So Energy Reviews: How good is their customer service?

Is So Energy’s customer service any good?

Small suppliers like So Energy can seem like an appealing alternative to the “Big 6“, especially when they offer affordable green energy. But prospective customers also want to know that they’ll get a high standard of customer service.

Looking at So Energy’s website, we can see that they make all the right claims to pique the interest of energy consumers who have heard it all before. They claim to use the latest technology to keep their operations at peak efficiency, so that they can pass the savings onto their customers. They make the bold promise that their fixed-rate energy tariff will always be one of the best deals on the market.

But while cutting operational costs to deliver cheaper energy sounds great, some customers may worry that this will come at the expense of customer service.

Just how good is So Energy’s customer service?

Let’s take a look at some customer reviews to find out…

So Energy reviews: What do customers say about them?

There are lots of places where we can look online to find customer review data. Most of our investigation will rely on data from the company’s Trustpilot page. We will also reference reviews taken from their Reviews.io page as well as data from the Citizens Advice energy supplier customer service rankings.

On its Trustpilot page, So Energy has a very impressive overall customer service score of 4.8 out of 5 at the time of writing. This puts them at the upper end of “Excellent”.

Out of 5,105 reviews left by customers:

• 4,451 (87%) were rated “Excellent”.
• 445 (9%) were rated “Great”.
• 66 (1%) were rated “Average”.
• 33 (<1%) were rated “Poor”.
• 110 (2%) were rated “Bad”.

As we can see, these statistics are very positive with 96% of reviews rating So Energy as either “Excellent” or “Great”.

Customer sentiment is also very positive on Reviews.io, where the brand is rated 4.75 out of 5. This is atypical, as energy companies usually perform much better on Trustpilot than Reviews.io. 95% of customers on the latter platform said that they would recommend So Energy.

Best of all, So Energy are ranked #1 out of 38 suppliers listed on Citizens Advice’s energy supplier customer service rankings, with an overall rating of 4.6 out of 5. The next on the list is Green Energy with 4.45 out of 5.

Below, we’ll look at some customer reviews, and compare the good the bad and the ugly to get a clearer understanding of So Energy’s customer sentiment…

The good

With the vast majority of customer reviews giving them 4 or 5 stars, it stands to reason that there are far more positive reviews to choose from.

Common points addressed by reviewers include ease of switching, friendly and helpful customer service staff (a number of whom are mentioned by name), easy navigation of the website and account management, fast responses to queries / issues and great value for money.

Below we’ve included some quotes from genuine customer reviews:

• “Transferring over to SO Energy was easy and the staff are friendly, knowledgeable and efficient.”
• “So Energy have been a consistent and strong supplier of my electricity. The Customer Service is excellent, quick and efficient. The Team have always exceed my expectations.
  The fact that the power is all renewable is a big factor with my staying with them for another year. Their tariff is also great value for money. Forget the big six………. So Energy is the best!”.
• “Been with them for a few years now and just renewed again. Used webchat and got connected quickly… Sorted it all out for me efficiently as I had a query. Like the simplicity of the website and as long as you give readings when reminded, the bill will be spot on”.

The bad

Although So Energy’s customers are mostly very enthusiastic, like all energy suppliers, they sometimes leave a less than stellar impression on some customers. While negative reviews are fairly few and far between, some common complaints include issues with the fitting and operation of smart meters, slow responses to issues, billing issues, difficulty transferring away from So Energy and not following through on promises. We’ve included some quotes from negative reviews below:

• “Despite no change in our consumption pattern and the fact that they had already calculated our monthly payments on a yearly basis, we received an email saying that our monthly DD. was to increase by 17.5%”.
• “I’ve waited over 2 weeks for a reply and haven’t got one… Based on my experience I don’t expect anyone to contact me. Not as customer orientated as they say”.
• “This company are ignoring my emails regarding an issue I have with my meter. I used the live chat function and was told they would pass my concerns to the appropriate department – didn’t happen”.

The ugly

Fortunately, So Energy seem to have avoided any seriously egregious reviews from customers. However, there are one or two particularly scathing reviews that we include here in the interests of balance.

• “Everything was fine with SO Energy until I decided to switch supplier. I gave them at least two week notice of the switch. I provided a meter reading, including photograph of the meter on the day I switched… Despite doing everything required I did not get a Final Bill and of course no refund of money held in my account”.
• “Experiencing a few issues but have found it impossible to contact them. Have phoned numerous times, tried their ringback facility, emailed numerous times – all to no avail. Am going to switch to another provider because our experience suggests So Energy are going to be disaster”.
• “They have completely messed up my account – this company is not to be trusted. They confused account numbers… closing my account on the assumption I had moved.”

So Energy value for money

It appears that So Energy’s claims about passing savings onto their customers are more than just slick marketing-speak. Not only do numerous customer reviews speak glowingly of the brand’s value for money, an independent consumer survey carried out in September / October 2020 reveals that customers rate them 4 out of 5 stars for Value for Money, as well as 5 stars for billing accuracy while bill clarity also got 4 stars.

So Energy response time

The Citizens Advice chart lists So Energy’s average call centre at just 13 seconds. The independent survey mentioned above, however, received less impressive results, with the time from making the call to speaking to a customer service agent logged as 16 minutes 52 seconds. Email responses were also fairly slow, taking an average of 3 days 7 hours 31 minutes.

Issue resolution and complaint handling

According to Citizens Advice, So Energy have a complaints to third parties ratio of just 4.3 per 10,000 customers. The most recent data from energy regulator Ofgem is similarly encouraging. It reveals that So Energy resolve 51% of customer complaints within 24 hours, and 98% of complaints are resolved within 8 weeks.

Have they won awards for customer service?

So Energy describes its customer service as “award winning”. It was a new entrant in the 2020 annual energy awards. It was ranked third-best energy supplier with an Overall Customer Satisfaction score of 88%.

They also scored highly in a number of other categories including Overall Customer Satisfaction, Best Deal and Transfer Process.

In 2018 they were also named Energy Supplier of the Year award at the Moneyfacts Consumer Awards.

So Energy in the news

Mentions of So Energy in the news have been fairly sparse in the 5 years since they arrived on the scene.
The only mention of note (and it is a positive one) was when it joined several other green energy suppliers in lobbying the government in reaction to a flat levy placed on business and domestic energy consumers to support “green gas”.

Source: The Times.

Think So Energy may be the supplier for you? Get in touch with us today!

If you’re looking for cheaper, greener energy So Energy might just be the supplier for you. But don’t make the switch without us!

We can look closely at their tariffs and plans to make sure you’re getting the best value for money for your household. What’s more, we’ll even manage your switch from end-to-end on your behalf to get you connected faster and completely hassle-free.

Would you like to know more about So Energy? If so, check out our other article about So Energy:

• So Energy Tariffs

FAQ

Is So Energy reliable?

So Energy may take a while to answer their phones and emails. But there’s ample evidence to suggest that they are a reliable supplier. Aside from the mostly positive Trustpilot reviews, there’s the fact that over 50% of customer complaints are resolved within 24 hours, and 98% of complaints are resolved within 8 weeks. What’s more, only 4.3 complaints per 10,000 customers are elevated to the Energy Ombudsman.

What is So Energy’s customer score?

At the time of writing, So Energy have an “Excellent” customer score of 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot, based on 5,106 customer reviews. 

What do So Energy customers say about them?

So Energy’s customer sentiment is overwhelmingly positive. 96% of Trustpilot reviews rate the supplier as either “Good” or “Excellent”. Customers are very happy with the value for money and customer service that they receive, and complaints are addressed quickly.  

Do So Energy listen to their customers?

On Trustpilot, we can evidence that So Energy listen to their customers and take what they have to say seriously. They are highly proactive in responding to customer complaints. At the time of writing, they have responded to 89% of negative reviews, normally responding within 2 days.