Calls to UK help lines increase

It has been reported that whilst calls to UK broadband help lines is on the increase many customers are still being left holding or are being forced to pay for their technical assistance.

With so many broadband providers now out there, and so many households that are using broadband, it is not surprising that the number of people experiencing difficulties and therefore looking for assistance in the UK has increased. This is something that has been reflected in the rising number of calls to broadband help lines in the UK, with reports that the number of calls has jumped by around twenty five percent this year.

The figures were released by the price comparison and switching service, uswitch.com, which said that more and more people were having to contact their technical support help lines. However, it is claimed that whilst the number of people need to contact the help lines for help with broadband services has increased customers are still being penalised with long holding times or charges for using the service.

The average call is said to take around fifteen minutes, but five minutes of this is apparently callers being kept on hold. There are now eighteen million homes reliant on broadband services and the number of calls made has jumped by 25 percent to around twenty million. A survey was carried out amongst seven and a half thousand customers, many of which said that they were kept holding and many others who were being charged up to 86 pence per call.

A uswitch.com official said: “It is disappointing to see major broadband providers still charging their customers for calling their helplines. We are not talking about simple set-up problems – customers are calling because their service is down. It seems ludicrous that customers are the ones to be penalised when it’s likely to be a fault on the network. Broadband is no longer a novelty – it’s a life essential. When things go wrong consumers need to know their provider will go the extra mile to get their service back up and running quickly and at no extra cost. In such a competitive arena it’s surprising that they haven’t wised up to the fact that customers expect more from their broadband service than a cheap deal. If they are not happy, they will simply switch away.”

Source – Every Investor