Customers still confused over electricity tariffs ENERGY companies are not doing enough to offer clear information to customers about tariffs and charges, according to a survey of telesales carried out by Which? Although companies are getting better at telling customers about the cheapest deals available the survey, carried out by mystery shoppers, discovered many companies were offering confusing explanations of how their deals worked. In mny cases, important det­ails such as exit fees were not mentioned upfront. The Which? survey rated Scottish Power and Southern Electric most highly, with both British Gas and npower faring worst overall. When it came to offering the cheapest tariff, Southern Electric, EDF and British Gas provided the correct information in all calls. In half of all the phone calls made to npower the mystery shoppers were not informed about the exit fees which would apply if customers decided to change their account. Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: "It's good that the information given by energy company salespeople has once again improved, which reflects the work already done to make tariffs simpler, but we've found that some are still struggling to provide customers with the correct prices for their cheapest tariffs. Our research shows that energy telesales staff can be just as confused by the tariffs and pricing on offer as their customers, which means people have less chance of finding the best deal. As it stands, the energy market just isn't working well enough. If consumers are to be confident of getting a fair deal the Government must go further with their proposed reforms and require all suppliers to use single unit prices for their tariffs, so that people can spot the cheapest deal at a glance. According to research from uSwitch, six out of ten energy customers have never switched tariffs and three-quarters of households are paying standard prices which are far more expensive than they need to be. Tom Lyon, energy expert at uswitch, said: "There are some welcome improvements here and it's good to see that more consumers are able to get a better deal from calling their current supplier. However, there's a difference between getting a better deal and getting the best deal. They could still be missing out, as their supplier will only be able to tell them about their own tariffs - more than likely there will be another supplier offering a more competitive deal. This is why it's so important for consumers to get an independent and impartial comparison across all the market - this is the only way of being sure that you are getting the best available deal and the only way of knowing how your supplier really stacks up. Glasgow MP John Robertson, who sits on the energy and climate change committee said: "It is sad and disappointing that, while the situation has improved, energy companies still do not always offer the cheapest deals to their customers. If sales staff find the task of calculating the cheapest tariff difficult, how are other people, with no experience of the system, supposed to navigate their way round? "I fear the energy barons are still relying on customers" inexperience to line their pockets, and particularly preying on vulnerable people who might take their advice at face value." Angela Knight, CBE, chief executive of Energy UK, said: "It is important that all energy customers have access to good value tariffs as well as the right advice at the right time."