Making a complaint
Complaints procedure
We hope you never have to make a complaint and we are sorry if our service has not lived up to your expectations or ours.
We pride ourselves on our customer service & our customer driven morals and values.
Please see full details below of our Complaints Procedure.
Opal Gas Ltd complaints procedure
We strive to provide excellent customer service however, we acknowledge that sometimes there may be an occasion where we don’t meet your service expectations. In these circumstances, we will endeavour to handle your complaint fairly and efficiently and will make every effort to resolve any issues to your satisfaction. We also pledge to resolve your complaint as quickly as possible.
If you do have a complaint that you would like us to investigate then please contact us by any of the methods below:
By telephone: 0330 400 4444 (Mon-Thurs: 08:30-17:00 and Fri: 08:30–13:30)
By post: Opal Gas Ltd, PO Box 818, Harrogate, HG1 9XE
By email: admin@opalgas.com
Verbal complaints procedure:
Any verbal complaint will be acknowledged and we will request further information from you in order to try and resolve the complaint by phone. If the complaint is resolved on the phone then a follow up email will be sent to you confirming the discussion and detailing any actions to be taken.
A record of the conversation and follow up email will be confidentially recorded on our client database.
If it is apparent that the complaint is more complex, then we would request a written complaint from you in order that we may investigate this in more detail.
Written complaints procedure:
We will acknowledge your complaint in writing within 48 hours of receipt and commence our investigations. We will notify you of your point of contact for the duration of the complaint process. We are committed to resolving your complaint within 14 calendar days and during this time your point of contact may be in touch for additional information, documentation or clarification on the issues you have raised.
During the 14-day investigation process we will keep in regular contact with you to inform you on the progress of your complaint and advise of any updates. Within 14 calendar days we will let you know the outcome of our investigations in writing. On the rare occasion that we need to extend our investigation period we will agree a new timescale with you and confirm this in writing.
We will confirm the outcome of our investigations to you in writing within 14 days and detail our decision on whether or not we uphold your complaint. We would request that you acknowledge our findings and confirm whether or not you agree with our final decision. If you do not accept our initial decision then we will conduct further investigations and again, this process will take a further 14 calendar days. At the end of this period we will provide you with our final decision on your complaint.
In the unlikely event that you still don’t agree with our decision then you can request a ‘deadlock’ letter from us, this letter is required in order for you to raise the complaint with the Energy Ombudsman. If we are unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction then we will issue a deadlock letter eight weeks after your initial complaint is registered or after you reject our second decision stage judgement.
Energy Ombudsman
If you are a Micro-business or a Small Business Consumer, have followed all the steps above and have been unable to reach a satisfactory resolution to your complaint with us then you are entitled to complain to the Energy Ombudsman.
This is a free independent service for Micro-businesses and Small Business Consumers. The Energy Ombudsman will assist in determining the outcome of your dispute.
A Micro-business is defined as such if it has:
· fewer than ten employees and turns over less than £1.8 million.
A business is also a micro-business if it has more than ten employees but it:
· uses less than 293,000 kWh of gas a year
· uses less than 100,000 kWh of electricity a year
A Small Business Consumer is defined as a business that has:
· fewer than 50 employees or their full-time equivalent, and an annual turnover of at most £6.5 million or a balance sheet total of £5.0
million
or
· an annual gas consumption of not more than 500,000 kWh
or
· an annual electricity consumption of not more than 200,000 kWh
Please note, the Energy Ombudsman will not deal with your complaint without a deadlock letter.
Energy Ombudsman contact details:
0330 440 1624 (Mon – Fri: 08:00 – 18:00)
Energy Ombudsman, PO Box 966, Warrington WA4 9DF
Citizens Advice Bureau
In addition, the Citizens Advice Bureau is available for practical advice, and they can be reached via the following methods:
Citizens Advice (England and Wales)
Adviceline (England): 0800 144 8848
Advicelink (Wales): 0800 702 2020
Citizens Advice (Scotland)
Scottish Citizens Advice Helpline: 0800 028 1456
Energy brokers / third party intermediaries (TPIs)
The Energy Ombudsman can also assist micro-businesses in disputes with energy brokers (also called TPIs or Third Party Intermediaries), via the ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) scheme. Details can be found via the Energy Ombudsman contact details above.
Data protection & GDPR complaints
If you believe we have breached GDPR regulations regarding your information, then in the first instance please email admin@opalgas.com. Please fully detail the alleged breach including the parties involved, dates etc. We will acknowledge your complaint in writing within 48 hours and commence our investigations. We will notify you of your point of contact who will update you throughout the process. We endeavour to resolve the complaint to your satisfaction within 14 days.
Alternatively, you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), at https://ico.org.uk/ or Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.