British Gas voted 'worst company for keeping people on hold' - uSwitch.com comments

New research published by onepoll.com names and shames British Gas for its poor telephone service.

Callers regularly left hanging on the phone for over 45 minutes Almost a third (31%) of people say they have received a final notice or a final warning after failing to get through on the phone.

The results are a further blow to British Gas' already tarnished reputation for customer service, says uSwitch.com, the independent, online switching and comparison service, which points out that the energy giant was only recently reprimanded and fined for keeping its Click Energy customers hanging on for long periods on a premium rate telephone line2.

Geoff Slaughter, energy product manager at uSwitch.com, says: "We are seeing a constant drip, drip, drip as concerns and criticism erode any remaining confidence in British Gas' ability to provide good customer service".

"Only last month it had its knuckles rapped and was slapped with a GBP5,000 fine for keeping customers hanging on a premium rate line2".

""British Gas also came last for overall satisfaction in uSwitch.com's Energy Customer Satisfaction Report with 56% of customers not satisfied3.

It also receives almost three times more complaints per million customer accounts than the other suppliers4 yet, until its recent price drop, was the most expensive supplier".

""British Gas needs to re-focus on its customers urgently if it is to stem the tide of those flooding away and begin to reverse the damage its shoddy service has caused its reputation".

"Its market share has dropped below 50% for the first time, standing at 48% in October 065, and it is losing customers at a rate of 1 customer every 19 seconds6.- this is no longer something British Gas can afford to ignore." Other energy suppliers listed in the poll1 were npower - coming in 8th - and ScottishPower - listed 15th.

Powergen, which is investing in improving its customer service, was not named.

For more information visit uSwitch.com or call 0800 093 06 07.

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