It seems that Vodafone are not the only ones failing when it comes to customer care. The results of the which? Mobile Survey are in and the top three places have all gone to smaller operators. Giffgaff has come in at number one for the second year running, Asda Mobile have come second and Tesco Mobile finish third. As for the big 4, three came in sixth, O2 seventh while Vodafone and EE shared the second to last place jointly only scoring slightly higher than Lebara.
Over 4,100 people participated in the survey which was conducted in February. Participants were asked to rate their own network operators on customer service levels, value for money, ease of contacting them and incentives. The final scores were then worked out based on how satisfied the users were and how likely they were to recommend them to others.
It’s clear from these results that the biggest operators in the country are falling short of customer’s expectations when it comes to customer car. Have they become complacent with their spots at the top? Its now easier than ever to switch networks and these smaller operators essentially piggy back the larger networks anyway which means that there is no loss in coverage levels. Couple this with the fact that these smaller providers tend to offer much better value for money, what incentive is there for customers to stay loyal?
Table courtesy of: http://www.mobilenewscwp.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mobile-satisfaction-table.jpg
Which? director of campaigns and communications Alex Neill said: “Our latest survey once again shows that the major mobile providers are still failing on the basics of customer service. Telecoms are an essential part of modern life and so providers need to start delivering for their customers.”
With a 79% satisfaction rate Giffgaff again topped the poll. Which? Say their pay as you go SIM cards, unlocked handsets and low prices all contributed to them achieving first place. That being said all of the top three managed to score 4 stars for customer satisfaction. Despite Vodafone’s bad publicity lately they actually had a higher customer satisfaction rate than EE who only scored two stars in this field.
It is clear from this poll that mobile network providers need to address their failings. If the small operators can offer better pricing and superior customer service levels than surely so can those at the top with a bigger slice of the market and larger wallets? Investment in customer care is as important now as it has ever been. Just because you’re sitting pretty at the top of the tree now doesn’t mean you can’t fall from grace as Vodafone is recently finding out. Loyalty will only stretch so far and as these smaller MVNO’s like Giffgaff, Tesco and Asda excel the more people there will be willing to recommend them when a problem occurs for their friends or family. Customers should not be enduring months of hell as customer care departments fail to rectify problems.