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.
3Can 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
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
4 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
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)
5Can 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
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.
6 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
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*
*24% of respondents preferred not to say.
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.
In the survey, repondents could select more than one option for these questions.
*
7Can 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
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*
*24% of respondents preferred not to say.
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.
In the survey, repondents could select more than one option for these questions.
*
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.
8 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
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
9Can 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
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%
10 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
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%
11Can 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
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
12 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
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
13Can 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
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%
14 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
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%
15Can 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
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%
16 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
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.
17Can 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
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.