We’re here to help
At Data Energy, we want every experience with us to be a positive one. If something hasn’t gone quite right, we’d like to hear from you.
We take every customer interaction seriously. We’ll always do our best to understand what’s happened and work with your heat supplier to put things right.
If you have a question about your account, our service or anything else, we’re here to help. We’ll explain things clearly, keep you updated and work towards a fair solution as quickly as we can.
What is a complaint?
A complaint is when you’re unhappy with a serive you’ve received and you’d like us to look into it.
As Data Energy provides metering, billing and customer support on behalf of your heat supplier, we can investigate complaints about the services we provide, including:
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Bills and charges
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Meter readings and energy usage
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Customer service
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Letters, emails and other communications
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Payments and account administration
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Debt management and payment support
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Some complaints are about the heat network itself, rather than the services we provide. These can include:
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No heating or hot water
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Heating that isn’t working properly
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Repairs or maintenance
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Faults with the heat network or plant room
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Planned or unplanned service interruptions
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The day-to-day operation of the heat network
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These issues are usually the responsibility of your heat supplier or their managing agent.
If your complaint is about something they look after, there’s no need to worry – we’ll explain who can help and point you in the right direction. Where appropriate, we’ll also share the relevant information with your heat supplier to help them investigate your concerns.
What you can expect
We’ve made our complaints process as simple as possible.
In many cases, we can sort things out during your phone call or when you get in touch with us, without the need for a formal complaint.
Our Customer Care Advisors are trained to answer your questions, understand your concerns and do everything they can to put things right. If they can’t resolve the issue straight away, they’ll explain what will happen next and keep you updated along the way.
How to raise a complaint
Step 1: Tell us what’s happened
If you’re not sure whether your complaint is about Data Energy or your heat supplier, get in touch with us first. We’ll help you work out who is best placed to help.
If your complaint is about things like:
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No heating or hot water
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Poor heating performance
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Repairs or maintenance
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Heat network faults
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The day-to-day operation of the heat network
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we may ask you to contact your heat supplier or managing agent, as they’re usually responsible for these services. You can normally find their contact details on your bill or in other communications they’ve sent you.
Contact Us
Our Customer Care Advisors will listen to what’s happened, answer your questions and do everything they can to put things right. If we can’t resolve the issue straight away, we’ll explain what happens next and keep you updated.
You can contact us in whichever way suits you best:
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Help Centre – Raise a support ticket through our Help Centre.
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Email – customercare@dataenergy.co.uk
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Phone – 01279 810119
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Post – Data Energy Management Services Limited, Sion Park, Stansted Road, Birchanger, CM23 5PU
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Step 2: Still not happy? We’ll take another look
If you don’t feel we’ve resolved your concern, or you’re unhappy with the service you’ve received, you can ask for your complaint to be reviewed by our Escalations Team.
Just let one of our Customer Care Advisors know, and we’ll arrange for an independent Escalations Specialist to review your case.
What happens next
Once your complaint has been escalated:
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We’ll give you a complaint reference number.
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An idependent Escalations Specialist will review all the information we’ve received.
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If we need any more information, we’ll get in touch with you.
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We’ll send you a formal response within 10 working days of acknowledging your complaint.
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If your complaint is more complex, it may take a little longer to investigate. If that’s the case, there’s no need to worry – we’ll keep you updated and let you know what to expect.
If we find that your complaint is mainly about the operation, maintenance or performance of the heat network, rather than the services Data Energy provides, we’ll explain this clearly and direct you to the organisation responsible – usually your heat supplier or their authorised managing agent.
Where appropriate, we’ll also share the relevant information with your heat supplier to help them investigate your concerns.
Step 3: Ask for an independent review
If you’re still unhappy after your complaint has been reviewed by our Escalations Team, you can ask for it to be reviewd by our Head of Customer Solutions.
You can do this by replying to your Escalations Specialist and requesting a review. In some cases, your Escalations Speciliast may also recommend referring your complait to the Head of Customer solutions if they believe it would benefit from a more detailed review.
What happens next
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The Head of Customer Solutions will contact you within 3 working days to confirm they’ve received your complaint and explain what happens next.
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They’ll carry out an independent review of your case and consider all the information available.
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If needed, we may contact your heat supplier to gather information that will help us investigate your complaint fully.
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If you’d prefer us to not contact your heat supplier, please let us know when you request the review. We’ll respect your wishes, although it may limit the information we’re able to gather and could affect how we investigate your complaint.
We’ll send you a formal response within 14 working days of the Head of Customer Solutions acknowledging your complaint. If we need more time, we’ll let you know why and keep you updated throughout the process.
The outcome
We hope we’ll have been able to resolve your complaint by this stage.
If we’ve reached an agreed outcome, we’ll send you a complain closure confirmation. This will include:
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A summary of your complaint
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What we’ve investigated
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The outcome we’ve agreed with you
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Confirmation that your complaint has now been closed
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If you’re still not happy
If you’re not satisfied with our final response, or it’s been eight weeks since you first raised your complaint and we’ve not been able to reach a resolution, we’ll send you a deadlock letter.
A deadlock letter confirms that we’ve reached the end of our complaints process. It also explains the next steps available to you if you’d like your complaint to be reviewed independently.
Step 4: Independent review by the Energy Ombudsman
If you’re still not happy with the outcome of your complaint, you may be able to ask the Energy Ombudsman to review it.
You can usually do this if:
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We’ve sent you our final response and you don’t agree with the outcome, or
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Eight weeks have passed since you first raised your complaint and it still hasn’t been resolved.
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Before you contact the Energy Ombudsman, we’ll send you either:
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A final response explaining our decision, or
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A deadlock letter confirming that we’ve reached the end of our complaints process.
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The Energy Ombudsman is independent of both Data Energy and your heat supplier. They’ll review the information provided by everyone involved before deciding whehter any further action is needed.
Step 5: Contact the Energy Ombudsman
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Website – www.energyombudsman.org
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Phone – 0330 440 1642
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