Anyone using BT, Sky or Virgin Media might want to consider switching to a smaller provider. That’s the latest advice from the consumer team at Which? who say their recent research suggests the big internet suppliers are offering sub-par performance. 4,500 people were recently surveyed by Which? with many saying that their provider underwhelmed when it came to overall satisfaction – many also said felt frustrated by mid-contract price hikes.
Coming bottom of the pile in the latest Which? stats is Virgin Media with the Internet Service Provider (ISP) receiving a customer score of just 56 percent. Users complained about dire customer service and bad communication along with higher-than-average connection dropouts.
Virgin did get a good rating for its overall connection speed courtesy of its own fibre and cable network which is at least some good news for its millions of users.
Coming in second place was Sky with a customer score of 57 percent. Sky was criticised by its users for connection speed and reliability. Value for money is also a weakness: one in five Sky customers gave this a low rating and half of those who had switched away from Sky told Which? they had been motivated by a price rise.
Next up it’s BT with this hugely popular ISP scoring 62 percent. Which? says it was competitive for connection speed and reliability, but got middling ratings for customer service and technical support. Value for money was rated poor with things not helped by the upcoming price hike with kicks in over the weekend.
Despite their low rankings, these suppliers command around 70 percent of the UK market with Which? now urging consumers to check if smaller suppliers have arrived in their street and to make the switch.
Firms such as Hypoeroptic, Zen and Community Fibre all performed well in the latest tests with them praised for having good speeds and more competitive pricing. These so-called Altnets are popping up all over the country and it’s worth seeing what’s available in your street if your current contract is coming to an end.
Speaking about the report, Natalie Hitchins, Which? Head of Home Products and Services, said: “Our latest broadband provider rankings show that consumers could be better off choosing a smaller company which prioritises customer service over a giant that also stings them with unfair mid-contract price rises.
“Customers with contracts that are ending soon should look at their switching options as our research found that consumers that did that saved almost £100 on average.
“Providers planning to cash in one last time in April with unfair mid-contract price hikes must do the right thing and adopt Ofcom’s proposals as soon as possible, while firms falling short on customer service must up their game.”
