ScottishPower slapped with sales ban and forced to give 'free electricity'
Regulator Ofgem has issued Iberdrola-owned ScottishPower with a temporary sales ban after the electricity company failed to properly deal with customer complaints.
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ScottishPower, which is a subsidiary of the Spanish utility Iberdrola after being taken over in 2006, has been banned from conducting proactive sales for 12 days from today and been forced to give affected customers free energy until issues are resolved.
The electricity supplier had failed to meet Ofgem's target to clear a backlog of outstanding ombudsman decisions on customer complaints.
In November, Ofgem launched an investigation after ScottishPower’s customers were suffering long call waiting times, receiving late bills and the firm was not implementing decisions from the energy ombudsman.
“While Ofgem’s targets have driven significant improvements in ScottishPower’s performance, we remain very concerned about how customers are being treated," said Ofgem’s senior partner in charge of enforcement, Sarah Harrison.
“As well as our ongoing investigation, we require ScottishPower to undertake an independent audit of its progress on improving customer service. We will keep the need for any further action under review.”