After all, why do our GDNs have consumer satisfaction measures? It’s why industry has Trustpilot ratings and why we conduct annual membership surveys. But occasionally real-world experiences of how our industry treats consumers just lands on your lap, or in the case I’m going to describe, my in-box.

I have a smart electric meter and like most people I pay by direct debit. I am usually in credit and each year request my overpayments back (should I earn interest on it yes, but that fight is for another day). Two week’s ago I received an email from my provider saying my monthly direct debit was being increased, by 67 per cent. You can imagine my reaction, a WTF moment.

Like all good bean counters, still a proud member of that profession, I went through my statements. The bills helpfully tell you what the estimated annual cost is likely to be and no surprise, at the end of June my existing direct debit was in excess of my estimated annual bill. Just as it always has done. But my supplier issued a statement on July 15^th which predicted my annual cost to double, hence the increased in direct debit.

So, I made the phone call , as any consumer would do. I was told the reason was the increase in the July energy price cap! At that point I stopped the conversation; I told the call handler that I worked in the energy industry and that a 6 per cent increase in the unit rate would not double my bill. So, yes, I am back to my previous direct debit level but that’s not the point of this blog.

What is important, is that the call handler would not have just made up that line. They work to scripts. Someone at an energy supplier authorised that line to be used to people querying direct debit increases. It’s not a Post Office scandal; it’s not water companies hiding what they are doing but a low level of disregard for consumers. It’s bad practice and needs to stop.