Choose an electricity and gas supplier it is not limited to finding the cheapest rate, we must in fact consider that the quality of the service is equally important. To help consumers in their choice, Altroconsumo evaluated 19 managers, keeping in mind a series of important parameters for evaluating individual companies.
With the end of the protected market, millions of Italians have moved or will move to the free energy market, making it very important to evaluate the reliability of suppliers. The investigation analyzed the contractual conditions of individual managers and collected the experience of over 11,000 customers to understand how well providers are meeting expectations in terms of assistance, problem management, bill transparency and contractual conditions.
Suppliers who cover at least 70-80% of the population and who are included in the rate comparator on the Altroconsumo website have been selected. The main objective of the survey was to evaluate the overall quality of the service offered by each operator, using various criteria.
A central element of the survey was the collection of opinions from 11,333 electricity and gas users, all members of Altroconsumo. In March 2024, they were sent an online questionnaire to measure their satisfaction with various aspects of the service they received. The questions concerned:
In addition to evaluating customer satisfaction, Altroconsumo took into account the general supply conditions of each operator. The contracts analyzed included all the pre-contractual information made available on the suppliers’ websites. This aspect accounted for 20% of the final score.
The results
The results show that, although the overall quality is good, there is still ample room for improvement, particularly regarding customer care.
Among the electricity and gas suppliers evaluated, only four obtained an “excellent” rating (with at least 75 points out of 100), standing out for the overall quality of the service.
These are:
These managers have distinguished themselves for the efficiency of customer care, both by telephone and online, and for the management of problems encountered by customers.
The majority of operators, precisely 12 out of 19, obtained a good “Global Quality”, with scores between 65 and 74, while three suppliers, Iren, Enel and Wekiwi, were classified in the medium range.
Although the overall results are positive, customer satisfaction with assistance, especially online assistance, remains a critical area. Consider that if Octopus Energy reaches 84 points for telephone assistance, Wekiwi stands out negatively, with a rating of only 45 points.
Around 18% of customers then reported problems with their supplier, such as incorrect bills or unannounced tariff changes. The management of these difficulties did not satisfy the majority of those interviewed, demonstrating how this aspect requires greater attention. Only Alperia and Octopus Energy obtained an “excellent” rating in problem management.
As regards the transparency of bills, Enel Energia, Iren and Heracomm are the worst.
Also regarding contracts, the results are generally positive, but there are some cases where updates on relevant information, such as the right of withdrawal or the requirements for social bonuses, are missing.
The ranking of electricity and gas suppliers
This is the complete ranking of the managers analyzed by Altroconsumo:
