A back payment of 481 euros leads to a phone call, a complaint and a written reply.
The annual bill goes out; three days later the phone rings. The adviser opens the bill, hunts for the meter reading, the instalment plan and the price change, and recalculates the back payment in her head. If there is no time for that, the case turns into a written complaint and is worked through all over again.
4line itemsUnit price, standing charge, instalments paid and meter readings together make up the back payment.
2price periodsThe old unit price applies until 31 March, the new one from 1 April.
481 eurosback paymentThe figure is in the letter; the explanation behind it is not.
2channels per caseFirst the phone call, then the written complaint asking the same question.
The call ends with a breakdown in which 288.80 euros of extra consumption and a 192-euro instalment shortfall account for the 481 euros, the written complaint never materialises, and the case takes up to 65% less handling time.
The reduction of up to 65% in handling time is this agent's headline figure. The line items, price periods and the amount in the example describe a typical case after the annual bill; they are illustrative, not measured.