Poor Customer Service Costs Scottish Power £18 million

Energy provider Scottish Power have been fined £18 million as a result of the poor service their customers receive. It has been announced that they tried to integrate a new IT system and during this, faced problems with operations. Customers had to wait for unacceptably long periods of time before their calls were answered. Complaints were also handled unprofessionally and took an extended time to be resolved.

The fine Scottish Power received is the third biggest to be handed to one of the big six emergency providers. An Ofgem regulator said the emergency provider had even failed to provide the basics in customer service.

Disaster Recovery Methods Should Always Be Implemented

Scottish power who provides services to 32 million customers blamed the new IT system for the failure in their customer service. However, if they had of implemented the correct disaster recovery method before integrating the system they could have avoided a lot of trouble and dodged the hefty fine.

Customers Prefer Quality Service Over Price

In a service led market, customers care more about the service they receive rather than the prices they pay. Customer service should be the first thing businesses invest in and it should never be forgotten about. Companies should take what has happened to Sottish power as a warning and a lesson to review the service they offer.

What Changes Can Be Made?

Investing in outsourcing providers to act as a backup, should companies face problems with their systems, can act as a lifeline. CALLCARE handles calls for a number of companies who unlike Scottish Power, have invested money into their customer service department should something go wrong. CALLCARE are on hand 24/7 to take calls for businesses no matter what should happen. We give businesses an excellent customer service solution and the peace of mind that if something should happen we are there to help.

Posted by Gemma Harding

As Head of Client Services, Gemma is an expert in the customer service industry. With over 20 years of experience in the call handling process she will guide your organisation to an improved customer service strategy. Hobbies include all thing equestrian.

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