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Survey criticises ISPs for using premium rate numbers

A survey from Which? Computing has revealed that many broadband providers charge premium rates to call their technical support line.

The survey looked at a range of broadband providers, comparing technical support costs as well as waiting times.  Providers including Tesco and Supanet use premium rate numbers. 

Tesco have said in a statement that they are looking at their call charges.  Other providers responded by saying the revenue is used to cover the costs of providing the service in the first place.

Six companies offered a freephone 0800 number: BT, Waitrose, O2 (on it’s home broadband package only), UK Online, Corel and Sony (software).
The average waiting time to speak to someone when calling a technical support line was 1 minute 33 seconds, with Plusnet customers fairing the worst at almost 8 minutes.

It also found that a third of broadband users were frustrated with customer support in a survey of 16,000, with the waiting time to get through causing the most grief.

Sarah Kidner, editor of Which? Computing commented: “Some companies are using higher-cost numbers at their customers’ expense.”

“If other companies can offer a freephone number, why can’t they all?”