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UK Broadband customer survey is met with criticism

J.D. Power published the results of a broadband customer satisfaction survey, but are the punters convinced?

The survey results published last week, ranked Tiscali highest in overall customer satisfaction (668 points out of 1,000) out of the eight leading providers used in the survey.  Virgin Media and Sky came second and third respectively, with BT coming in last place (626 points).

The survey states that despite lower costs and a quicker broadband service being offered by providers, there is a downturn in customer satisfaction levels.

It found that “call waiting times continue to increase when customers contact their ISP, with customers now waiting an average of 17 minutes before initially speaking with a representative.”

The survey took responses from 1,683 Broadband ISP customers in the UK.

However, it has been criticised by some readers on many broadband forums, including Thinkbroadband.  Many were disappointed that only 8 providers were used in the survey and questioned its validity.

Longstanding website ISPreview shows that Tiscali has the most complaints, and Zen is the most recommended ISP at the time of writing.

Many surveys have been conducted this year on various aspects of broadband services, with various ISPs coming out on top.  For example, a YouGov survey commissioned by USwitch found Plusnet was top for satisfaction whilst Orange was in last place.  The survey polled 10,500 customers.

A BBC Watchdog survey several months ago ranked smaller ISPs such as Global Internet, Waitrose, Zen and Madasafish at the top for being most satisfied with their broadband provider.  BT overall gave the best showing out of the large providers.

Finally, Point Topic’s last consumer broadband survey showed an improvement in customer service levels from many ISPs and was taken from a sample of over 4,000 respondents.   That particular survey showed that TalkTalk customers were also the happiest where they are!

Having analysed many surveys this year, despite BT being in last place, on balance, it appears they are probably about average.  With ISPs that maintain a few million customers, not everybody is going to be happy.  The ISPs that appear continually come out top include Zen, Be (owned by O2), Madasafish and Entanet (reseller to several small ISPs).

It probably won’t be long before yet another survey comes out that provides a different set of results.