Islands Energy Group denies moving customer service department to Scotland

A politician in the Isle of Man recently claimed that IEG's customer calls were all being directed to a call centre in Scotland. Credit: ITV Channel

Islands Energy Group - the gas supplier in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man - has denied claims it has relocated its customer service department to Scotland.

A Manx politician told the Tynwald - the island's parliament - that 26 members of staff in Glasgow will answer calls from customers in the three Crown Dependencies.

John Wannenburgh, the former chair of the island's Office of Fair Trading, was discussing Isle of Man Energy's recent decision to cease in-person customer service by closing counters.

He said: "As long as they are operating within their framework they are perfectly entitled to do what they want.

"If they fall short of answering customers' expectations then, of course, we can get involved, but we cannot mandate what they must do."

Mr Wannenburgh continued: "Is 26 people enough for 40,000 customers?... It is not just our customers here but also in Jersey and Guernsey. Of course, I would say no."

However, a spokesperson for Island Energy Group denied that its customer service department had been moved to Scotland.

Instead, they said IEG recently took on an external telephone answering service - which is based in Glasgow - to field customer calls at busy times, alongside its own staff.

It comes after the company faced widespread billing issues, with customers being told they owed money, while others were told their Direct Debit payments would more than double.


Want to find out more about the stories making the headlines? Don't miss Channelcast - the Channel Islands current affairs podcast brought to you by ITV News: