We Can’t Live Without Them so Why Do We Hate Them So?

Mobile Phones, Broadband, TV and WIFI, we just can’t live without them. So why, oh why do we dislike our telecommunications, or network providers so little?

Just a few weeks ago BT were yet again awarded the wooden spoon award from the Daily Mail as The Brand you Voted as Having the Worst Customer Service in Britain.

In the recently published Institute of Customer Service, UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) only two mobile operators, Giff Gaff, who raised their ranking significantly to 27 and Tesco Mobile, who made it in at No 47, featured in the top 50. Both are brands who use the O2 network and are serviced in-house by the same, yet O2, now part of Telefonica, was a brand that had always done well when it comes to customer satisfaction but was nowhere to be seen.

The banking, insurance and utility sector were all able to deliver some new entrants, in addition to the strong customer focussed brands; First Direct, LV= and Nationwide.

The banks and utility providers, despite their ups and downs, have managed to deliver, in part, through new challenger brands like OVO Energy and the re-emergence of TSB etc. The Insurers have been able to make significant inroads into our hearts, after all, who really wants to take out insurance, or feels good about making a claim?

The mobile phone, broadband and network providers do seem to be struggling when it comes to Customer Satisfaction.  Who doesn’t want to call, email, or text?  Even the TV providers are missing.  Who isn’t waiting to watch the next season of Game of Thrones, or, The Walking Dead, yet where are Sky and Virgin Media? Lovefilm feature at No 37.  In fact, if you look at almost every other service provider, will they not in some way deliver their service, through your mobile, or broadband, or network provider; Phone, Self-serve, email, app……?

Are there really that many outages in network provision for us to forget everything else our network providers give us access to? Apple and Google are considered some of the globes most trusted brands, yet we know they take and use our data and without a solid network, or broadband provision would not be able to deliver what they do for us.

So what is next for the mobile and network operators……New entrants seem scarce, or unlikely, especially after Sainsburys and Vodafone decided to withdraw from the mobile market, after only two years and further consolidation is still to come with O2 and 3 expected to follow the BT and EE successful merger.

With the completion of a ‘super-fast’ fibre network, our reliance on further services and apps to deliver everyday activities and interactions will no doubt grow.  So is the future still bright….will our providers be able to delight us, rebuild our trust and will we once again be able to love our network operators…..

We would love to hear your thoughts – what do you think?