More than half of UK broadband customers have experienced problems with their connections, according to a report that says telecoms service providers are adding “insult to injury” after forcing their customers to hike inflation-defying prices.
Several UK mobile and telecom companies have been accused of “inflation of greed” to pay them by increasing average contract prices by as much as 17.3%.
Report by consumer champion who? It found that 53% of broadband customers experienced connection problems – from slow speeds, dropped connections and dropped connections – in the year to January 2023.
Among the UK’s largest service providers, Sky, Virgin Media and EE were found to be the worst offenders, with 68%, 65% and 63% of their customers surveyed reporting problems with their connections.
BT fared best among the UK’s largest telecoms providers, although the majority of its customers questioned – 51% – said they had had trouble with broadband performance in the past year.
Even among smaller operators like Hyperoptic, Shell Energy and Utility Warehouse, which fared better in the survey, at least 40% of customers said they had at least one problem.
said Rocío Concha, director of policy and advocacy at Which? “Earlier this year, many broadband consumers experienced price increases for average contracts of more than 14%, which means it is more important than ever that their provider offers a reliable connection and good customer service.”
which? A survey of nearly 4,000 broadband customers also found that 44% had also experienced a problem with customer service.
In May, telecoms regulator Ofcom released its annual customer service report, which found that customers felt call waiting times, getting to the right person quickly and dealing with a complaint the first time were all factors the telecom companies could improve.
Last week the government met Ofcom to discuss how the telecoms industry can ease financial pressure on consumers suffering from the cost of living crisis.
Potential measures raised included better promotion of, and greater scope for, cheaper social tariffs for the most vulnerable and cash-strapped clients.
In February, Ofcom launched an investigation into the widespread industry practice of using mechanisms to bill customers annually according to inflation, usually measured by either the Consumer Price Index or the Retail Price Index, plus an additional increase of between 3.4% and 3.9%.
“While some clients may be able to switch to better service and pricing, many are stuck in contracts where they must either accept higher-than-inflationary price hikes (each) in the spring or pay exorbitant exit fees to leave their contracts early,” Concha said. “It is critical that Ofcom’s review of average contract hikes linked to inflation leads to changes to ensure clients are not trapped in this situation again.”