 |  | By Julie Kukiewicz Staff Writer Friday, 04 January 2008 |
POPULAR, but troubled, broadband provider Tiscali has come out on top in a customer satisfaction survey.
The JD Power consumer broadband survey, now in its third year, compared the top eight UK broadband providers in a number of categories including cost, image and customer support.
The result will come as a surprise to many consumers who have suffered Tiscali’s ongoing problems in the past year.
Overseas call centres
Tiscali users have reported broken email, irritating advertising on error pages and poor support. The company has also been criticised over plans to axe UK support staff for its 570,000 new Pipex customers in favour of overseas call centres.
According to the analysts, however, Tiscali’s customers are more than satisfied placing it way ahead of the competition for billing and above average in other areas.
Cheap broadband
Although it might be too early to take what some analysts are calling a fluke result as a reason for switching it is true that Tiscali have become increasingly popular for their cheap deals – they are currently offering around forty percent off for the first three months (eg. Tiscali Superfast Broadband Option 1 - £6.49 pm) – and bundles which offer free line rental (eg. Tiscali Broadband & Phone Option 1 - £14.99 pm).
Elsewhere in the survey, Virgin Media came second, Sky came third and BT ended up in last place.
Customer support spending down
Tiscali’s apparent turnaround was the single good news story in a year which saw a downturn in consumer satisfaction levels overall as broadband providers continue to decrease spending on customer support in response to increased pressure for cheaper broadband.
The average broadband monthly spend has gone from over £25 last year to just £21.10.
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