BT and Sky broadband top customer service league

March 20, 2017

BT and Sky are the best fixed-line broadband providers for customer support, whilst TalkTalk and Orange are bottom of the customer service league.

This is the conclusion of Broadband Genie, who investigated broadband customer services after a slew of complaints about providers on their website forums.

The price comparison site researched a range of criteria to evaluate customer support, including provider websites, call centre destinations, support call costs, support hours, and the accuracy with which this information is conveyed to consumers.

Posing as a new customer, Broadband Genie called up the UK’s six biggest providers, as well as checking the company websites.

BT and Sky impressed the most, with free 24/7 support and helpful call centre staff.

Sky scored points for its UK only-based call centres for a small charge to customers, while BT offers advanced technical help for an extra fee.

Orange and TalkTalk fared the worst, charging for customer support calls and offering poor customer service.

The Orange operator told Broadband Genie that if they wanted to know where a call centre was based, they’d have to ask the person who picked up the phone.

TalkTalk, meanwhile, offers no 24/7 support, and mixed call centre destinations.

Middle of the pack were Virgin Media and Tiscali.

Tiscali support calls can be expensive, although call centre staff are polite and helpful.

Virgin Media has free calls to customer support, but its online messaging service was found to be ‘disappointing’.

Chris Marling, Broadband Genie editor, said: “There were marked differences between all the providers that could make all the difference to a consumer.

“It just goes to show how important it is to do some research before committing to a potentially lengthy contract.”