Millions of us are potentially wasting hundreds of pounds a year by remaining loyal to our broadband provider, according to our new research. So when did you last switch provider?
More than 70% of people have been with the same broadband provider for over three years – and could be missing out on a better internet deal – our research has found.
Usually any introductory offers will have run out within three years – and you will have been moved onto a more expensive tariff – so you’ll be missing out sticking with the same provider.
Which? switch: compare broadband, phone and TV packages
On average, this missing out amounts to existing customers paying 15% more than new customers, but the figure can be as high as 89% with certain deals and providers.
Web woes
And as well as being penalised financially, those who remain loyal to their broadband supplier also appear to have much lower customer satisfaction generally.
Some of the broadband providers with the most loyal customers reported some of the lowest levels of customer satisfaction.
For example, 85% of Talk Talk customers we spoke to had been with the company for three or more years; while customer satisfaction stood at 48%.
Compare this with the company whose customers are the most satisfied, Zen Internet (86%), who have a three year retention rate of just 59%.
Price hike
We investigated the tariff increases for customers moved off of introductory deals and found Virgin Media customer’s faced the biggest average price hike when moved onto a standard tariff.
When they move onto a standard tariff, Virgin Media customers pay an average of 52% more than they would as a new customer.
But the biggest one-off price hike we found was from the Post Office. Its Unlimited Broadband package goes from £15.90 to £30 after the 12-month contract period, which is an additional 89% or £169 more a year.
The message seems clear: switching pays off both financially and in terms of customer satisfaction. So why aren’t more people switching to take advantage of introductory offers?
Switch sense
When I lived with my family, it felt like it always came down to the hassle. Our internet was bundled with our TV deal which we’d had for years, so it felt like quite a big upheaval to finally take the plunge and split it up.
When you have a specific TV deal that works for you, and in some cases a landline as well, it can be difficult to motivate yourself to go through the admin of finding a new deal.
Tasks like that are hardly fun, which is why we’ve recently launched our switching service for broadband – which can help take some of the stress out of the process.
How long have you been with your provider? Do you feel like it’s time to switch? If so, what’s stopping you?
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