Customers use social media to vent anger at energy firms

While the 'big 6' and the Government squabble, customers have taken to social media to vent their frustrations about customers treatment and price hikes.

Brandwatch, a firm who monitors what's being said online has crunched some numbers to see who comes out on top and who fares worst.

They've tracked a 195 per cent increase in chat about the big six online as the price increases were announced.

Scottish Power received the most negative comments, followed by British Gas and NPower - E.On had the least.

With social media becoming an ever more important battleground, companies know it matters what is being said.

Read: Twitter users turn the heat on British Gas director

Joel Windels, from Brandwatch said:

Here are the statistics.

• Chatter related to the big six made up a staggering 152,561 mentions in total over a one month period

• This number has increased 195% since September (51,782) as conversation swelled around the recent price rise announcements

• While the majority of the online conversation involved people factually reporting the price hikes, negative mentions outweighed positive mentions by over 50% (11,490 negative mentions over the month)

• Popular energy hashtags included #greedybellends and #freezethatbill

• Of the six companies, Scottish Power accumulated the most negative conversation about its service (13%), jointly followed by British Gas and NPower (8% each)

• E.ON was the most positively viewed operator with fewer than 1,000 negative mentions (652) to its name

• Londoners emerged as those most likely to complain online, with Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow tweeters taking 2nd, 3rd and 4th place

• The main complaints from the public were (ranked in order): Poor customer service, Long telephone waits, Bad communication and Overcharged bills

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