UK's largest broadband providers still leaving customers unsatisfied

Customers of the UK’s largest broadband providers were still getting a raw deal, according to the latest broadband satisfaction survey from consumer lobby group Which.

The charity noted that BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media supplied almost 90% of broadband customers in the United Kingdom, and yet they were still occupying the bottom of its broadband league table.

TalkTalk and Sky were “rooted” to the bottom of the latest rankings, Which said, with both firms earning only a 50% customer score.

It said that, despite having a reputation for cheap deals, TalkTalk was “panned” for the quality of its customer service and tech support, and failed to score well in any category, including value for money.

TalkTalk customers were also the most likely to suffer from very slow speeds at 27%, and frequent connection dropouts at 21%, in the last 12 months.

Sky fared slightly better than TalkTalk in most categories, but more than two-thirds of surveyed Sky customers - or 67% - told Which they were likely to switch broadband provider.

More than one in five Sky customers, or 22%, also said they had experienced issues with very slow connection speeds.

BT also received a “dismal” score of 51%, Which said, with customers reportedly unimpressed by the value for money they were getting.

The UK’s biggest broadband provider also offered “disappointing” customer service, with one in five customers experiencing problems with very slow speeds or connection dropouts, according to the survey.

Liberty Global subsidiary Virgin Media - the only provider of the group that does not use the BT Openreach copper telephone network - fared only slightly better, with a customer score of 58%.

However, Which said Virgin customers were by far the most likely to complain about price increases, with more than half - or 54% - highlighting that as a problem.

Virgin customers were also the most likely to say they had been left without a connection for hours or days at a time at 17%, or have had problems with their router at 21%.

The sharpest fall in the rankings came from Vodafone, which earned a customer score of 58%, but crashed into the bottom half of the rankings, having been joint fourth in Which’s spring 2018 survey.

The mobile telephony giant, which is a more recent entrant to the home broadband market, returned “mediocre” ratings across the board, and was also recently named the most complained-about broadband provider by the regulator Ofcom for the period from July to September 2018.

Seven out of 10, or 71%, of people who took part in the Which members survey said that they had been with their provider for more than three years.

However, the charity said it had previously found evidence that customers who had been with their broadband provider for a longer period without haggling for a better deal were the most likely to be overpaying, potentially by “hundreds of pounds” each year.

Ofcom was currently reviewing pricing practices in the broadband market, and had set out proposals which would require providers to advise customers when their contract was coming to an end, and tell them about the best tariffs available to them.

The end of a contracted period was usually the time when substantial price rises took place, with Which saying its analysis of deals on offer from the surveyed providers in March found the increase after the contracted deal was typically 21%, but could be as high as 76%, or up to £19 per month.

“It’s outrageous that the biggest providers are still letting their customers down with shoddy broadband, especially when we know that long standing customers are the most likely to be overpaying,” said Which head of home products and services Natalie Hitchins.

“Anyone who is unhappy with their current provider should take back control and switch to a better deal – you could get better service and save hundreds of pounds a year.”