A consumer watchdog has claimed many of the cheapest gas and electricity deals are ignored by energy companies when speaking to customers. Researchers at Which? called energy suppliers and asked for the cheapest deal. For example, telesales staff at Southern Electric (part of the Scottish and Southern Energy Group) mentioned the cheapest tariff in just three of the 12 calls. The firm replied there was little price difference between the tariffs, but accepted it could learn from some points raised.