BT Customer Satisfaction Hits New Low

BT has taken the title for worst customer service out of the four major broadband providers in the UK.

In a survey conducted by Ofcom, 6,000 customers from TalkTalk, Virgin Media, Sky and BT were asked a variety of customer service questions.

This year’s survey has seen an increase in customer satisfaction for Sky (71 to 75 per cent) and Virgin Media (71 to 76 per cent). TalkTalk maintained its score at 62 per cent and BT dropped from 63 to 60 per cent, making it the worst broadband provider for customer service.

Broadband speed issues were the main reason for contacting customer service in 2014, followed by customers wanting to change their package. BT’s customer service was regarded as slow and inadequate, missing the 69 per cent average customer satisfaction.

Currently, BT only offers broadband up to 84Mbps, almost half of Virgin Media’s 152Mbps high-end option. Sky and TalkTalk both offer less satisfying numbers for premium users, at 76Mbps and 38 Mbps, respectively.

Landline telephone customer satisfaction rates differ, BT, TalkTalk and Virgin Media all lost approval percentages in 2014, while Sky gained a 10 per cent increase to 79 per cent. Sky also gained the most approval for TV service, above Virgin Media.

On mobile, O2 had the best approval rating for customer service at 78 per cent, although that is a 4 per cent drop on 2013. EE has the worst approval rating of 69 per cent, showing issues with the new company’s customer support.

It is rather ironic EE and BT, the two companies in talks to merge, both have low customer satisfaction rates. At the same time, reports say Sky and O2 are in early buyout talks, a much better option if customer satisfaction is anything to go by.