Shamed, bungling broadband giants
EE, TalkTalk, BT and Sky humiliated in league table
THE biggest broadband providers are shamed today for failing users on basic service, speed and reliability.
TalkTalk, BT, Sky and EE – who dominate with 72 per cent of the market – were ranked as among the worst in a customer poll.
Frequent price rises, connection drop outs, unreliable speeds and ‘woeful’ customer service all contributed to the negative feedback, said consumer champions Which?
Its survey will add to deeprooted concerns over millions of customers being ripped off by download speeds which are far slower than those advertised.
The results were ‘no surprise’ said Grant Shapps, chairman of the cross-party British Infrastructure Group of MPs working to help broadband users.
‘The biggest players control so much of the market that they operate as they want….their customer service can be pretty atrocious,’ he added. ‘This is an area we have been campaigning on for a very long time.
‘It is unacceptable broadband customers remain so dissatisfied with the services they receive. Our group supports the introduction of automatic compensation to ensure that customers are properly redressed for poor speeds and service.’
Alex Neill, managing director of Which? home services, said: ‘Broadband is essential and people rightly get frustrated with poor service.
‘Our latest results show that the big players still have a long way to go so if you’re unhappy with your broadband, complain and look to switch if your service doesn’t improve.’
This month, Which? launched a ‘Fix Bad Broadband’ campaign with a free speed checker and is encouraging consumers to complain if they are not receiving what they pay for.
Today’s survey of 1,800 customers ranked TalkTalk as the worst out of 12 providers with a satisfaction score of just 38 per cent while Zen Internet topped the table with 86 per cent.
Which? based the score on whether users are happy with their provider and if they would recommend it. Consumers also rated reliability, speed, customer service and technical support.
BT did not score more than two out of five stars in any category while TalkTalk only achieved more than two in value for money. Just Zen Internet, Utility Warehouse, Virgin Media and Vodafone scored well for broadband speed.
This month, regulator Ofcom said broadband customers were only getting around half the speed they pay for. In March, BT was fined £42million after it took too long to deliver superfast broadband to businesses.
The Advertising Standards Agency has already called for a change in the way broadband speed claims are promoted.
To use the Which? speed checker, visit: www.which.co. uk/fixbadbroadband