Good Energy Reviews 2020: customer service, tariffs & more
As the UK’s first dedicated 100% renewable electricity provider, Good Energy is doing a lot of things right. But how does it fare when it comes to customer satisfaction? We dug through a number of different consumer review sites to bring you a roundup of the best and worst Good Energy reviews, direct from its own customers.
Good Energy Reviews: An Overview
In line with its own branding, let’s take a look at the good news first. Good Energy has a very respectful overall score of 4.2/5 on Trustpilot, one of the UK’s leading consumer review websites. However, if we break that down, you may notice a slightly different picture:
| ★★★★★ | 57% |
| ★★★★ | 17% |
| ★★★ | 8% |
| ★★ | 5% |
| ★ | 13% |
Here we can see that over half of the 2,189 Good Energy customer reviews left at the time of writing were a full 5 out of 5 stars or ‘excellent’. Customers were mostly pleased with Good Energy’s customer service and commitment to the environment.
Only 13% of customers left bad reviews, with issues such as billing problems and failure to respond to customer queries repeatedly cropping up.
However, the Good Energy customer reviews left on Google Maps paint a very different picture, with an average rating of 2.3 at the time of writing.
Among customers’ main gripes were miscalculated bills, unannounced price hikes and the difficulty in switching away from Good Energy. Let’s take a look at some of these reviews in more detail.
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Good Energy Customer Service
Firstly, let’s focus on customer service. This is an area where Good Energy generally performed very well in and was the main source of positive reviews from long-term and new customers alike. In particular, older customers and those with English as a second language found its call centre agents to be patient and helpful, offering clear and uncomplicated advice.
Good Energy is a company that I trust - and it is not often you hear that about an energy company. Their customer service is excellent and their tariffs are straightforward. All their electricity comes from renewable sources and the tariffs are not ridiculous when you renew, so you are not forced to find a new supplier!
Trying to get in touch with Good Energy? Take a look at our Good Energy contact page to find the phone number or email you need.
On the flip side, customers who were wrongly billed or told they were unable to switch to another supplier found Good Energy’s customer service less than helpful, with many tales of being sent on a wild goose chase from one department to another and long waiting times.
Customer service is appalling. They have repeatedly miscalculated my bill. They have promised to either email me or phone me on several occasions and failed to do so every time. I'm only sticking with them because I believe in green energy, but I am actively seeking an alternative supplier.
Tariffs and Prices
The majority of Good Energy’s customers make their energy provider choice based on Good Energy’s commitment to renewable energy, and this shows in the online reviews of its prices. Many positive reviews acknowledged that Good Energy isn’t the cheapest supplier on the market, but commented on the fact that they don’t mind paying a premium for the ‘feel-good factor’ of helping the environment in some form.
I've been with Good Energy for nearly 5 years now, joining them when I had my solar panels installed, choosing them as my feed-in tariff payment people too. They've always been a pleasure to deal with. I might be able to get a cheaper deal elsewhere if I searched, but I'd rather be served by a company I can trust, with energy ethics, and that invest in green energy.
Bills and Account Management
This seems to be the area that Good Energy performs worst in. Many reviews claim to have unknowingly underpaid in their first year and then been hit with extra charges in the second year of their contract to compensate.
Other customers have mentioned the lack of clarity in Good Energy’s billing, with some customers unsure what certain charges were, or in rare cases, finding that the charges on their paper statement didn’t match up with that on the online app.
Please move to a green energy supplier but don't use this one. My experience was terrible, very expensive, poor billing. This company dragged me into debt with their price rises, spent many months overpaying to get rid of the outstanding balance. Only to find, even though reassurances by them I would be finally clear, went to leave only to find my final bill left me with another debt to pay. This company caused me to be in fuel poverty. Please look elsewhere!
One area customers gave Good Energy kudos was its commitment to eliminating the physical paper trail through its online portal and smartphone app. From here customers are able to view bills and statements, make payments, monitor their usage and contact the supplier.
Yes, at first there were a few teething problems with the billing, and there were some staffing shortages which impacted on their response times. However, now the new app and improved customer service (which was always good anyway) has made Good Energy an all-round good supplier.
Good Energy Complaint Handling
Based on Good Energy’s own data, we can see that the energy firm received 3,044 complaints in 2019. Of these, just 62% were dealt with on the day of the complaint, while 89.75% were resolved at eight weeks, the point where customers can escalate their grievance to the Energy Ombudsman.
Energy Ombudsman Contact Number
Telephone: 0330 440 1624
*Monday to Friday: 8.00am-8.00pm, Saturday: 8.00am-1.00pm
(Closed on bank holidays)
The most common reasons for domestic customer complaints were:
- Billing
- Payments
- Switching
- Metering
- Customer service
In Good Energy’s defence, the supplier has promised to work with customers to put measures in place to reduce billing errors and delays. With the smart meter rollout, estimated bills should become less of an issue, as customers are able to see their energy use in real time.
Good Energy Reviews: The Verdict
Although Which?’s latest annual survey for customer satisfaction did not factor in Good Energy due to a lack of responses, we give Good Energy a final customer score of 3/5, when taking into account customer reviews on sites such as Trustpilot and Google.
As a supplier that is committed to clean energy by carbon offsetting its gas supply and sourcing its electricity from the sun, wind and water, it certainly doesn’t have the cheapest tariffs around. However, its customers don’t seem to mind the trade-off of paying more than they would with a less eco-friendly energy provider.
Another point in its favour is Good Energy’s customer service, which is where the majority of its positive reviews came from. The supplier has also made a push to promote its online portal and app in an effort to reduce the load on its call centre agents.
It seems like the main area to watch out for is its billing. If you’re a Good Energy customer, make sure you submit regular meter readings to avoid a nasty surprise.
If you’re still not sure about Good Energy, why not give one of our energy experts a call on 02039 360059 or check our online comparison tool to see if we can find you a better deal in 2020.