Sky tops Ofcom’s UK communications’ industry customer satisfaction report

Regulator Ofcom has released its latest report, highlighting the best and worst of customer service across the various UK communications industries.

Thousands of consumers were interviewed in September this year, and they were each asked to rate their experiences of the different companies’ customers service, but only if they had been in contact with them in the previous three months.

The customer service research is part of Ofcom’s programme of work to help consumers gain access to comparative information. Part of the programme also includes complaints data, and research into UK broadband speeds, all of which we’ve covered quite extensively here on The Next Web.

The latest report covers customer service satisfaction for landline, fixed broadband, mobile and pay TV providers, and it only includes firms with at least a 4% market share in their respective industries.

Broadly speaking, customer service satisfaction remained lower in the broadband (58%) and landline telephone (61%) markets, compared to pay TV (68%) and mobile (69%).

So – how did they perform overall? Well, Sky’s customer service was seemingly well above average, with customers particularly pleased that advisers took their questions or issues seriously, were willing to help resolve issues, and offered a goodwill payment or compensation.

Overall, customer service ratings have improved in the landline sector since 2009 for BT, Sky and TalkTalk.

In terms of fixed broadband, whilst TalkTalk/Tiscali had improved across some aspects of its customer service since February this year, its dissatisfaction level had dropped significantly, and is actually now below average. Sky leads the broadband satisfaction market.

O2 and Orange were neck-and-neck in the mobile sphere, whilst Three still languishes at the bottom of Ofcom’s customer service table. This is apparently being driven by reception issues across the UK, an issue we encountered when we rail-tested its MiFi device last month, and backs up an earlier report from back in April, where 3 topped the Ofcom complaints list.

In the pay TV space, Sky once again outgunned its competition, with a higher than average market average. Meanwhile, Virgin Media’s customer satisfaction with the standard of advice it gives out has decreased since 2009:

The latest survey involved 3,000 people, and follows on from previous reports from earlier this year, and from way back in 2009. Of course, these results mean nothing if your own experiences with these companies differ.