Consumer NZ: Smaller Providers Delivering Higher Levels Of Mobile And Internet Customer Satisfaction

Consumer NZ has found the smaller mobile and internet providers are doing a better job of keeping their customers satisfied.

The watchdog recently surveyed almost 2000 New Zealanders to ask about their mobile and internet reliability, connection speed, customer support, value for money and overall satisfaction.

When it comes to very satisfied customers, the survey revealed Now Broadband and Skinny took out the top ranking, receiving the People’s Choice award for internet services.

2degrees, Warehouse Mobile and Skinny received People’s Choice status for mobile services. It’s the seventh year running that Skinny has taken out this award.

“The results speak for themselves. The vast majority of Now and Skinny customers are very satisfied with their service provider - these are relatively small operators. On the other hand, only 51% of Vodafone’s customers are very satisfied with their internet service,” Consumer NZ investigative writer Ruairi O'Shea said.

Vodafone earned the lowest or joint-lowest satisfaction scores in every aspect surveyed for its internet service.

Spark, Vodafone and Slingshot all received below-average satisfaction scores among their mobile customers.

Internet satisfaction low

Consumer’s survey discovered that overall, people were happier with their mobile service provider than their internet provider.

In terms of internet service issues, 45% of consumers surveyed had experienced a problem with their provider over the past year. Problems include things like disconnection, dropouts and slower-than-expected speeds.

“Orcon was the worst culprit for internet service issues, with over half of its customers surveyed facing a service issue in the past 12 months,” O'Shea said. “Vodafone’s internet customers didn’t experience as many internet service issues, but many were less satisfied with the customer support provided.”

Mobile service issues were found to be less widespread than internet service issues, with 32% of mobile customers reporting a problem with their provider in the past year. The most frequently reported issues were slower-than-expected mobile data speeds, disconnections, dropouts and billing.

If you have an issue with your telco and are unable to resolve it, you can contact the Telecommunications Dispute Resolution Service. Their service is free for consumers.

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