Broadband Provides draw the majority of Consumer Complaints in 2009

We imagine nearly everyone reading this blog has found it necessary to complain about the companies that supply our homes with services. Whether it?s energy, telephone services of TV packages, there always seem to be something that we think could be improved or that isn?t being done as well as it should be. Everything from billing to customer service gets complaints, and the vast majority of time we are well within our rights to make them, and expect change.

New research from a survey performed by ORC International has suggested that around two thirds of us complained about a home service last year, but can you guess which one took the most flack from consumers? That?s right, the UK broadband service was the target of 35% of complaints over the past year.

The survey questioned 1,000 respondents from the UK on their experience with their home services, which includes gas, electricity, telephone, television and broadband suppliers. Although 23% of the complaint went to gas and the same number to electricity suppliers, broadband was the single biggest field to receive customer complaints.

The survey also suggests that speaking out about your problems online as well as complaining directly to the company has a very large impact that we might not always realise. 70% of complaining customers told others about the details of their complaints, while nearly a third of us (30%) base our purchases on personal recommendations when looking for new television or broadband services.

Head of ORC International?s Customer Strategy and Technology Division, Angela Richmond said:
?Underlying these survey results is a real frustration about the pricing structures and customer service offered by utilities companies. We often hear about how, as a nation, we are reluctant to complain, but our survey shows that increasingly we won?t put up with poor service or uncompetitive prices.

And we are keen to let others know about our experiences. Given that many people choose their broadband supplier through personal recommendation, that should ring alarm bells with suppliers.”

The survey also lists poor speed, unreliable connections and high prices as the top reasons that many people will change suppliers.

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