Scots power firms top satisfaction poll By Jane Bradley Published on Tuesday 3 April 2012 01:09 SCOTTISH energy firms ScottishPower and SSE are the only power companies with more satisfied than dissatisfied customers, an annual survey has revealed. A report from energy regulator Ofgem showed that customers are seeing a steady improvement in their overall satisfaction with the complaints handling processes of the largest energy suppliers - but the watchdog warned that further action is required. NPower and EDF are identified as the worst for having the largest proportion of customers who said they were dissatisfied with the complaints process - while householders said that companies" ability to deal with complaints quickly was one of the biggest gripes. They also complained that they were rarely given contact details to follow a query up further if necessary. While there has been a decrease in the number of times a customer needs to contact their supplier until a complaint is resolved - only one in six complaints are fixed after just one conversation with the customer. "The research has identified a number of priority areas where suppliers can focus their efforts for improving customer satisfaction in future," said Ofgem. It added: "For domestic customers there are significant improvements in overall satisfaction for all suppliers since 2010. Consistent with 2010 is ScottishPower and SSE boasting highest levels of satisfaction, and are the only suppliers to have more customers satisfied than dissatisfied. UK-wide, two in five domestic customers expressed satisfaction with the way their complaint was handled, compared to around one in four in 2010. But dissatisfaction remains high, with around half of all respondents remaining either "quite" or "very" dissatisfied with the way the complaint was handled, according to the survey, which is the third carried out by Ofgem. This year's report follows action by Ofgem last year when it fined British Gas £2.5 million and NPower £2m as a result of investigations into the suppliers" complaints handling processes. A third investigation into EDF Energy is currently underway. Trisha McAuley, deputy director at Consumer Focus Scotland, warned that companies still needed to up their game in terms of customer service. "It's positive that there has been some improvement in how customer's energy complaints are handled," she said." However, there is still a very long way to go - with around half of consumers dissatisfied. The energy industry routinely tops the charts as the sector least trusted by consumers in Scotland and the customer service they receive is a significant factor in this. Neil Clitheroe, chief executive of ScottishPower Energy Retail, said the company had last year launched a drive to focus on customer service. "We constantly strive to improve customer experience," he added. More can still be done, especially if we want to continue to lead the market with customer innovation. A spokesman for SSE said: "We are proud of the way we handle complaints and pleased that SSE has one of the highest satisfaction levels reported, however we are committed to continuous improvement."