Broadband providers overloaded by demand?

Manoj Solanki, Tuesday February 27, 2007 - 9:06 PM

BBC’s Watchdog program gets more complaints about broadband than any other topic.

According BBC Watchdog’s report, aired on Tuesday 27 February, “complaints have risen and vary from spending months waiting for a connection, slow Internet speeds, and how hard it can be to move to a different provider. And when you call customer services to complain, things go from bad to worse. Rudeness, hours on hold, and never being called back were all common issues.”

We have also monitored various popular message boards over the last few months and it appears that the customer service in particular leaves many people wanting to move to another provider.  The problem, as has become clear in the past, is failing to keep up demand.  TalkTalk, who started the ball rolling with cheap broadband, at their admission stated that they underestimated the demand.  Other major providers have also experienced similar problems. 

One thing is clear though, we love our broadband, and being without it is difficult as we become more dependant on it.

Many major providers have already responded to the article, of which a summary is below (taken from the BBC website):

TalkTalk

“TalkTalk has changed broadband in Britain forever. We’ve connected more customers in a shorter space of time than anyone else in the history of broadband in the UK. Before, customers were paying twice – once for telephone calls; second for broadband. Now our customers are paying less for their calls and nothing for their broadband. It’s a revolution that prompted unprecedented demand, which we’ve openly said we underestimated.”

“We welcome Ofcom’s new rules that make switching broadband provider easier. We’ve introduced well over half a million customers to free broadband – many of whom have switched from other suppliers – and have never charged for MAC codes; we’re pleased our competitors will have to adopt the same policy.”

BT Broadband

“BT is committed to delivering excellent 24/7 customer service and has invested more than £100m in 34 contact centres, focusing on the initial first contact with each customer. We’ve recently taken on more than 1,000 customer service staff to ensure our broadband customers’ needs are met. BT also has a service called ‘Queuebuster’, guaranteeing a call back from an adviser within a set timeframe, so customers can choose not to queue.

Sky

“There’s been a huge response to the launch of Sky Broadband, and on average our customers are set to save hundreds of pounds a year while enjoying a doubling of download speeds compared with previous suppliers. We believe this offers outstanding value, and the demand we’re experiencing for our service supports that.

“We also have a strong record for connecting customers to our broadband network – 93 per cent of installations happen within a day of our initial estimate, and within 15 days of them placing their order. Sky works closely with BT Openreach to make this process as smooth as possible, and we continue to invest substantially in customer service to ensure customers are kept informed throughout the process.

Orange Broadband

“Orange aims to provide the best value and most reliable broadband service in the UK. We launched Orange Broadband last summer and have worked to ensure the vast majority of customers receive an excellent level of service. However, we are aware some of our broadband customers have experienced some service and technical issues over the last few months. When these have occurred, we have worked to rectify any problems swiftly and effectively.

Tiscali

“Miss Thompson’s case is an indication of a couple of the industry-wide issues we’re not alone in facing. She placed an online request to move her Tiscali broadband to her new address during October, when she was moving home. This involves a ‘Cease and Re-provide’ order being placed by Tiscali with BT. As a result of a temporary technical glitch, our systems failed to complete the activation of her request. However as soon as she called us on 1 November we actioned a manual request, which in normal circumstances would have been completed in ten days.
It’s clear there’s more to do in managing customers through a complex provisioning process, and more could have and should have been done to keep Miss Thompson aware of the progress of her order.

“We apologise for the disruption and inconvenience this has caused. We’re acutely aware of the issues and are doing everything we can to work with the industry and BT to address these problems and provide customers with a more robust and trouble-free experience.”

View the full BBC article here.