DIAL UP
Best and worst broadband firms for customer service revealed – the winner isn’t BT, Sky, TalkTalk, or Virgin Media
Plus, we've explained how to complain if you're unhappy with your provider
THE UK's best and worst broadband firms for customer service satisfaction have been revealed by Which?.
Telecoms is currently one of the worst-performing sectors for customer service, according to the consumer group.
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In Which?'s latest customer service survey, one in five people (22%) said they were unhappy with their most recent experience with a telecoms provider, with more complaints than energy, financial services, and retail sectors.
The consumer group's annual broadband satisfaction survey looked at how well firms are performing, and if they are providing timely and effective responses.
Little-known Rochdale-based broadband provider Zen Internet was rated the best supplier for customer satisfaction, with a score of 84 out of 100.
Utility Warehouse and Plusnet also performed well with satisfaction scores of 74 and 72 respectively for overall customer service.
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The three smaller firms all beat the big four providers - BT, Sky, TalkTalk, and Virgin Media.
Virgin Media was the worst-performing firm - coming bottom for overall customer service with 38, and ranked lowest for quick and helpful responses (26) and technical support (34).
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Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy at Which?, said: "Customer service has hit rock bottom - with some customers stuck in endless loops just trying to get help.
"Virgin Media was named the worst broadband firm for customer service in our research - faring particularly poorly for technical support and providing quick and efficient responses.
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"This is particularly unacceptable when the company has enforced mid-contract price hikes of almost nine per cent this April, on top of an increase of almost 14% last April.
"While many consumers will rightly consider switching, firms that are failing must urgently improve so all customers get the standard of service and support they need and deserve."
Michael Barraclough, 62, from Bradford, highlighted his shocking experience with the firm when trying to resolve his broadband signal issue.
Ultimately, Michael's issue took six weeks and 18 phone calls to resolve.
He was initially told his issues would take seven days to resolve.
A week later, Michael was still having issues so he raised a formal complaint over the phone.
Virgin Media's response was a rehash of the advice available online—such as rebooting the router - and did not resolve the issue.
Michael then asked for a replacement router but never received a reply.
A week later, he emailed the complaints team and informed them he would escalate his complaint to the regulator, Ofcom.
My experience of trying to get what is a simple router issue resolved is one of frustration.
Michael Barraclough
He was told he could order a router from customer service and was eventually sent two - one of which did not work.
An engineer was then sent out and was finally able to resolve the issue.
Michael said: "My experience of trying to get what is a simple router issue resolved is one of frustration.
"Something which should have taken a few days to resolve took many weeks and an engineer visit.
"Virgin Media's customer service processes are inadequate as no one took ownership of the issue.
"It was left to me to push and raise formal complaints before my broadband issues were addressed.
"They didn't even offer any compensation for the poor service and have now given me a mid-contract price increase."
BROADBAND COMPENSATION RULES
DODGY broadband is always frustrating, but you could get back hundreds of pounds if the service isn't up to scratch.
Especially if you're constantly met with outages and services failures.
Whilst you're paying for your broadband service, you will be entitled to compensation for when it goes awry.
If your connection goes down for more than two days you could be entitled to £9.76 for for each calendar day that the service is not repaired.
Customers can also get £30.49 for each missed engineer appointment and £6.10 each calendar day for a delay to the star of your service.
A Virgin Media spokesperson said: "We are investing and making changes across our business to deliver tangible customer service improvements and ensure all customers receive the best possible service.
"For example, we’re multi-skilling our teams and rolling out new IT platforms that make it easier for customers to get support and have issues resolved the first time they get in touch.
"On average, customer calls were answered within two minutes last year and we resolved 95% of complaints during a customer’s first initial call."
How do I complain to my telecom provider?
If you're unhappy with the service you've received, you'll first need to contact your provider's customer services department and explain the problem.
If this doesn't resolve the issue, you can formally complain to the company.
The back of your bill and the company's website provide details on how to do this.
Depending on your complaint type, you may be able to contact the team by web chat, telephone or by post.
You'll need to inform the company about what has happened and what you want it to do to fix things.
If a formal complaint gets you nowhere, after eight weeks, you can ask for a "deadlock letter" and take your dispute to the appropriate Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme.
How do I take my complaint to an ADR scheme?
ADR schemes are free to use and will act as an independent middleman between yourself and the service provider when an initial complaint cannot be resolved.
There are two ADR schemes in the UK - Ombudsman Services: Communication and CISAS.
Your provider is required to be a member of one of these, and you can find out which one your provider is covered by on the Ofcom website.
Before you can submit your complaint to it, you must have logged a formal complaint with your provider and worked with the firm to resolve it.
You must also have received a so-called deadlock letter, where the provider refers your complaint to the appropriate ADR.
You can also complain if you haven't had a satisfactory solution to your problem within eight weeks.
To make a complaint fill in the ADR scheme claims form on its website - or write a letter if you'd prefer.
The ADR scheme then bases its decision on the evidence you and the company submit.
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If you choose to accept its decision, your supplier will then have 28 days to comply.
However, if an individual chooses not to accept the ADR's final decision, they lose the right to the resolution offer.
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