We'll Call You - EDF Energy

marketingmagazine.co.uk, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 12:00AM

The company faces a £3.5m bill for breaching its marketing licence. Mole wanted to know whether our dear old ma would be among the customers to benefit.

EDF: Hello, how can I help you?

Mktg: Hello. I have concerns about the running of you business. My mum is an elderly pensioner, who uses EDF. I have been reading all these reports about EDF being hit with a multimillion-pound fine it must pay to customers. Will my mum see any of this money?

EDF: Possibly. Does she qualify for the warm home discount?

Mktg: Yes, as far I know.

EDF: Right then, she should qualify for the money. This means that she should receive £50 taken from the £3.5m fine, as we are looking to give the money to the old and the customers who most need it. It sounds to me as if your mum qualifies for it.

Mktg: That's good news. But how does my mum know she can trust EDF? They have been fined, from my understanding, for doorstepping houses to try and get more customers. My mum and her neighbours are very annoyed about this.

EDF: Well, the best advice I can offer you is to get your mum to give us a call and we can talk to her about whether she is on the right price plan. We are, of course, happy to talk through any issues she may have. For us to have a proper chat with her, however, she must give us her account details, so we can talk through the issues.

Mktg: OK, that sounds fair. Does she need to talk to anyone in particular? Or does she need to get through to the customer helpline?

EDF: She can just come through to the customer helpline, that is fine, and speak to anyone in the call centre.

Mktg: Will you be sending out any correspondence about the level of service from EDF from now on?

EDF: Not to my knowledge. It is not something we have been briefed on.

Mktg: OK, thanks for your help.

VERDICT: 7 OUT OF 10

The call-handler was courteous and cautious about giving information to someone who did not hold an EDF account. However, some of her answers lacked conviction, giving the impression she was not completely confident about their accuracy.

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk