HELLO & WELCOME

[OmmDG]

Which ISP in the UK and which ISP in the USA has the best customer service? I’ve been hearing a lot of bad stuff, particularly from the American side, regarding ISP’s not treating their customer’s right. Just recently there was something in the news about an ISP support technician not allowing someone to cancel their service. They had a big unnecessary conversation over the telephone and eventually the person calling just hung up.

So basically in an effort to avoid that, which ISP has the best customer service?

[worldmachine]

I have spoken to a lot of people who all say that Plusnet has the best customer service in the UK. They are one of the cheapest broadband providers around and are based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. They have a free customer service line from a plusnet landline and mobile calls are charged at standard rate. Everyone i have spoken to say their staff are friendly and efficient and problems are dealt with quickly.

I am not surprised at hearing OmmDG's story of the ISP not letting someone cancel their service, with some of these companies it is like trying to leave a religous cult when you try and cancel. This kind of aggressive practice should be clamped down on as vulnerable people will be the victims.

[pwarbi]

Here in the UK, I know talk talk gets a lot of bad publicity but I've been with them a couple of hers now and never had any problems. Any time I HAVE had to get in touch, both online and over the phone they've been first class.

Speaking of plusnet, i know quite a few people that have recently switched over to them, they've had quite a big advertising push lately and it seems to have worked. I've only ever heard good things about them as well, as far as customer service goes anyway, I'm not sure what their network is like or how they rate on that side of things.

[WelshPaul]

Speaking of plusnet, i know quite a few people that have recently switched over to them, they've had quite a big advertising push lately and it seems to have worked. I've only ever heard good things about them as well, as far as customer service goes anyway, I'm not sure what their network is like or how they rate on that side of things.

I have used plusnet in the past, around four or more years ago, back then the service was spot on and the customer services was one of the best I ever experienced along with the likes of Voipfone. Hopefully Plusnet customer services is still to a high standard, the bigger a company grows the worse the customer service gets usually gets.

[gsmlnx]

I'm a Plusnet customer and the growth in new users has not gone smoothly. Service can be a little bit variable, just have a read of their customer forum as it is open to anyone.

Currently lots of issues on FTTC as Openreach have enabled some new feature G.INP which is causing a loss of speed and increased latency for some customers.

For myself, I have issues streaming TV unless my router is connected to one of their old gateways. This on a 80Mbps/20Mbps link which can drop to 60Mbps in peak evening and cannot stream from BBC/ITV without buffering.

Although lots of people have no issues, Plusnet do have more than 800k users now so your mileage may vary.

[pwarbi]

Reading that, it makes me wonder if the companies have got things a little backwards?

Plusnet have no doubt gone into overdrive when it comes to their ad campaigns to attract new customers. But you'd think they would improve their network BEFORE they try and increase their customer base, or do you think they're relying on new contracts and sales revenue in order to be able to do that?

[gsmlnx]

New cash first, although given the extremely cheap deals that they have been using, I cannot see a large amount of cash going into their bank accounts. Some of their offers have basically given the first 12 months of an 18 month contract for free recently.

Remember Plusnet are part of BT plc so have very deep pockets and are used to cover the cheap end of the market and take customers from TalkTalk/Sky while BT cover the middle ground and use their brand to retain customers.

[pwarbi]

Well maybe they need to put their hand in their very deep pockets and use some of that cash to improve the network. It's all very well offering deals like that, and enticing new customers but I think most people would rather pay a bit more and get reliability.

It's all very well feeling good because you've slashed your broadband bill in half, but if you find that your struggling to use it for even the most basic tasks, that good feeling will soon disappear. Along with their customer satisfaction awards.

[John Donovan]

I think that most ISPs have good customer service, at least if you ask them to escalate your case to an expert. That's the first thing I am doing whenever I contact tech support, and most of the time, the experts are really helpful.

[kylerlittle]

I know some people said their experience with BT has been rubbish because they don't know how to fix router related stuff, I could help these people when I'm not in the position of job as they are and I'm not trained like they are.

[Samu Zadori]

My general experience is that the smaller the size of the ISP, the better their customer service is. It makes sense on some level, because they depend more on the revenue each customer generates. Keysurf, for example has excellent customer service, while I wasn't too pleased with Sky; I found waiting times to be a little too long. Keep in mind, however, that this is just based on what I've seen.

[kylerlittle]

My general experience is that the smaller the size of the ISP, the better their customer service is. It makes sense on some level, because they depend more on the revenue each customer generates. Keysurf, for example has excellent customer service, while I wasn't too pleased with Sky; I found waiting times to be a little too long. Keep in mind, however, that this is just based on what I've seen.

That makes sense because when they're new, they put more effort into it and passion.