Broadband users paying less – but still not happy with service

Published on Thursday 22 April 2010 23:15

BROADBAND users are paying less for faster speeds, but are still unhappy about customer service, a report will reveal today.

Broadband bills are 4 per cent lower than last year and speeds 33 per cent faster, but just six out of ten users are satisfied with their customer service, according to the annual uSwitch Broadband Customer Satisfaction Report.

The poll of more than 7,500 broadband customers found the average bill is 167, down from 175 last year, with the average speed jumping from 4.2Mb to 5.7Mb.

Overall broadband satisfaction has climbed 2 per cent to 79 per cent, but just 62 per cent of those polled were satisfied with customer service.

Consumers voted O2 the best provider for the second year running, with 92 per cent of customers saying they were satisfied overall.

AOL, Orange and BT held the bottom three spots in overall satisfaction for the second year running.

Orange was voted the worst provider, scoring 70 per cent for overall satisfaction. A quarter of users (24 per cent) said they were dissatisfied with the level of customer service.

O2 scored the highest among customers for value for money (93 per cent), while BT scored the worst at 63 per cent.

Overall satisfaction with broadband speed dropped from 73 per cent to 71 per cent, suggesting providers were failing to keep up with the applications now available to consumers, uSwitch said.

Fewer than half (49 per cent) of all customers believed their provider had placed them on the most appropriate plan.

USwitch spokesman Matthew Wheeler said: "The expanding gap between the best and worst provider shows just how important it is for consumers to choose on service and not just price."