Half of the UK's broadband users are unhappy with the service from their internet providers even though high-speed connections are at their cheapest and fastest, according to a survey by price comparison service uSwitch.
With 15 million customers - half the country - spending £3bn on broadband every year, the gap is widening between the companies perceived as best and worst providers, according to uSwitch, which makes money by encouraging consumers to hunt out new deals.
Its survey of nearly 11,000 broadband customers suggests four million customers are not satisified with their provider and four out of nine companies have less satisfied customers this year than last.
The report's top ranking goes to PlusNet, bought by BT a year ago, with 86% customer satisfaction. It won nine out of 11 categories including best customer service and best technical support.
But BT came last for value for money for the second time running. Sky moved ahead of Virgin Media to take second place overall, with eight out of 10 customers satisfied.
The survey ranked Orange as the worst broadband provider, claiming half a million customers - over a third - are not satisfied with its overall service.
PlusNet has been named as the UK's best broadband provider with over 86 per cent of customers satisfied, while Orange has won the wooden spoon for worst provider.
Overall one in two customers unhappy with the customer service they receive.
Research by uSwitch.com shows BT was rated worst for value for money – for the second year running – with its service 50 per cent dearer than the cheapest broadband deal available over the length of a fixed contract.
PlusNet – bought by BT in 2006 but run independently – won nine of the 11 categories including best customer Service, best technical support and best quality of connection.
Second place overall was taken by Sky, moving ahead of Virgin Media.
Steve Weller, communications expert at uSwitch, said: “Once again PlusNet is putting its larger competitors to shame – it’s definitely a case of ‘small but perfectly formed’.
"The rest of the pack needs to seriously up their game. Issues can no longer be put down to ‘teething problems’ – broadband has been up and running for seven years so any flaws should have been well and truly ironed out by now."
PlusNet scored well for its technical support, competitive pricing and 24 hour UK customer service centre, something many others are still failing to do, with seven of the nine providers failing to satisfy more than half of their customers.
Mr Weller added: "Last year consumers spent £31 million on phone calls trying to fix problems with their broadband, and over £11 million of this was wasted on hold waiting to speak to someone.
"It’s still unacceptable that, when it comes to technical support, just two providers are managing to satisfy more than half of their customers."
Half of broadband subscribers unhappy with service 11:08AM, Tuesday 18th March 2008
Half of all broadband customers are dissatisfied with their service, according to a new report.
The survey conducted by Uswitch ranked nine internet service providers and found that the gap between best and worst is widening, with a difference of almost 21% in customer satisfaction scores - an 8% increase on the year before.
Topping the list is PlusNet, which won the survey's Best Overall Provider accolade by polling 86% in customer satisfaction. Resting at the foot of the list is Orange, with the survey claiming that over a third of its customers were unhappy with the service they were receiving.
Sky continued its ascent, clambering above arch rival Virgin Media in the rankings with an 81% customer satisfaction score. Virgin Media held steady with Three quarters of its customers satisfied, but losing ground on value for money, customer and technical support.
Outside the big winners customer satisfaction scores slipped across the board, with the big losers being Pipex which slipped 9% to 45% and AOL dropping 6% to 59%.
No more excuses
"The ISPs used to put these problems down to teething problems, but it's been seven years now," says Uswitch spokesperson, Charlotte Nunes. "The technology's bedded down and customers expect more than they did. Broadband is an essential part of people's lives now, they depend on it and so when things go wrong they expect their ISP to sort it out."
"Companies like TalkTalk have invested a lot of money in their customer service, it's better now but it's still got a way to go. But some companies like Orange are still charging premium rates for technical support and that's a big part of why people are dissatisfied. We'd certainly like to see Orange making the same sorts of promises on technical support we've seen from TalkTalk."
However, Orange says it's on the right track.
"Our own customer satisfaction research, along with independent testing of our service, has revealed extremely positive findings," claims an Orange spokesperson.
"This has come as a direct result of us having recently taken steps to improve our network capacity and customer services, which included investing heavily in our teams and we will continue to do so.
"Our focus is on getting things right for our customers and we shall continue working to improve the levels of service we provide as well as to offer clear, value for money propositions."
Stuart Turton
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