Broadband Provider BBC Survey Results -
8th April
2007 |
The BBC asked Watchdog viewers to rate their broadband providers on customer service, ease of set-up, cancellation, value for money, and reliability of service.
The results aren't presented as a scientific statistical survey, but a unique snapshot of the personal opinions of the 50,000 viewers who chose to take part. As such, it isn't intended to represent the views of Watchdog or the BBC's, nor Broadbandguide.co.uk's view of any of the companies, or their current performance.
For the purposes of this survey, Virgin, NTL and Telewest were treated separately, as the companies had only just merged and it was too early to assess the new company's performance.
The BBC reports overall ranking is based on the total volume of votes cast, meaning the companies that came out best and worst are shown in tables one and two.
Respondents were asked whether they were either: extremely unsatisfied (1), unsatisfied (2), satisfied (3) or extremely satisfied (4).
TABLE 1 - THE BEST BROADBAND PROVIDERS |
This table lists - in order of the total number of votes cast - the companies that, overall, viewers who took part in the survey were most happy with. It was calculated by adding together the 'satisfied' and 'extremely satisfied' ratings in each of the five categories. This total is the number listed after each company's name. |
Based on sum of 3s & 4s (satisfied, extremely satisfied) |
1. BT - 18,862 |
2. Virgin - 17,881 |
3. AOL Europe -16,977 |
4. Tiscali - 11,973 |
5. TalkTalk -10,802 |
6. NTL - 10,399 |
7. Orange - 9,036 |
8. Telewest - 8,062 |
9. Sky - 6,202 |
10. Pipex - 5,772 |
11. Plusnet - 5,014 |
12. Zen - 4,742 |
13. Eclipse - 2,781 |
14. Demon - 2,515 |
15. Tesco - 2,216 |
16. Freedom2Surf - 2,160 |
17. Madasafish - 2,031 |
18. Nildram - 1,619 |
19. Waitrose - 1,308 |
20. Bulldog - 1,162 |
21. Supanet - 1,131 |
22. UK_Online - 987 |
23. ToucanSurf - 895 |
24. One.Tel - 585 |
25. Homecall - 528 |
26. Force 9 - 518 |
27. Metronet - 426 |
28. Biscit - 258 |
29. Global - 166 |
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TABLE 2 - THE WORST BROADBAND PROVIDERS |
This table lists - in order of the total number of votes cast - the companies that, overall, viewers who took part in the survey were least happy with. It was calculated by adding together the 'extremely unsatisfied' and 'unsatisfied' ratings in each of the five categories. This total is the number listed after each company's name. |
Based on sum of 1s & 2s (extremely unsatisfied, unsatisfied) |
1. Orange - 12,313 |
2. TalkTalk - 11,944 |
3. BT - 10,669 |
4. Tiscali - 10,412 |
5. AOL Europe - 7,500 |
6. Sky - 6,525 |
7. Virgin - 6,306 |
8. Pipex - 4,083 |
9. NTL - 3,753 |
10. Plusnet - 2,109 |
11. Bulldog - 1985 |
12. Telewest - 1373 |
13. Biscit - 883 |
14. Eclipse - 869 |
15. ToucanSurf - 811 |
16. Demon - 738 |
17. Tesco - 555 |
18. Freedom2Surf - 469 |
19. UK_Online - 432 |
20. Supanet - 431 |
21. Zen - 371 |
22. Homecall - 326 |
23. One.Tel - 305 |
24. Force 9 - 229 |
25. Nildram - 256 |
26. Madasafish - 190 |
27. Waitrose - 80 |
28. Metronet - 47 |
29. Global - 8 |
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Full extent of dissatisfied broadband customers revealed: -
5th April
2007 |
Telecoms regulator Ofcom says 51,000 people were so dissatisfied with their ISP last year that they made an official complaint – nearly twice as many as we were told earlier this month.
The significantly higher figures came to light after we pressed Ofcom for further details following our story two weeks ago stating that almost 27,000 broadband customers had reported their ISP’s shoddy service to the industry watchdog.
Citing the Freedom of Information Act, PC Advisor asked Ofcom to tell us the true number of complaints it received last year relating to broadband after it hinted that the 27,000 figure was “considerably lower than the total number of communications about broadband services”.
While Ofcom was at pains not to identify the worst offenders by number of complaints, it said at the time that its reasoning was based on the fact that a proportion of complaints about broadband services hadn’t been attributed to a specific ISP. The new figure of 51,004 complaints received between 1 January and 23 October 2006 ‘includes complaints, expressions of dissatisfaction and queries’, explained Ofcom.
While the term ‘queries’ doesn’t sound as though it belongs under the complaints category, Ofcom said it filed complaints that weren’t about a specific ISP under this heading. The watchdog said “the service provider is not known in a high proportion of cases, e.g. where the consumer has a tag, marker or incompatible service on their line”.
This level of dissatisfaction doesn’t appear to be shared by PC Advisor pollsters, with only a handful taking the extreme measure of reporting their ISP to Ofcom with the overwhelming majority (92.6 percent) saying their service was either good or fair. However, we are currently running an online questionnaire asking people a range of questions about their broadband experiences.
Broadband has become a source of much aggravation with concerns over the misleading marketing of products as well as frustration over the lengthy process of changing from one service provider to another.
But consumers are increasingly unwilling to sit back and accept poor treatment. As well as flooding Ofcom with complaints about providers’ unwillingness to provide the necessary MAC migration codes to enable customers to switch from their existing service to another, confusion about advertised and actual connection speeds have previously upset consumers.
In February, partly in response to consumer outcry, Ofcom introduced new rules forcing broadband providers to make it much easier for customers to change providers.
In another sign that consumer complaints and online petitions are gaining momentum, nearly 1,500 people have now backed the e-petition on the prime minister’s website started by Kevin Peel, a broadband customer fed up after his ISP throttled his web connection when he’d signed up to what was marketed as an ‘unlimited’ broadband product.
Don't wait for the future. Be there now. |
Virgin Media increased broadband speed - 29th
March 2007 |
Newly-formed cable operator Virgin Media said last week it would double the speed of its fastest broadband service to 20 megabits per second from 10 MB in a drive to attract new customers.
Virgin Media is operating in the fiercely competitive pay TV, broadband and phone markets where companies are always looking for new offers to set themselves apart from the opposition.
It said the 100 percent speed increase would result in an MP3 music track being downloaded in around two seconds.
The increase will take place from May via the service's top XL broadband service and the price will increase from 35 pounds per month to 37 pounds.
A recent research note from the Enders Analysis group said Virgin's ability to offer faster broadband could be critical to its success. BSkyB currently offers broadband with a speed of 8MB. |
Consumers create a petition against the use of the term "unlimited broadband" - 28th
March 2007 |
Thousands of UK broadband consumers have signed an electronic petition protesting the use of the phrase 'unlimited' in marketing material and advertising campaigns launched by broadband providers.
Financial services comparison firm uSwitch notes that the fair usage policy that is often part of contracts from broadband providers are often ill-defined, referring to 'excessive' broadband use as a reason for capping service, with the demarcation point between acceptable and unacceptable use often unknown to consumers.
According to the company, nearly 3,000 consumers have signed a petition protesting what is seen as misleading use of the phrase 'unlimited' in its first week, while broadband supplier Toucan has removed the word from its own advertisements.
Steve Weller, head of communication services at the firm, said: 'We will continue to put pressure on the providers as well as the Advertising Standards Agency until this issue is addressed and 'unlimited' broadband is culled unless it really means unlimited.'
He urged consumers wishing to register their opinion to sign the electronic petition available on the website for 10 Downing Street.
Dan, please promote this link for broadband guide users to see and sign the petition:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Unlimited-ADSL/ |
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