- Energy firms told Reuters that angry customers in Germany phone them every day about surging bills.
- Some clients cry and need psychological support, a local utilities association told Reuters.
Scores of customers in Germany upset over their sky-high energy bills are regularly phoning up suppliers to complain about the surging prices, Reuters reported.
Energy companies, including E.ON, told the publication they are inundated on a daily basis with clients contacting them to ask why their bills have increased and how to afford them if they get more expensive.
After the Ukraine war began, Germany has endured a significant energy crisis as Russia cut supply to the country in response to Western sanctions imposed on Moscow. It's triggered soaring energy prices, forcing governments and some businesses to reduce power consumption.
The customer service team at German-based energy company E.ON has hired and trained more employees to handle a rise in the number of enquiries coming through, the company told Reuters.
"Background knowledge is just as important as dealing with each individual caller with empathy," Filip Thon, E.ON's head of energy in Germany, told Reuters. "Many underestimate the extent of the energy crisis and the associated price increases overall."
A spokesperson for E.ON told Reuters it couldn't speak to staff in the customer service department because there was "no free capacity" and the company needed all employees to answer clients' phone calls.
Ingbert Liebing, the boss of German local utilities association Verband Kommunaler Unternehmen (VKU), told Reuters that its customer service centers have had to deal with more "desperate" customers.
"Some become aggressive out of frustration, others are in tears and need psychological support," Liebing told the publication.
The upset over soaring energy bills has also been apparent in German bakeries. Around 800 bakeries in northern Germany turned off their lights last week as a cry for help over energy costs. A guild said that bakeries are severely impacted by the energy crisis because their ovens and fridges guzzle a lot of power.