TalkTalk and BT have been identified as the worst broadband suppliers in the UK, according to a new survey.
Both TalkTalk and BT scored the lowest customer satisfaction ratings, 38% and 45% respectively, when compared to 10 other UK broadband providers, despite being some of the largest.
The new survey from Which? surveyed 1,800 customers and found that whilst larger companies, such as TalkTalk, BT, Sky, and EE, account for 72% of the market, they were viewed far less favourably than smaller providers.
Andrew Ferguson, thinkbroaband.com, said: “Our own provider comparison ratings which have been running for many years have shown that people appear to be happier with the smaller providers, a lot of this is probably down to smaller providers being able to offer a better support experience, and it is frustration at how providers handle billing and support when they go wrong that we see spilling out onto social media regularly.”
TalkTalk and BT were voted the lowest in terms of customer satisfaction, but Sky and Virgin were far from highly regarded. Sky achieved a score of 49%, whereas Virgin Media scored only slightly higher with 52%.
The smaller broadband providers were viewed in a much more positive light, with lesser known services such as Zen and Utility Warehouse who achieved ratings of 86% and 81%. 71% of Zen’s customers believe that the service provided was ‘excellent’ and 59% of Utility Warehouse thought the same of their own broadband.
Which? managing director of home services Alex Neill said: ‘Broadband is now seen as a modern day essential and people get rightly frustrated with poor service. Those who are currently with the providers performing badly should rightly complain and look to switch to one of the smaller providers if their service doesn’t improve.’
Many of customer complaints regarding broadband are to do with speed, and frequent outages. Currently the UK government is hoping that 95% of UK premises will have access to superfast broadband by the end of 2017.
