An O2 subsidiary has knocked its parent firm from the top of a list ranking consumer satisfaction with the quality of service from UK ISPs.
BE Unlimited took the plaudits in the Large ISP category, knocking O2 Broadband into second place ahead of rising star PlusNet, following a year-long survey covering almost 200,000 web users conducted by ThinkBroadband.com.
The ISP’s customer service was rated by 80% of its users compared to 73% for O2 and 64% for third-placed PlusNet. In terms of reliability, BE Unlimited garnered 78%, compared to 69% and 64% respectively for O2 and PlusNet.
Troubled TalkTalk, which this week was let off a regulators fine for overcharging subscribers achieved only 39% for service and 47% for reliability, placing it seventh in the list overall.
In the niche category, AAISP held its leading position, growing its customer service rating from 89% in 2009 to 92% in 2010, and reliability from 82% to 88%. Zen was ranked second with a customer service rating of 87%, narrowly ahead of IDNet on 86%.
ThinkBroadband co-founder Sebastien Lahtinen, said reliability and customer service are as important a consideration at headline maximum data rates when choosing an ISP. “Users should not forget to consider the costs of an unreliable broadband connection, or the time spent trying to fix it.”