Suzy, Drinker Of Coffee

Beware surveys which are not all they appear to be…

El Reg has published the results of a “survey” by Uswitch.com – and I quote…

BT, NTL and AOL slammed in broadband survey

Three of the UK's leading broadband providers have been slammed for being pants, according to research carried out by price comparison website uSwitch.com.

Its survey of 16,000 grown-ups by pollsters YouGov found that BT, NTL and AOL - who between them account for half of all broadband subscribers in the UK - came bottom in seven out of nine categories between them.

In particular, the research found that four in ten BT customers believe the telco doesn't provide value, while a quarter of AOL customers are unhappy with the quality of their connection.

And when it comes to overall customer satisfaction, NTL came bottom of the pile, closely followed by BT.

The top performing ISP was Sheffield based ISP PlusNet.

uSwitch.com broadband product manager Chris Williams said: "It is encouraging to see that the overall level of customer satisfaction is so high across the market.

First things first, anyone going to a switching site may well do so because they are not happy with their existing service – not just to put across their point of view. I went for a look for DSL Max providers on Uswitch.com last month, and came across no such survey! I say this as an impartial non-broadband user at this point, and with no leanings either for or against BT – given my current work, and also the near six month complain of 2005/2006… I went there because I wanted to seek out more choices, having rifdled through all those suggested and recommended, and found them of no use. I was given various “switch now” buttons, which I ignored, so I could make my own definitive choice, rather than being “pushed” into something for the sake of someone making a few pennies.

Now, this might just be a co-incidence. But on El Reg back in March…

BT, uSwitch clash over transparency of switching sites

BT has called on uSwitch to come clean about commission charges following concerns about the transparency of the online price comparison service.

uSwitch - which was snapped up by US outfit EW Scripps for £210m ($366m) earlier this month - describes itself as a "free, impartial...comparison and switching service that helps customers compare prices on a range of services including gas, electricity, home phone, broadband providers and personal finance products".

It claims to be able to save consumers money on their bills and generates its own revenue by a "small commission payment [from the gaining provider] when a customer chooses to switch or apply for a product through us".

But documents obtained by the Mirror suggest uSwitch was prepared to offer BT the chance to recruit more punters for a fee - something that is strenuously denied by uSwitch. Quoting from the letters, the Mirror reports that uSwitch wanted a £40,000 a month "advertising" fee to add BT and its logo to the uSwitch website. It also proposed a commission of £50 for each new punter it signs up to BT.

The story has prompted John Robertson MP, chairman of the all-party telecoms group, to contact regulator Ofcom about the allegations amid concerns that switching sites should be more open about the fees they charge.

"It is vital the advice given by switching companies is totally impartial," he told the paper. "It would be highly improper if the advice they give is determined by financial incentives."

Now BT has hit back at what it calls "a lack of full transparency" and is demanding changes be introduced to ensure that consumer confidence is not undermined.

BT Retail chief operating officer John Petter said consumers "may be surprised to know the huge commissions involved for the switching companies".

"There is obviously nothing wrong in competition and choice - both of which are great for consumers. But customers also clearly deserve open and transparent information about the levels of commission-based selling and the potential savings that can be made from switching. We would welcome the size of commissions being made public to a customer - just as they usually are when advice is given in the financial services sector."

"We would also welcome clarification from uSwitch on what information they use to underpin product comparisons. BT recently worked with a leading accountancy firm to examine what we know about uSwitch's data and we don't recognise the amounts of potential savings being claimed," he said.

But uSwitch has rejected the allegations claiming that the "context in which uSwitch has been cited is wholly inappropriate and there have been serious misrepresentations made in these articles".

A spokeswoman for uSwitch told us: "The allegations that form the basis of the articles in question, whereby uSwitch is accused of industry failings and 'murky money making methods' are completely unfounded. Consumers can be assured that our service is accurate and impartial. uSwitch is transparent about the fact that it has commercial relationships in place and is independent of all the companies it represents, these relationships are in place to help us maintain a free service and to make the switching process as convenient as possible for our customers."

A spokesman for Ofcom declined to comment on the story insisting it was a matter for BT and uSwitch.

posted by Suzy Scott @ 23:17