Energy Ombudsman Recensioni 

Failed to investigate 2/3 of cases raised, claiming they were duplicates even though in relation to separate addresses.
Outcome was totally predictable as they are owned by Trust Alliance, who's directors are heavily invested in protecting the markets that they claim to represent. My story had been syndicated to Channel 5 who are running an expose on the monopoly they are trying to create. Thankfully the new government is on board and is committed to shutting these charlatans down and jailing those responsible for cheating the consumer.

Can’t fault the process and the way everything was explained and carried out by my assigned officer Andrew!
My first time in using this service

This was the second case we had to raise regarding the same complaint, and unfortunately, both cases were closed even though we found that the required remedies had not actually been implemented.

After the energy company submitted its “Resolution Evidence”, we carefully reviewed all of the documents and identified multiple discrepancies, including missing goodwill credits, missing credits for previous payments, and incorrect rates that had not been corrected as required by the Ombudsman’s decision.

We raised these specific issues with the case handler and provided the relevant evidence. However, the response was simply that the Ombudsman was satisfied that all remedies had been implemented and that we should contact the energy company directly.

This is particularly disappointing because the discrepancies were identified precisely by reviewing the evidence submitted by the energy company. We expected the Ombudsman to review the evidence and address the specific points we raised, rather than simply directing us back to the energy company.

After going through two cases relating to the same issue, we are very disappointed with the outcome and the way our concerns were handled. The purpose of using an ombudsman service is to provide an independent resolution when a consumer and a company cannot resolve a dispute themselves. In our experience, this did not happen.

Something which I had been struggling to sort out for months was quickly resolved by the Ombudsman.

I cant fault my experience at all. After sending the initial complaint information in, I received a call within 1 week and my case manager had read everything, he relayed everything back to me that showed he understood exactly where I was coming from and so I didn't need to repeat any information. He kept keeping updated when there was new information, and when I rejected the companies 1st response and offer, it was thoroughly dealt with by Micheal my case manager. I got the result i had been expecting with every point I made being upheld, and a little compensation. Overall a good experience and cant thank Micheal enough for fighting my corner!

Absolute waste of time. They claim to be independent, but it is clear that they are not.
Disregarded all the relevant information and timescales.
I appealed and the same person wrote to me with the exact same outcome.
I put a complaint in about how this person disregarded all the relevant information and it was passed back to her to respond.
Our complaint started in June, but they kept starting it in November. Completely ignoring their failures.

I escalated the complaint again, to explain I didn't want the DRE involved, and that the complaint was about them, not the outcome. The manager , Kelsey, called me. She agreed that there was a number of steps that we could complete, and that she would email me with a clear itinerary of what was required.
She said this would be completed by the next day. I explained that I would rather it completed right, than rushed. So, we agreed on actions rather than timelines.
The following morning was confirmed.
The next thing I know, I have a formal outcome citing insufficient evidence.

No Sh*t... You never messaged me to explain what you needed. You never challenged the energy supplier on what was missing.
Just out to protect their own, and the energy supplier.
If you are considering this process, forget it... They are corrupt and inept.
Save yourself the heartache.

I was having issues with an old energy supplier and the energy ombudsman helped get the issue resolved. They've been a great help

I wish tp.point out that as the emergy ombudsman uses the same generic reply to every complaint is a clear indicator of how little they actually care for the publics opinions or complaints

As expected the paper tiger 🐅 the enargy Ombudsman operating against British Gas, Centrica, a complete total white wash, covering up, for the curruption that is Centrica, British Gas, this so called impartial Ombudsman, seems to be totally incompetent, or are they, need now to appeal, I truly don't understand how this ridiculous, and useless, Ombudsman can have any stars 🙄

The Energy Ombudsman investigates with fairness, integrity and transparency, they made all stages of the process understandable and escalated in a timely manner. Staff is friendly and service is good, solution is fair and reasonable.

After a long and protracted case, the case manager allowed the energy supplier to file further evidence after the date for further submissions had passed. However you did not pass on the same curiosity to ourselves. The Energy supplier submitted evidence that contain unauthorised third party data and we recommended that this breach of the data protection act be reported to the relevant authorities, we were inform that this function was not the responsibility of the Energy Ombudsman Service. Their case managers are never wrong and cannot be appealed against. As a direct consequence they perform like little HITLERS and are untouchables. You cannot appeal to a higher authority than a case manager, which is a problem if your complaint is regarding said case manager. We have recommended to ALL our contacts not to waste their time in raising a complaint with the Energy Ombudsman Service. . Our conclusion is that we must agree with the majority of complainants that they are strongly bias toward your pay masters and there is little point in raising a complaint. We would respectfully suggest that complaints should be investigated by independent third parties

I was exremely lucky to have a Brilliant Energy Ombudsman and matters were dealt with in a professional way.

Easy to deal with and very clear (verbal) explanation of the process. If you have a genuine issue that you are getting nowhere with by engaging direct with the supplier, the Energy Ombudsman is amazing.

While I received initial positive and fair assistance at the beginning of my case, your team later didn’t do enough to protect against my energy supplier, EON who forced me into a inferior tariff with more peak charges by changing my electricity meter without notifying me of a tariff change (which is against Ofgem regulations) until 6 months after forcing me into deadlock when I questioned why I had less off peak hours.

After nearly a year chasing both British Gas and the EON to pay me the thousands of pounds they owed me for the solar energy I exported I finally resorted to the Ombudsman.
My experience is they were easy to contact and seemed sincere however as time went on I realised that they have no real power.
The greedy immoral utility companies know this and consequently ignore the final decision made by the Ombudsman. They know perfectly well that they will never ever get fined so carry on treating their customers with utter contempt.
My broker described the Energy Ombudsman as a Toothless Tiger which is a diplomatic way of saying they are simply not fit for purpose.
They are a completely useless organisation and basically not worth even bothering to get in touch with as they won’t dare fine the evil utility companies

Ombudsman did exactly what I was expected. Great response time and satisfied with the outcome.

Unfortunately, my experience with the Energy Ombudsman has also been extremely disappointing. I have contacted them by email regarding my case and have received no response to the emails I have sent. It is incredibly frustrating to reach the point where the supplier has admitted making a mistake, only to then struggle to get a response from the organisation that is supposed to independently review the dispute.

I am simply trying to get my complaint properly heard and independently assessed.

At this stage, I am extremely disappointed with the entire process — from being given incorrect information by British Gas, to having the resulting complaint handled in a way that I do not consider satisfactory, and then experiencing difficulties getting a response from the Energy Ombudsman.

I hope this review prompts both organisations to take the situation seriously and, most importantly, actually address the concerns I have raised.

A very frustrating experience from start to finish.

Absolutely useless they don't listen. I am sure they did NOT understand my case, they gave me no option but to close my case (NO OPTION) Disgusting close them down and save the tax payers some money!!!

Clear communication and process managed by one Case Manager (Ross Pell) who could not have been more attentive, clear and organised. The process is very fair, well-documented and efficient.

I have had to deal with the Energy Ombudsman on two separate occasions, involving different matters, and unfortunately my experience was essentially the same both times.

I found the process one-sided and lacking the level of independent scrutiny I would expect from an organisation whose role is to resolve disputes fairly. Evidence and arguments I raised did not appear to receive proper consideration, while the energy company’s position seemed to be given considerably more weight.

Having now experienced the process twice and reached the same conclusion on both occasions, I have very little confidence in the service.

Consumers usually approach an ombudsman because they have already exhausted the normal complaints process. They should be able to expect genuine independence, careful examination of the evidence and a fair opportunity to have their concerns properly considered.

Based on my experience, I would not recommend relying on the Energy Ombudsman for meaningful redress. Think carefully before investing significant time and effort in the process.
‐‐----------------------------------Update following the Energy Ombudsman’s response:
--------------‐---------------------------

The response below is exactly the kind of generic reassurance that caused me to lose confidence in the process in the first place. It does not address what actually happened in my case.

The Energy Ombudsman states that it considers the evidence presented by both parties impartially. However, in my case, its own correspondence later confirmed two serious problems with the investigation.

First, the Ombudsman acknowledged that some of the evidence I submitted could not be opened and that I had not been given an opportunity to resubmit it before the decision was made.

Second, and even more concerning, the Ombudsman expressly acknowledged that Scottish Power had submitted a response which “was not relevant to your case.”

Those are not minor administrative issues.

On one side, material submitted by the consumer could not be accessed before the decision. On the other, the supplier submitted material which the Ombudsman itself later accepted was not relevant to the case.

Yet a decision was still reached, and I was subsequently told that everything had been taken into consideration.

That is precisely why I consider the process to have been one-sided and to have created a clear appearance of evidential imbalance. A process cannot simply be described as impartial; its handling of the evidence must demonstrate impartiality in practice.

I formally complained about evidence handling and procedural fairness and specifically questioned how the Ombudsman could maintain that all relevant evidence had been properly considered in those circumstances.

Their public response still does not answer that question.

My criticism is therefore not simply that I disliked the outcome. It concerns the integrity of the investigation process itself: inaccessible consumer evidence, irrelevant supplier material, and a final position that nevertheless maintained that the case had been properly and impartially assessed.

Having experienced serious concerns with the Energy Ombudsman on two separate occasions, I remain of the view that consumers should approach the service with caution and should retain complete records of everything they submit.

I stand by my review.