a month to fix the issue51%

Spent more than 3 hours trying to fix the issue 62%

Called their company more than 3 times76%

Energy and water customers provided companies with multiple opportunities to resolve their concerns:

Customers were realistic about the time it would take to resolve their complaints:

79% of customers expected that it would take more than a day for a complaint to be resolved (about energy, water,

telephone, internet or public transport).

Many energy and water customers were dissatisfied with the customer service they received:

Energy and water customers just want the problem fixed:

Energy and water customers struggled to get their complaints escalated:

Overwhelmingly customers told us that they just

wanted the problem fixed (96%), to be heard (89%) and to receive

information (75%).

Call centre

86%

Assisted Referral

representatives

51% A manager

83%

*2% of respondents preferred not to say.

*28% said the company's resolution o�er was not fair or reasonable, 24% said the company refused to escalate the complaint, 20% said they couldn’t speak to the right person at the

company, and 19% said they wanted independent advice/assistance.

Women 46%Men 52%

Gender*22% 16% 4%23%17%14%2%

75+65-7455-6445-5435-4425-34-24

Age of customers*

Metro or regional*

*2% did not resond.

67%

31%

Metro

Regional

Income* Access to the Internet or email*

Concession Card*


15% 4%13%15%29%$175K+$100K-$174,999$75K-99,999$50K-74,999Under $50K

*4% of respondents preferred not to say. *2% of respondents preferred not to say.

ConcessionCard*

65%Not a card holder

31%Card holder

GOVERNMENT

94%

Have access to email and/or Internet

4%

Do not have access to email and/or Internet

The following survey results show customer experiences and feedback about energy and water companies Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR).

79%1 day+

Customers called EWOV because:

*No fuel selected/abandoned survey: 37

Respondents* Total: 1,645 Email: 1,466 Phone: 179

Energy respondents: 1,541 Water respondents: 67

Housing status

Propertytype

Own 69%

Rent (private) 23%

Rent (O�ce of Housing) 6%

6% of respondents preferred not to say. <1% of respondents were either government departments, not-for-profit organisations or preferred not to say.

5%

Business

Residential

94%

44%

No resolution

38%

Conflictinginformation

30%

Poor/rude customer

service

45%

Not fixed as promised

In the survey, repondents could select more than one option for these questions.


*


KEY FINDINGS SURVEY DEMOGRAPHICS

Customers said they received service that was poor or

needed improvement - from:

96%

59%50%

89%75%

Proble

m fi

xed

Custom

er se

rvic

e ges

ture

To b

e hea

rd

Info

rmat

ion

Apology

93% of customers advised that when they were trying to resolve their issues with the

company they either:

Were only

provided

escalation after

they had

requested it

Weren't o�ered an escalation

Were refused an

escalation to a

manger

93%

28%

32%

33%

Allowed their company more than a month to fix the issue51%

Spent more than 3 hours trying to fix the issue 62%

Called their company more than 3 times76%

Energy and water customers provided companies with multiple opportunities to resolve their concerns:

Customers were realistic about the time it would take to resolve their complaints:

79% of customers expected that it would take more than a day for a complaint to be resolved (about energy, water,

telephone, internet or public transport).

Many energy and water customers were dissatisfied with the customer service they received:

Energy and water customers just want the problem fixed:

Energy and water customers struggled to get their complaints escalated:

Overwhelmingly customers told us that they just

wanted the problem fixed (96%), to be heard (89%) and to receive

information (75%).

Call centre

86%

Assisted Referral

representatives

51% A manager

83%


*28% said the company's resolution o�er was not fair or reasonable, 24% said the company refused to escalate the complaint, 20% said they couldn’t speak to the right person at the

company, and 19% said they wanted independent advice/assistance.

Women 46%Men 52%

Gender*22% 16% 4%23%17%14%2%

75+65-7455-6445-5435-4425-34-24

Age of customers*

Metro or regional*

*2% did not resond.

67%

31%

Metro

Regional

Income* Access to the Internet or email*

Concession Card*


15% 4%13%15%29%$175K+$100K-$174,999$75K-99,999$50K-74,999Under $50K

*4% of respondents preferred not to say. *2% of respondents preferred not to say.

ConcessionCard*

65%Not a card holder

31%Card holder

GOVERNMENT

94%

Have access to email and/or Internet

4%

Do not have access to email and/or Internet

The following survey results show customer experiences and feedback about energy and water companies Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR).

79%1 day+

Customers called EWOV because:

*No fuel selected/abandoned survey: 37

Respondents* Total: 1,645 Email: 1,466 Phone: 179

Energy respondents: 1,541 Water respondents: 67

Housing status

Propertytype

Own 69%

Rent (private) 23%

Rent (O�ce of Housing) 6%

6% of respondents preferred not to say. <1% of respondents were either government departments, not-for-profit organisations or preferred not to say.

5%

Business

Residential

94%

44%

No resolution

38%

Conflictinginformation

30%

Poor/rude customer

service

45%

Not fixed as promised



*

INTRODUCTION

EWOV’s primary role is to assist with the resolution of complaints

between customers and their energy and water companies.

However, we also report publicly on energy and water

complaints, issues and trends, we work with companies to

drive customer service improvements and to prevent or reduce

complaints by providing insight into their customers’ experiences

and expectations. With the aim of informing such customer

service improvements, between October and December 2014

we surveyed EWOV customers about their experiences and

expectations of Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR).

MethodologyWe used a structured survey to investigate customers’

expectations and experiences. This IDR survey was incorporated

within EWOV’s regular customer satisfaction survey, which

measures satisfaction with EWOV’s own service.

The surveyThe combined survey contained 53 questions, not all of which

had to be answered by each respondent. Of the 53 questions,

28 dealt with customer experiences with their energy or water

company’s IDR. Most of these were multiple choice questions,

which asked the respondent to select either a single answer or

all applicable answers. Two unstructured questions allowed for

further customer comment in a free text field. The questions

covered a number of topics, including resolution expectations,

efforts to resolve complaints directly with the company and

reasons for contacting EWOV.

We estimate that the online and phone survey took between 10

and 15 minutes to complete.

Administration and responsesThe survey was administered in two ways − by email and over the

phone – to two separate samples.

Customers who had a complaint registered with our office

between 1 July 2014 and 30 September 2014 and who provided

an email address were contacted via email and invited to

complete an online survey. Of the 7,514 customers who were

sent the email survey, 1,466 responded; this is a response rate

of 20%. Of the 1,466 responses, 1,311 were complete and 155

surveys were only partially completed.

To include customers that may not use email, EWOV staff also

completed 179 phone surveys with customers who called to

lodge a complaint between 22 October 2014 and 1 December

20141. There was no duplication of phone and email responses

to the survey. Phone responses made up 11% of the total survey

sample.

In total, EWOV received 1,645 responses to the survey, 94% of

which related to energy (1,541 responses) and 4% to water (67

responses).2

EWOV also compared key demographic information with

the survey responses and did not find a noticeable trend

when comparing gender, income band or housing type with

customers’ time and effort to resolve their issue directly or their

perceptions of the customer service received. However, when

EWOV compared the responses of business owners to residential

customers, we found that businesses are likely to spend more

of their own time trying to resolve an energy or water complaint

than residential customers. This may be because a business has a

1 There is no response rate for the phone survey as only the customers who agreed to answer the questions were recorded.

2 In 2% of responses no fuel was selected (37 responses).

staff member that can allocate time and resources to resolve their

complaint themselves - more than a residential customer.

Interpreting the survey results It is important to note that this project surveyed only customers

who had lodged complaints with our office. This means that

the results concern a group of customers who, by definition,

are dissatisfied with their energy or water company; therefore

the survey findings cannot be generalised to energy and water

customers as a whole.

When reviewing the graphs please note EWOV rounds

percentages to the nearest whole number, and as a result not

all graphs will add up to 100%. There were also several survey

questions that allowed customers to select multiple options that

applied to their circumstance.

It should also be noted that complaint issue categories reported

here reflect customers’ descriptions of what their complaints

were about. Survey respondents were asked to select from a list

all issues categories that applied to their complaint (online survey

respondents were able to refer to EWOV’s descriptions of each

issue category). Some of the responses may not reflect the issues

as EWOV would describe them. More information about EWOV

issue categories is on page 17.

Customers also described the level (from Enquiry to

Investigation3) at which EWOV handled their complaint. See the

Glossary on page 17 for descriptions of these case levels.

3 Some customers advised that none of the case level options described their case, however, there are no other EWOV case levels that could be selected.


ENERGY CUSTOMERS

Of the 1,645 survey responses, 94% (1,541) were about energy; of

these, 1,211 concerned electricity and 330 concerned gas. The

case level spread reflected the overall distribution of EWOV cases

as documented in our 2013-14 Annual Report, with most survey

respondents having lodged Assisted Referrals.

Survey respondents were asked to identify which issue or issues

their complaint was about. Billing was by far the most commonly

identified issue, selected by a majority of energy customers (73%).

This result is not surprising: in the 2013-14 financial year, 50%

of EWOV energy cases were primarily about a billing issue, and

billing is often a secondary issue in other types of case.

If a customer complains to our office, it is likely that they are

dissatisfied with the customer service they have received. Indeed,

customer service was the next most commonly identified issue,

selected by 17% of respondents.

Interestingly, only 9% of respondents identified credit as an issue

in their complaint, whereas 22% of all energy cases in the 2013-

14 financial year had credit as the primary issue. The reason for

this discrepancy may be because customers with affordability

issues are less likely to respond to surveys and/or are reluctant to

disclosure information that they feel may be perceived negatively.

When we compared the results by issues selected, we also

noticed some differences. Credit customers put a higher

emphasis on an apology and customers with both credit and

billing issues often sought multiple outcomes to resolve their

complaint (apology, customer service gesture, to be heard and

information).

We also noticed that customers who had credit issues compared

with billing and credit issues, were less likely to give their energy

or water company a month to resolve their complaint. This may

be linked to the time sensitivity of their complaint (e.g. imminent

or actual disconnection or debt collection).

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Billing

Custo

mer

Ser

vice

Tran

sfer

Credi

t

Supp

ly

Provis

ion

Land

Mar

ketin

g

2% 3%7% 8% 9%

11%17%

73%

FIGURE 2.

What issue did the customer recently contact EWOV about?

63%

14%

13%

5%

3%

3%

Assisted Referral

Investigation

Real Time Resolution

None of these describes my contact

Unassisted Referral

Enquiry

FIGURE 3.

Case Levels


Why energy customers came to EWOVCustomers come to EWOV, an External Dispute Resolution (EDR)

scheme, because they remain dissatisfied after first attempting

to resolve their issue with the energy or water company directly.

We therefore asked customers what outcomes they had sought

from their energy company and about why they then decided to

contact EWOV for assistance.

Overwhelmingly, customers wanted their problem fixed, to be

heard and be given information. Although fewer customers said

that a service gesture (credit) or an apology was important, these

outcomes still mattered to a majority of respondents.

We also asked respondents why they had contacted EWOV about

their complaint,4 and their answers again highlighted customers’

focus on having their problem fixed: the most common reasons

(each selected by 45% of respondents) for contacting EWOV

were that no resolution was offered and that the company did

not fix the problem as promised. Many customers also contacted

EWOV because they had received conflicting information. This

can occur when a customer speaks with multiple company

representatives while trying to resolve their complaint and is given

inconsistent advice.

4 Customers could select all options that applied.

The results show that when a customer is told that the company

will fix their problem (for example, by issuing a new bill or

investigating a high bill) and this assurance isn’t followed,

customers escalate their complaint by seeking EWOV’s

assistance. To increase customer satisfaction and prevent

complaints, energy companies should ensure that staff provide

consistent information to customers and deliver on promises

made to fix an issue.

FIGURE 4.

Before contacting EWOV, what outcomes were

important to customers from their energy company?

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

To b

e he

ard

Info

rmat

ion

Custo

mer

serv

ice g

esture

An apo

logy

96%

1% 2% 5% 6%10%

89%

76%

59%

50%

Very important and important

Somewhat important

FIGURE 5.

Why energy customers called EWOV

I wanted independent advice/assistance

I couldn’t speak to the right person at the company

The company refused to escalate the complaint

I received poor/rude customer service from the company

45%

19%

20%

24%

45%

38%

30%

27%

10% 20% 30% 40%0% 50%


Steps energy customers took to resolve complaints before coming to EWOVBefore customers come to EWOV they have already tried to

resolve their complaints directly with the energy company.

We were interested to know how much time customers were

spending during this process and asked three questions on this

theme.

The results show that respondents made multiple attempts to

resolve their issue directly with their energy company and, in

many cases, spent considerable time trying to resolve their issue

before coming to EWOV. 78% of customers had called their

company more than three times and more than a third (38%)

spent more than five hours trying

to fix the issue themselves before contacting EWOV. Just over

half of the respondents (52%) had given their energy companies

more than a month to fix their issue before seeking EWOV’s

assistance. Customers are giving their energy companies several

opportunities to resolve their complaints and it appears that more

could be done during these initial contacts, avoiding the need for

EWOV to become involved.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

More

than

10 ti

mes

6-10 ti

mes

3-5

times

Twice

Onc

e

9%

14%

39%

22%

17%

FIGURE 6.

How many times the customer contacted

the company to resolve the issue

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

More

than

5 h

ours

3-5

hour

s

1-2

hour

s

Under

1 ho

ur

14%

23%24%

38%

FIGURE 7.

Before calling EWOV, how much time the

customer spent trying to resolve the issue

FIGURE 8.

How long the customer gave the company

to resolve the issue before calling EWOV

8%

3%0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Betw

een

one w

eek

and

one m

onth

More

than

one

day

but

less

than

one

wee

k

One

day

One

pho

ne c

all

More

than

one

mont

h

I’m n

ot sur

e

11%

22%

52%

4%


Energy customers’ perceptions of the service they receivedCustomers complaints are usually made up of two elements:

the fundamental issue giving rise to their concerns (such as

an incorrect or delayed bill) and the customer service they

received when trying to resolve their complaint. Given that

customer service is often an important part of the complaint,

we asked customers to tell us about the service they received

from the company’s call centre, manager and Assisted Referral

representative. We also asked customers to tell us whether the

energy company proactively escalated their complaint before the

customer came to EWOV.

The results show that customers were most dissatisfied with

the call centre customer service and that customer service

experiences improved as the complaint was escalated to higher

levels. The majority of respondents said that they received

customer service that was poor or that needed improvement

from the call centre (86%) or a manager (84%).

Pleasingly, customers reported much more positive experiences

with Assisted Referral representatives, with almost half (42%)

of survey respondents telling us that the customer service at

Assisted Referral was average, good or excellent.

.

While customers reported more positive customer service

experiences with higher-level contacts, they can have difficulty

accessing these contacts. 93% of the respondents said that when

they were trying to resolve their issues with the energy company,

they were either not offered (28%) or were refused an escalation

to a manager (32%), or were only provided escalation after they

had requested it (34%).

These results suggest that energy companies may be able to

prevent some complaints coming to EWOV by showing a greater

willingness to escalate complaints at an earlier stage. Energy

companies should also assess why customers’ satisfaction is

linked to escalation points. For example, it may be that higher-

level contacts have received different or additional training or

have more developed skills. FIGURE 9.

How customers rated the energy company’s customer service

0%

20%

40%

60%

Call Centre Manager Assisted Referral

Poor

Needs improvement

Adequate / average

Good

Excellent

Not applicable

59%

27%

50%

34%

11%

4%

1%0%

26%

18% 17%

11%

14%14%

9%

3%1%

0%

34%

32%

28%

7%

Yes - after I asked to speak with amanager/supervisor/higher level contact

No - I asked to speak with amanager/supervisor/higher level contactbut the company refused

No - I did not ask to speak with amanager/supervisor/higher level contact

FIGURE 10.

Did the energy company

escalate the customer’s

complaint before they

called EWOV


WATER CUSTOMERS

Only 4% (67) of the 1,645 survey respondents said that they had

come to EWOV with a water complaint − this is in line with the

proportion of total EWOV cases that concerned water companies

in the 2013-14 financial year5.

5 3% of cases received were about water in the 2013-14 financial year.

Although the majority of respondents had lodged an Assisted

Referral – consistent with what we would expect – the other

case level spread was somewhat different for survey respondents

than for EWOV water customers in 2013-14. Enquiries were

overrepresented in the survey: 8% of respondents said their case

was at this level. This is double the proportion (4%) of Enquiries

among total water cases in 2013-14. Unassisted Referrals were

substantially under-represented in the survey at only 2%; in the

2013-14 financial year, 22% of water cases were at this level.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of water customers (64%) advised

that their complaint with their water company related to a billing

issue6, and 16% said that their complaint involved customer

service issues. This closely reflects the make-up of overall EWOV

water cases in the 2013-14 financial year, during which 63% were

about Billing. Repeating the pattern seen in energy responses,

credit issues were identified as relevant by only 7% of water survey

respondents, whereas 14% of all water cases received for the

2013-14 financial year were primarily about this issue. This issue

may be under-represented because, as noted under the energy

section, customers with affordability issues are less likely to

respond to surveys and/or are reluctant to disclosure information

that they feel may be perceived negatively.

6 When responding to this question, customers were able to pick multiple issues - all that applied to their complaint.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Billing

Supp

ly

Custo

mer

Ser

vice

Land

Provis

ion

Credi

t

Mar

ketin

g

Tran

sfer

1% 1%7% 7%

10%16% 16%

64%

FIGURE 11.

What issue did the customer recently contact EWOV about?

54%

14%

11%

11%

2%

8%

Investigation

Real Time Resolution

None of these describesmy contact

Enquiry

FIGURE 12.

Case Levels

Assisted Referral

Unassisted Referral


Why water customers came to EWOV When we asked water customers what outcomes were important

to them and why they called EWOV for assistance, their

responses were similar to energy customers’: they wanted their

problem fixed, to be heard and to receive information.

Compared to energy customers, water customers were less

likely to call EWOV because of inadequate customer service,

wrong information or because their problem was not fixed. They

were more likely to call seeking independent advice, because

they weren’t offered a resolution or because they felt that the

resolution offered was not fair and reasonable.

These results suggest that customers have high expectations of

their water companies: they want problems fixed and for this to

be done in a fair and reasonable way. There may be scope for

water companies to improve customer satisfaction in the IDR

process by explaining how an offer is fair and reasonable and

meets the merits of a customer’s complaint.

FIGURE 14.

Why water customers called EWOV

I wanted independent advice/assistance

I couldn’t speak to the right person at the company

The company refused to escalate the complaint

I received poor/rude customer service from the company

46%

13%

17%

17%

40%

27%

25%

21%

10% 20% 30% 40%0% 50%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

To b

e hea

rd

Info

rmat

ion

Custo

mer

serv

ice g

estu

re

An apo

logy

88%

4% 3% 6%

85%

72%

58%

28%

Very important and important

Somewhat important

FIGURE 13.

Before contacting EWOV, what outcomes were important to

customers from their water company?

0% 0%


Steps water customers took to resolve complaints before coming to EWOVSimilarly to energy customers, water customers also provided

their company with multiple opportunities to resolve their

concerns: they called more than three times (49%), spent more

than an hour trying to fix the issue themselves with the company

(69%) and allowed between a week and a month to fix the issue

(62%).

However, our analysis also revealed some important differences.

Customers are attempting to resolve their complaint the same

number of times with energy and water companies, but energy

companies are taking longer to fix the issue. 78% of energy

respondents and 49% of water respondents contacted their

company more than three times to resolve their issue; however,

energy customers spent five times longer to get their issues fixed.

Water customers are giving their company less time to resolve

the issue, and are investing less of their own time to try and

resolve the complaint directly with the company before calling

EWOV.

The results may suggest that customers expect more from their

water company, and so get frustrated and seek external

dispute resolution assistance earlier. Alternatively, it may be that

customers expect good customer service from water companies,

but don’t have the same high expectations of energy companies.

The results show that customers are also giving water companies

multiple opportunities to resolve their complaint before seeking

EWOV’s assistance. To improve customers’ experiences of water

IDR processes, water companies should consider how they might

streamline the process, avoiding the need for multiple contacts

and prolonged time to resolution.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

More

than

10 ti

mes

6-10 ti

mes

3-5

times

Twice

Onc

e

10%

40%

33%

10%

6%

FIGURE 15.

How many times the customer contacted

the company to resolve the issue

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

More

than

5 h

ours

3-5

hour

s

1-2

hour

s

Under

1 ho

ur

31%

23% 23% 23%

FIGURE 16.

How much time the customer spent trying

to resolve the issue before calling EWOV

FIGURE 17.

How long the customer gave the company to

resolve the issue before calling EWOV

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

Betw

een

one w

eek

and

one m

onth

More

than

one

day

but

less

than

one

wee

k

One

day

One

pho

ne c

all

More

than

one

mont

h

I’m n

ot sur

e

2% 2%

29%

33%

25%

8%


Water customers’ perceptions of the service they receivedAlthough dissatisfaction with customer service was higher for

energy customers, the majority of water customers also told us

that they were dissatisfied with the customer service experienced

with the call centre (73%), manager (60%) and Assisted Referral

representative (31%).7

7 Percentages are for poor or needs improvement responses combined.

Water customers, however, were more likely than energy

customers to say that they received good or excellent customer

service from the call centre (10% water and 4% energy) or

manager (20% water and 5% energy)8.

Even though fewer water customers (19%) than energy customers

(32%) were refused an escalation to a manager, water customers

still reported that they experienced difficulty accessing higher

level contacts: 86% said that they either were not offered (40%)

or were refused an escalation to a manager (19%), or were only

provided escalation after they had requested it (27%). More

customers were proactively offered an escalation by a water

company (15%) than by an energy company (7%).

8 No respondents advised they received excellent customer service from the water company’s call centre or manager.

These results show that, while water customers also experienced

poor customer service at call centre and manager level and

found it difficult to access higher level contacts, they reported

more positive experiences than energy customers. At the Assisted

Referral level, there was little difference in the results for energy

and water.

Water companies could use respondents’ positive feedback

about Assisted Referral contacts to improve the customer service

experienced at the call centre and manager level. As with energy,

the results present an opportunity to assess why customer

satisfaction is linked to escalation points. They may also indicate

that willingness to escalate promptly and proactively might assist

with complaint prevention.

FIGURE 18.

How customers rated the water company’s

customer service

40%

27%

19%

15%

No - I did not ask to speak with amanager/supervisor/higher level contact

Yes - after I asked to speak with amanager/supervisor/higher level contact

No - I asked to speak with a manager/ supervisor/higher level contact but the company refused but the company refused

FIGURE 19.

Did the water corporation

escalate the customer’s

complaint before they

called EWOV

0%

20%

40%

60%

Poor

Needs improvement

Adequate / average

Good

Excellent

Not applicableCall Centre Manager Assisted Referral

46%

27%

45%

15%

20% 20%

0%

21%

10%

23%

6%

15%

25%

17%

10%

0%


CONCLUSIONS AND NEXT STEPS

The survey results show that customers expect that more will be

done to improve their experiences when contacting their energy

or water company about an issue.

Focusing on customer serviceEWOV recommends that companies consider the customer

sentiment expressed in the survey and how they can improve

the service they provide. It is important that energy and water

companies ensure that their frontline staff:

• are adequately trained and empowered to respond and

resolve customer complaints effectively

• have access to the right resources, so that customers

receive correct information when they make contact.

Reviewing the customer service provided by frontline staff and

proactively escalating complaints may reduce dissatisfaction and

ultimately EWOV involvement.

Providing right first time responsesResolving customers’ issues when they first call will also prevent

customers needing to make multiple attempts, spending

significant amount of time seeking a resolution or contacting

EWOV. When customers call their energy or water company to

discuss an issue, this is an opportunity to focus on getting the

response right from the beginning. Companies can improve their

resolution success rate and reduce future complaints to EWOV

by proactively responding to customer queries and complaints,

providing easy access to complaint escalation within the business,

engaging with customers, having a clear communication about

complaint progress and timeframes for resolution and ensuring

that they fix the customer’s issue.

Additionally, companies can learn from the information

customers have provided about:

• the number of times they contacted their company, hours

spent and time given to companies to resolve their issues

• escalating customer complaints

• what they seek to resolve their complaints

• why they call EWOV.

As the results suggest, customers contact EWOV because they

wanted independent advice or believed that the energy or water

company’s solution to their complaint is not fair and reasonable.

In some circumstances, EWOV would agree that the company

had provided the correct information and had done everything it

can to resolve the customer’s issues - yet the customer remains

dissatisfied. In these instances, EWOV acknowledges that often

there is little the company could have done to change the

outcome or prevent the customer contacting us. However,

the problem may be deeper than a simple issue, with the root

cause ultimately being a lack of trust in the advice provided by

the company. This indeed is a much broader issue, but one that

needs to be considered in the wider context of why customers

remain dissatisfied.

We believe that if energy and water companies focus on

improving customer service, the initial response to customer

queries and complaints and ultimately a trusting relationship with

their customers they can reduce the number of complaints with

EWOV, improve customer satisfaction and reduce the costs of

managing complaints.


GLOSSARY

Enquiry - An enquiry is a customer’s request for general

information (for example about the Smart Meter rollout). This

information may be provided by EWOV or the customer may be

referred to another agency.

Referred Complaint - EWOV does not know the outcome of

these referred complaints, except where the referral does not

resolve the issue for the customer and they come back to us.

There are two types of referred complaints:

• Unassisted Referral - Where a customer has not yet

spoken with their company about their complaint and they

are referred back to the company’s call centre.

• Assisted Referral - Where a customer has spoken

with someone at their company’s call centre about their

complaint, but it remains unresolved and the matter is

referred to a higher level complaint resolution officer at the

company.

Real Time Resolution - EWOV’s Real Time Resolution Team

receives failed Assisted Referral calls from customers and then

works to negotiate a fair and reasonable resolution of the

complaint – all within a one-call approach.

Investigation - A complaint for investigation is registered where:

• an Assisted Referral or Real Time Resolution case has failed,

the matter remains unresolved, and the customer has

recontacted EWOV, or

• the matter is complex and unlikely to be resolved as an

Assisted Referral or by Real Time Resolution, or

• the company has requested an escalation to an

Investigation.

EWOV ISSUE CATEGORIES

Based on the customer’s statement, EWOV sometimes registers

two or more issues for the one case – for example, estimated

billing and a solar feed-in tariff not being applied to an account.

EWOV staff register cases by fuel (electricity, gas, LPG or water)

and case type (enquiry and complaint). Also, a customer may

have issues with two different companies at the same time.

• Billing – generating and sending bills, and payment

processes.

• Credit – unpaid bills and the action taken to collect

arrears, including supply disconnection/restriction and debt

collection.

• Customer Service – the level of service received or not

received.

• Land – the effect of company activities or network assets

on a customer’s property.

• Provision – the connection of a property to the energy or

water network.

• Marketing – how energy retailers go about gaining new

customers.

• Supply – the physical delivery of the energy or water

service.

• Transfer – switching an account to a new energy retailer.

Documents

“CAN I SPEAK WITH A MANAGER?”€¦ · 14 steps water customers took to resolve complaints before coming to ewov 15 water customers’ perceptions of the service they received