The UK's worst broadband provider

by lovemoney staff on 02 April 2013  |  82 comments
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Which broadband providers should you avoid, according to the latest customer satisfaction surveys?

The last five words anyone would want, or expect, to hear come out of the mouth of a broadband customer service assistant: “No, I don’t understand either.”

Yet a couple of years ago, that’s exactly what one of our writers was told. And what made it worse was that this particular broadband operator had spent the last 30 minutes attempting to explain to them something that – it now emerged – she was also clueless about.

We're not the only people with such horror stories though...

Ofcom complaint figures

Telecoms regulator Ofcom has just released its complaints data, highlighting the companies guilty of the most complaints between October and December last year.

The report only looks at providers with a market share of 4% or more, so you won’t see smaller broadband networks mentioned.

Let’s take a look at the results:

From Ofcom’s data it’s clear to see that Sky has performed consistently well with only 0.08 complaints per 1,000 customers recorded.

Orange on the other hand received the most complaints during the last quarter and was the only provider to experience a rise since the last report.

The reason for this massive jump? Orange reneging on an agreement to provide Pay Monthly mobile phone customers with "free broadband for life". Customers now have to pay £14 for an Orange landline.

Elsewhere, Talk Talk has really cleaned up its act over 2012 showing the biggest improvement in complaints received. The provider has got them down from 0.56 per 1,000 customers at the beginning of 2012 to 0.33 by the end. BT has also driven its number down.

But despite a drop, BT and Talk Talk are still receiving above average complaints.

Which? research

Back in 2012, consumer champion Which? surveyed thousands of internet users to compare experiences with various different broadband providers. Here are the results in reverse order.

Surprise, surprise TalkTalk and Orange once again gets a kicking.

But overall the Which? survey really highlights how disappointing the broadband service is from the big names, compared to the smaller, nimbler outfits who deliver a far superior service.

If you’re suffering from poor service from your broadband provider, don’t just stand for it – switch! You can use broadbandchoices.co.uk to compare the deals available in your area.

Which broadband network do you use? Which have been the best and worst in your experience? Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below.

This is a lovemoney.com classic article which is regularly updated

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