EDF Energy to pay £3m after customer complaints, Ofgem says
EDF Energy will pay £3m to customers as the supplier failed to handle complaints about their IT system, the regulator Ofgem said on Friday.
An Ofgem investigation concluded EDF Energy breached complaint handling rules during the implementation of a new IT system in 2011.
The energy supplier, part of France's Électricité de France, saw a 30% increase in complaints about the system, but did not have "appropriate procedures in place" to deal with these complaints between May 2011 and January 2012, the regulator found.
Ofgem senior partner, Sarah Harrison, said EDF Energy and the industry as a whole should "put customers first and put adequate resources in place to deal with complaints".
"Following our reforms, it has never been easier for consumers to switch supplier and therefore those unhappy with the service they receive are able to vote with their feet," she said.
Meanwhile, EDF Energy's managing director of customers, Beatrice Bigois, said: "Despite our best efforts and extensive planning to manage this transition in 2011 without impacting our customers, we recognise that for a period of time the service to our customers was not up to the standards they deserve. We apologise to those customers who were impacted during this period."
JF