What does the 'Customer Withdrawn' column in the Switching Breakdown report represent?
- Retail
- What are 'customer withdrawn' switches?
What are 'customer withdrawn' switches?
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- Last post 06 November 2018
Matthew Keir
posted this
21 February 2017
When a customer agrees to sign up to a new retailer (trader), the new trader starts the switch process in the registry. However, customers can change their mind and registry allows for switches to be withdrawn during or after the switch.
In fact, there is a range of reasons a switch can be withdrawn, not just when a customer changes their mind or requests a withdrawal. The registry records a reason code for the withdrawal that is populated by the trader withdrawing the switch. (More information is available in the registry functional specification.) In the data we publish, we are only concerned with withdrawn switches that were requested by the customer which accounts for roughly two-thirds of all withdrawals.
Report notes are available with each EMI report. In this case, the relevant note states:
Customer withdrawn switches are available in the data report and represent switches away from the trader that are withdrawn and have a withdrawal code of CR prior to 31 July 2015 and CE or CX from 31 July 2015.
The withdrawal reason codes changed in 2015 to separate consumer errors (CE) as the reason for the withdrawal from other consumer reasons (CX). We combine these in this reporting which provides a consistent series with the earlier CR reason code.
Generally, customer withdrawn switches account for approximately 10% of initiated valid switches (those completed or customer withdrawn).
To access the data referred to in the discussion above look at the data report behind the switching breakdown report.
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David
posted this
06 November 2018
Hi Matt,
Could you please clarify whether the 'switches withdrawn' number in the Switching breakdown report records switches that have been withdrawn by the new trader (i.e. the gaining trader) or the original trader (i.e. the losing trader)?
Your initial comment "When a customer agrees to sign up to a new retailer (trader), the new trader starts the switch process in the registry." seems to indicate that it it is the gaining trader that initiates the switch (and then subsequently has the withdrawn switch recorded against them) but this seems to go against the later comment that "Customer withdrawn switches are available in the data report and represent switches away from the trader that are withdrawn". This later comment makes it seem like the customer withdrawn switches represent 'saved' switches that stayed with the trader.
Thanks
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Matthew Keir
posted this
06 November 2018
- Last edited 06 November 2018
Hi David,
That's a good question. My earlier comment "When a customer agrees to sign up to a new retailer (trader), the new trader starts the switch process in the registry." is independent of the withdrawal process. I'm just trying to explain how a switch shows in our data.
Both losing or gaining traders can withdraw the switch and if this is done at the request of the customer, the trader will code the withdrawal as a "customer withdrawn switch". Which trader (losing or gaining) lodges the withdrawal cannot be deduced from the data we currently publish.
With my latter comment, I'm trying to describe how we record the withdrawn switches in the data we publish. That is, we record them against the losing trader - they are withdrawn switches away from the losing trader (independent of which trader initiated the withdrawal). An alternative would be to record them as withdrawn switches to the gaining trader, however, we have not done this.
Digging a bit deeper, approximately 80 to 85 per cent of customer withdrawn switches are withdrawals lodged by the losing trader.
I hope that helps clarify what we publish.
Cheers,
Matthew
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