ENEL: CONTI RESPONDS TO CONSUMERS FROM THE ANTITRUST AUTHORITY S CALL CENTRE

• Enel CEO, Fulvio Conti, today visited the Antitrust Authority’s headquarters at the invitation of its President, Antonio Catricalà, to answer questions from consumers calling in to the Authority’s toll-free number.
• Conti said: the 3,700 operators at our call centres answer an average of over 80,000 calls daily. Thanks to their hard work and professionalism, 30 million customers have access to quick, easy and free information.

Rome, 17 November 2008 – Enel CEO Fulvio Conti today visited the headquarters of the Antitrust Authority to respond directly to complaints phoned in by consumers to the Authority’s toll-free number (800.166.661). The Authority set up the call centre on 12 November 2007 so that consumers could report alleged cases of unfair commercial practices and misleading advertising. Since then, the call centre has received 9,611 reports by consumers, of which 2,434 were processed for more extensive assessment.

Conti’s visit came at the invitation extended by the Authority’s President Antonio Catricalà, who has already hosted the heads of other leading companies open to dialogue with consumers. 

Conti responded enthusiastically to the Antitrust Authority’s initiative: “I was extremely pleased to accept President Catricalà’s invitation because it gives me the chance to draw attention to our desire to listen to consumers’ needs and expectations. Every day the 3,700 operators at our call centres take over 80,000 calls. Thanks to their hard work and professionalism, 30 million customers have access to quick, easy and free information. We believe that service quality is fundamentally important for continued success in the Italian market, which is one of the most liberalised in Europe in terms of the number of competitors and the number of consumers who change their supplier”.

Responding live to questions from Enel’s customers, Conti clarified and explained the company’s invoicing process, how it sends out bills and how consumers can take advantage of automatic bill payment, the company’s online offers, what to do about possibly meter reading errors, how to interpret a service contract and its customer loyalty programmes that include discounts and prizes.

Enel’s call centre dedicated to enhanced protection services (toll-free number 800.900.800) takes roughly 16 million calls per year. In October, the service level (i.e. the percentage of consumer requests for which a response was provided) was 96.3%. The average waiting time on hold was 1 minute, 14 seconds. Around 2,500 persons work in this area.
 
Enel’s call centre dedicated to the free market (toll-free number 800.900.860) takes more than 8 million calls per year. In October, the service level was 95.6%. The average waiting time was 1 minute, 5 seconds. Around 1,200 persons work in this area.

Enel Servizio Elettrico, which provides the enhanced protection service, offers its customers 1,150 help corners at sites around the country as well as a website that enables consumers to perform many transactions online by themselves (contract activation and changes, requests for meters be moved, change billing address, sign-up for online billing, check and pay bills, authorise automatic payments via bank accounts, receive information on consumption).

Finally, Enel Energia, which handles customers who have opted for the free market, has 310 physical contact points as well as a website that enables customers to perform many transactions online by themselves (requests for service hook-up and activation, immediate transfer of service contracts, requests for plant modifications, sign-up for online billing, receive information on consumption, change billing address, requests for duplicate invoices, verify payment status).