Simplifydigital Customer Choice Awards for Digital TV, Broadband and Home Phone Announced
Online, April 6, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Compiled using the unique Feefo feedback service, which pulls together people's opinions, likes and dislikes 60 days into the service, these are the only awards based on qualitative data.
The "free-flowing" feedback approach has none of the restrictions of online "tick box" surveys and draws out much more insight into customers' real experiences pre, during and post install. As such it is similar to the "net promoter" score increasingly used in the US and UK to measure the strength of customer advocacy for a brand.
Winner: O2 Home broadband - Best Broadband Only Service
Winner: TalkTalk Essentials - Best broadband and home phone bundle
Winner: Sky - Best digital TV, broadband and home phone bundle
Winner: Virgin Media - Best superfast broadband
Charlie Ponsonby, CEO of Simplifydigital, the UK's only Ofcom accredited digital TV, broadband and home phone comparison service, commenting on the awards says:
"Our awards are based on the written feedback from customers collected a few weeks after their install. It is based therefore on their experiences of purchase, installation and early life as a customer. Our awards pull together the insight from the feedback into a robust overall rating of the service."
The Simplifydigital Customer Choice Awards are the UK's only large scale qualitative review of customer experience. It is based on written feedback of a sample of over 400 customers gathered throughout the last quarter of 2009 which were objectively converted into positive and negative ratings by the Simplifydigital product team.
The survey also provides a very positive endorsement of Simplifydigital. Customers rated the personal service and expertise of the Simplifydigital impartial experts particularly highly - both in terms of the advice given when selecting a package and the customer service support provided during the switching process.
Charlie Ponsonby concludes:
"Qualitative customer feedback is the most trusted source of information about a product or service - hence why we believe these awards are something very different."
Best Broadband Only Service
Winner: O2 Home Broadband
O2 Home Broadband was the clear winner in this category receiving the most positive comments about its broadband only package with a net rating of +1.78 (out of a maximum of 3).
Customers were particularly impressed with the free, unique UK based technical support; ease of set up, reliability of the service; and value for money (especially for existing O2 mobile customers).
O2 offers two home broadband packages. The most popular package is the O2 Home Broadband Standard which offers up to 8Mbps broadband with unlimited download limits from £7.50 per month for existing O2 mobile phone customers.
Best broadband and home phone bundle - Simplifydigital Customer Choice Award
Winner: TalkTalk Essentials
TalkTalk won for its good value and reliable family broadband service with an excellent value call plan. It achieved a net rating of +1.05 (out of a maximum of 3).
The free "Speed Boost" which raises your speed to the fastest available at your postcode for no extra cost, is seen as a real added bonus by customers.
TalkTalk Essentials is one of the UK's best selling broadband and home phone bundles, offering up to 8 Mbs wireless broadband for £6.99 per month, plus £11.49 line rental. The bundle includes free evening and weekend calls and free anytime calls to local numbers.
Best digital TV, broadband and home phone bundle - Simplifydigital customer choice award
Winner: Sky
Sky topped the "triple play" charts with customers attracted by the TV channel choice, Sky Sports, and Sky+ which is seen as the leading PVR (personal video recorder).
Sky+HD customers recorded particularly high satisfaction scores. Sky achieved a net rating of +1.0 (out of a maximum of 3) having lost some ground as a result of the inability to get all three services installed and running at the same time.
Sky digital TV, broadband and home phone packages start from £18 per month excluding line rental.
Best super-fast broadband - Simplifydigital customer choice award
Winner: Virgin Media
Virgin Media came out top in the super-fast and ultra-fast broadband category. The feedback reflected customers' views of the XL and XXL packages which offer broadband speeds of up to 20 Mbps and 50 Mbps respectively. Virgin Media broadband achieved a net rating of +1.01 (out of a maximum of 3).
Customers were converts to the "fibre-optic revolution" and were broadly very pleased with broadband speed that the fibre optic broadband network delivers and expressed very positive views about the speed of getting the service up and running.
About Simplifydigital
Simplifydigital is the UK's only Ofcom accredited retailer of digital TV, broadband and home phone services. The Simplifydigital impartial experts take thousands of calls every week, from UK consumers looking to compare broadband, digital TV and home phone deals.
Each customer receives a free "consultation", during which the experts match their unique needs to one of over 10,000 deals from all the top UK providers.
Each customer who buys through Simplifydigital then receives a qualitative feedback form from Feefo within which express their views of the Simplifydigital service and the quality of the service provider to which they have signed up.
About Feefo
Feefo is an independent feedback forum which allows customers to freely express their views on a product or service. The feedback is collected in a strictly controlled and impartial manner and is available for view at www.feefo.com. Feefo works with a number of leading brands across a huge variety of sectors.
Contact details
Charlie Ponsonby, CEO Simplify Digital Limited
M: 07703 502 634
DL: 020 3159 4071
E: cponsonby@simplifydigital.co.uk
Jessica Bondy, Bondy Consulting
M: 0781 208 2138
DL: 020 7534 9801
E: jessicabondy@bondyconsulting.com