Customer Emma Blackstone was so fed up with big energy businesses making it difficult for consumers to contact them, she decided to help consumers get in touch with them by setting up Energy Company Numbers to by-pass the often frustrating and expensive ‘0845’ call-centre phone numbers.
Numbers for British Gas, E.ON and SWALEC are already online – and numbers for Scottish Power and SSE have recently been added.
Nearly all energy suppliers use an online ticketing system to handle customer complaints and queries. The trouble with these systems is that they have no human element to them, and finding a solution to a problem can take days or even weeks – and in themselves often serve to simply amplify an initial query or complaint.
Many people, Emma included, have wasted lots of time and effort trying to find a customer service number for their energy service provider. Consumers should be able to speak to a representative but, most fail at finding an appropriate number.
To make it easier for consumers, Emma listed unique 0843 telephone numbers for a number of energy suppliers on the website. Each number available has been designed to get you through to the appropriate human being as quickly as possible.
The website which has been live for 12 months, now contains a comprehensive directory and with new numbers being added monthly, Blackstone hopes that energy companies will no longer be able to fob customers off with online ticketing systems or useless live chat widgets.
“The site is of tremendous value to all those people fed up of not being able to find a contact number for the ‘untouchable’ energy provider,” said Emma Blackstone, Founder of Energy Company Numbers. “In the UK, more and more energy consumers are looking for a solution and now, thanks to Energy Company Numbers, consumers will be able to get hold of a human customer service representative.”
Blackstone has now turned her attention to banks and finance businesses, which like energy providers are often elusive with their contact details.