TalkTalk scores lowest in Which? survey
A survey by Which? has revealed that TalkTalk scored the lowest in customer service satisfaction for broadband providers, with 38%. BT scored 47%, EE Broadband 49%, Sky 50%, Virgin Media 54%, John Lewis Broadband 64% and Plusnet 65%. Smaller ISPs topped the list, with Utility Warehouse scoring 80% and Zen Internet 83%. The results show that the major providers are underperforming smaller rivals and "are failing to meet their customers' basic requirements," according to Which?, demonstrating the need for the reforms recently announced by Ofcom.

Boutique providers in the telecomms industry are putting established giants to shame when it comes to value for money and customer satisfaction.

Budget pay-as-you-go mobile operator Giffgaff and award-winning broadband minnow Zen Internet have come out top in an extensive survey of British consumers, while companies like EE, Vodafone and TalkTalk were given a resounding raspberry.

Vodafone and EE scored just 49 per cent in the Which? survey of satisfaction with mobile services, while Giffgaff, which has no shops or call centres, topped the table for the second year running with 79 per cent.

The 4,101 members of the British public who took part in the mobile survey gave star ratings on a range of factors including customer service, ease of contacting, value for money and incentives.

The online provider's low prices plus flexible approach to selling pay-as-you-go SIM cards and unlocked handsets that can be used with any network proved popular.

Supermarket providers claimed the second and third spots: Asda Mobile scored 72 per cent while Tesco Mobile recorded 70 per cent.

Asda Mobile's good standing may have been boosted by a PAYG service which was rated highly for value for money, according to the survey.

Rochdale-based Zen Internet, which serves 90,000 customers, topped the broadband provider table with 83 per cent satisfaction rating, ahead of Utility Warehouse at 80 per cent.

Plusnet came third with 65 per cent, just ahead of John Lewis Broadband at 64 per cent, Post Office at 59 per cent, Vodafone at 58 per cent and Virgin Media at 54 per cent.

THE BEST MOBILE DEALS ONLY USE OCCASIONALLY ID Mobile: 250 minutes, 5,000 texts, 250 megabytes data (4G), £4 per month, one-month contract. ON THE PHONE MOST DAYS Talkmobile: 1,000 minutes, 5,000 texts, 2GB data, £7.50 per month, 12-month contract. MORE TALK, LESS INTERNET Virgin Mobile: Unlimited minutes and texts, 2GB data, £12 per month, one-month contract. WEB ADDICT, FEW CALLS Three: 200 minutes, unlimited texts and data (4G), £20 per month, 12-month contract. NEVER PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN The People’s Operator: Unlimited minutes and texts, 6GB data £12.49 per month, one-month contract. Three: Unlimited calls, texts and data (4G), £30 per month, 12-month contract. (Deals that involve applying for cashback excluded)

Customers gave Sky a meagre 50 per cent satisfaction rating while EE Broadband got 49 per cent, BT 47 per cent and Talk Talk were at the bottom with a lowly 38 per cent.

The worst mobile provider was international calls specialist Lebara at 46 per cent - but amongst the big pay-monthly brands Vodafone was the most complained about.

The big mobile operators have attracted criticism recently for tearing up deals for long-standing customers, offering poor service and exploiting poor competition to crank up prices.

Just four companies run Britain’s mobile network — Three, EE, O2 and Vodafone.

Three is delivering a ‘pay more or leave’ ultimatum to customers who have been on low-cost contracts for years. Users are being given 30 days to accept more expensive deals — in some cases, costing £30 instead of £15.

The provider is also scrapping a special deal that allowed some customers to make 2,000 minutes of free calls to other Three customers each month.

Three insists the move will ‘ensure customers benefit from more choice and control over how much they use’. But prices could keep rising under a proposed merger between Three and O2 that would reduce competition, the Competition and Markets Authority watchdog has warned.

Meanwhile, Vodafone has been gripped by a customer service crisis that has seen it inundated with complaints.

The 4,101 members of the British public who took part in the mobile survey gave star ratings on a range of factors including customer service, ease of contacting, value for money and incentives. Their level of satisfaction and how likely they were to recommend it to a friend were taken into account.

'Clearly there is an issue with broadband in this country': Former Tory party chairman Grant Shapps was among MPs who criticised the UK's broadband infrastructure today.

Carphone Warehouse's service ID scored 64 per cent, Virgin Mobile 62 per cent, Three 61 per cent, O2 60 per cent, Talk Mobile 56 per cent and TalkTalk got 54 per cent.

Alex Neill, campaigns director of Which? who estimate that mobile users are collectively losing out on £5.4billion a year by being on the wrong contract, said: 'Our latest survey once again shows that the major mobile providers are still failing on the basics of customer service.

'Telecoms are an essential part of modern life and so providers need to start delivering for their customers.'

The 3,717 broadband, phone and TV customers who took part were questioned about annual cost, ease of set-up, speed, reliability, value for money, ease of contacting, customer service and technical support.

A coss-party group of MPs today warned that broadband speed advertising is misleading and must be reformed. Customers should be able to leave contracts and be given compensation if they have been misled by service providers, according to the British Infrastructure Group.

It also criticised the way Advertising Standards Authority guidelines mean only one in ten broadband users need to be able to obtain the fastest advertised speed.

Grant Shapps, who set up the group, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'It seems to us that's extraordinary.'

The former Conservative party chairman said tougher laws would be needed if internet service providers and the ASA failed to act.