Which? report on broadband suppliers

"News: Computers & internet | 03 August 2006

Broadband's 'big four' fail to impress
All fall short in customers' view

Britain's 'big four' broadband providers fall short when it comes
to customer service, says a new Which? survey.

Our survey of nearly Which? 15,700 members found that only 47 per cent
of Telewest's customers, 34 per cent of BT's, 25 per cent of
AOL's and 20 per cent of NTL's customers said they were very
satisfied with the service they received.

However, Zen Internet gets top ratings for its customer service, online
and phone support, speed, reliability and for being easy to set up.
Seventy-seven per cent of users told us they were very satisfied with
the overall service. The other two Best Buys are Global and Waitrose,
with 72 per cent of customers saying they were very satisfied.

Global scores top marks for customer service, and it provides free line
activation and a free router that allows PCs to be networked together.

Waitrose is a Best Buy

Waitrose, a Best Buy for the second year in a row. It scored fairly
well for the reliability of the connection, and for value for money,
but got top marks in everything else, even offering a free helpline.

None of the cheapest providers appear in the list of top providers
because their service didn't measure up.

The 'free' broadband services Which? reviewed - Sky, Carphone
Warehouse and Orange - require you to subscribe to another, paid-for
service as well as tying you in for a lengthy period.

In the survey, only 30 per cent for customers were very satisfied with
Wanadoo - now rebranded as Orange - while just 39 per cent were very
happy with Carphone Warehouse's Talk Talk service. The new Sky
service was launched after our survey.

Strings attached

Which? Online Editor Malcolm Coles said: 'With broadband speeds
getting quicker and prices getting lower all the time, there's never
been a better time to find a good deal. None of the biggest providers
made it into our list of the best broadband packages, though, and
people should check to see what strings are attached to so-called
'free' packages.'

We have details of more than 100 broadband packages on our site, and
they're updated monthly."

<URL:http://www.which.co.uk/reports_and_campaigns/computers_and_internet/reports/internet/Broadband_companies_customer_survey_news_article_5 57_90870.jsp>

On 3 Aug 2006 04:31:20 -0700, "Daytona" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>"News: Computers & internet | 03 August 2006
>
>Broadband's 'big four' fail to impress
>All fall short in customers' view
>
>Britain's 'big four' broadband providers fall short when it comes
>to customer service, says a new Which? survey.
>
>Our survey of nearly Which? 15,700 members found that only 47 per cent
>of Telewest's customers, 34 per cent of BT's, 25 per cent of
>AOL's and 20 per cent of NTL's customers said they were very
>satisfied with the service they received.
>
>However, Zen Internet gets top ratings for its customer service, online
>and phone support, speed, reliability and for being easy to set up.
>Seventy-seven per cent of users told us they were very satisfied with
>the overall service. The other two Best Buys are Global and Waitrose,
>with 72 per cent of customers saying they were very satisfied.

Now *that* is a really shocking indictment of the ISP market.

The *best* ISP in terms of customer satisfaction still only gets a
rating that would have managers in many industries resigning.

Most companies in most service industries would be pretty worried by a
very satisfied score of less than about 80%.

--
Alex Heney, Global Villager
I'm spending a year dead for tax purposes.
To reply by email, my address is alexATheneyDOTplusDOTcom

On 3-Aug-2006, Alex Heney <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> The *best* ISP in terms of customer satisfaction still only gets a
> rating that would have managers in many industries resigning.
>
> Most companies in most service industries would be pretty worried by a
> very satisfied score of less than about 80%.

It's not always the ISP's fault.

A big problem area is BT's street cabling, a lot of it
pre and immediate post war, which has been steadily
deteriorating over the years, not to mention bad (oxidised
connections) which are labour intensive to locate because
they are intermittent.
The vast variation in PC hardware and software, there
is no concept of a standard PC.

So satisfaction only reflects Customer Service, rather than one
offering a better line quality of than another.

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> The vast variation in PC hardware and software, there
> is no concept of a standard PC.

Please explain how that affects a connection.

Graham

On Thu, 03 Aug 2006 17:18:06 +0100, Eeyore wrote:

>
>
> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>
>> The vast variation in PC hardware and software, there
>> is no concept of a standard PC.
>
> Please explain how that affects a connection.
>
> Graham

Its all in PC Worlds, 'Noddy & Big Ears guide to the Internet' ;-)

Dave

Alex Heney <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Now *that* is a really shocking indictment of the ISP market.

You seem to be ignoring the source, and that these are atypical consumers,
since they are (a) paying some not insignificant fee to get the magazine or
access to the reports online (been a while since I subscribed) and (b) have
chosen to respond to a request to fill in some details. Not like the "stop
them in the street" approach for a cross-section of the public, at all.

On Thu, 03 Aug 2006 21:20:12 +0100, NoNeedToKnow <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Alex Heney <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>Now *that* is a really shocking indictment of the ISP market.
>
>You seem to be ignoring the source, and that these are atypical consumers,
>since they are (a) paying some not insignificant fee to get the magazine or
>access to the reports online (been a while since I subscribed) and (b) have
>chosen to respond to a request to fill in some details. Not like the "stop
>them in the street" approach for a cross-section of the public, at all.

Good point.

Yes, I was forgetting the "self selected respondents" effect on the
results.
--
Alex Heney, Global Villager
Creditors have much better memories than debtors.
To reply by email, my address is alexATheneyDOTplusDOTcom

"Alex Heney" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Thu, 03 Aug 2006 21:20:12 +0100, NoNeedToKnow <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
> >Alex Heney <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> >
> >>Now *that* is a really shocking indictment of the ISP market.
> >
> >You seem to be ignoring the source, and that these are atypical consumers,
> >since they are (a) paying some not insignificant fee to get the magazine or
> >access to the reports online (been a while since I subscribed) and (b) have
> >chosen to respond to a request to fill in some details. Not like the "stop
> >them in the street" approach for a cross-section of the public, at all.
>
> Good point.
>
> Yes, I was forgetting the "self selected respondents" effect on the
> results.

Further the ISPs are being critizised for poor customer service not unrealiable
connections of the part of the Internet connection that they actually provide.
I don't think that I have contacted my ISP since the service was started about 2
years ago. I see no reason to pay for a high quality help desk as I would
essentially be paying for other peoples problems to be fixed.

--

Michael Chare

NoNeedToKnow wrote:

> You seem to be ignoring the source, and that these are atypical consumers,
> since they are (a) paying some not insignificant fee to get the magazine or
> access to the reports online (been a while since I subscribed) and (b) have
> chosen to respond to a request to fill in some details. Not like the "stop
> them in the street" approach for a cross-section of the public, at all.

While I agree with you that Which readers are not a good cross-section
neither is the person in the street.

On Fri, 4 Aug 2006 07:45:30 UTC, Colin Forrester
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> NoNeedToKnow wrote:
>
> > You seem to be ignoring the source, and that these are atypical consumers,
> > since they are (a) paying some not insignificant fee to get the magazine or
> > access to the reports online (been a while since I subscribed) and (b) have
> > chosen to respond to a request to fill in some details. Not like the "stop
> > them in the street" approach for a cross-section of the public, at all.
>
> While I agree with you that Which readers are not a good cross-section
> neither is the person in the street.

Yes, the really heavy (sad) ADSL users never go out!
--
[ 7'ism - a condition by which the sufferer experiences an inability
to give concise answers, express reasoned argument or opinion.
Usually accompanied by silly noises and gestures - incurable, early
euthanasia recommended. ]