Good Energy forced a household in the UK to sit in dark for two days after they switched from one energy provider to Good Energy. The new customer had to throw their frozen food away as a result.
Good Energy sent a direct debit form to the customer while the meter at the property is a pre-paid type and Good Energy failed to realise this. As it is evident Good Energy is really good at collecting money but otherwise when it comes to customer service and providing energy.
What's even worse for the customer was to receive a letter on Friday 14 March being informed that "Good Energy is pleased to" welcome the household as Good Energy customer. At this point the customer had not enough money on their meter and immediately contacted Good Energy to realise the company only operates Monday - Friday between 8:30am - 5:30pm. Being informed two days after becoming a customer of Good Energy is frustrating enough but worrying about sitting in dark can be very stressful.
The customer asked for numerous calls back for Monday 17 March both over the weekend and on Monday; but Good Energy failed to accommodate the new customer's needs despite its very emergency nature. The situation was clearly explained to the Good Energy customer care; they must have treated the matter as an emergency. What they needed to do was just sending a key to the customer to use for their energy supply. This is what Good Energy said in an statement sent to the customer; with no sense of sympathy and a genuine apology:
The customer wasted money and time on 0845 number (using mobile) to speak with Good Energy customer care; but due to "busy" agents calls weren't taken. Obviously there is so much time in a day and people work and have responsibilities to attend; facts Good Energy failed to acknowledge until the customer took the matter on Twitter on Tuesday 18 March when they had to sit in dark and unable to carry their usual work.
Good Energy tweeted back to take the conversation offline (as part of their "reputation management" plan). Good Energy failed to apologise however they admitted on the phone that they failed to provide the customer with the key on an appropriate time; their excuse was that they are a small supplier now but they do not take responsibility for the situation the new customer had to go through.
As Good Energy failed to apologise and blamed the customer instead; the customer said that they will take this matter further and requested a confirmation of decision made by Good Energy.
This is what Good Energy confirmed to the new customer:
Please share your thoughts and comments about this article; you or perhaps you know someone experienced something similar?