A consumer survey has rated TalkTalk as the worst major broadband provider in the UK.
In its annual satisfaction survey, Which? Found the Big Four providers – BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media – had lost out to smaller companies amid concerns over price increases midway through a contract.
Which? Surveyed 4,000 broadband customers and highlighted “slow speeds, appalling customer service and mediocre technical support”. The consumer organisation has been campaigning against the current run of price increases, which in some cases have been as more than 14%. It’s calling for mid-contract price rises to be cancelled for financially vulnerable consumers.
Rocio Concha, Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy, said: ‘It’s unacceptable that the major broadband firms are hiking prices for their mediocre services by such huge sums during this unrelenting cost of living crisis.”
One in five of those who had switched away from TalkTalk put this down to their connection being too slow, while a fifth of current customers said they would not recommend TalkTalk to others.
TalkTalk will shortly be asking customers to pay an additional 14.2%, using its inflation-based formula. BT, which uses a comparable price structure, is proposing a 14.4% price hike next month. Virgin Media has announced an 13.8% increase with customers sharing concerns around customer service and technical support.
Sky has avoided putting clauses covering inflation-based price rises in its contracts, and customers free to switch operators, though with an 8.1% increase they may be marginally more inclined to stay.
