- 17 million Brits have called a technical help line in the last 12 months...
- And are told to 'turn it on and off' again
On average, people have had to make two calls to the helpline to fix each problem, which may not be surprising when the top three solutions offered by the support staff are:
- Turn it on and off (38%)
- Check cables and connections (33%)
- Uninstall or reinstall software or hardware (4%)
James Parker, manager of broadband at moneysupermarket.com said, "Calls to technical help lines can be expensive, and can often be long and tedious. Most people will try turning their computer, modem or router on and off before they call, you don't need someone on a premium rate line telling you to do so again.
"People need to be very careful about calling a support line from their mobile. Costs to 08 numbers can be up to 40p a minute from your mobile. Providers should consider that more and more households are mobile only, and that if the broadband connection fails then it is likely the phone line will also be unusable."
|
|
Mobiles - Cost Per Minute |
|
|
Broadband Provider |
o2 |
Orange |
3 |
T-Mobile |
Virgin |
Vodafone |
Broadband Help Line Costs - from Landlines |
|
AOL |
20p |
up to 53.8p |
15p |
40p |
25p |
up to 35p |
Free
(from an AOL Landline, up to 5p per min for BT customers) |
|
Be |
20p |
14.7p |
15p |
up to 40p |
25p |
20p |
Free |
|
BT |
20p |
14.7p |
15p |
up to 40p |
up to 15p |
20p |
Free |
|
Direct Save Telecom |
20p |
14.7p |
15p |
up to 40p |
up to 15p |
20p |
up to 3.5p per min |
|
Eclipse |
20p |
19.6p |
15p |
40p |
25p |
up to 35p |
Local rate |
|
madasafish |
20p |
up to 53.8p |
15p |
40p |
25p |
up to 35p |
up to 4p per min |
|
Namesco |
20p |
19.6p |
15p |
40p |
25p |
up to 35p |
Local rate |
|
Orange |
20p |
up to 53.8p |
15p |
40p |
25p |
up to 35p |
up to 4.89p per min |
|
O2 |
20p |
19.6p |
15p |
up to 40p |
up to 15p |
20p |
Free |
|
Plusnet |
20p |
19.6p |
15p |
40p |
25p |
up to 35p |
Local rate |
|
SKY |
20p |
up to 53.8p |
15p |
40p |
25p |
up to 35p |
Up to 6p per min. Call set up fee of 5p per call applies to residential lines. |
|
Talk Talk |
19.6p |
19.6p |
15p |
40p |
25p |
up to 35p |
Free
(from a Talk Talk landline) |
|
Tiscali |
24.5p |
up to 53.8p |
15p |
40p |
25p |
up to 35p |
Up to 10p per min
(5p per min from a Tiscali landline) |
|
Virgin Media |
20p |
19.6p |
15p |
40p |
25p |
up to 35p |
Free
(from a Virgin Landline, local call rate from other lines) |
|
Vodafone At Home |
20p |
19.6p |
15p |
40p |
25p |
up to 35p |
Free if calling from Vodafone mobile. Standard rate if calling from a landline. |
Sourced by
www.moneysupermarket.com 19.08.2009
-Ends-
* 17876550 (37% of the population) have called a tech support line in the last 12 months
** Opinium Research carried out an online poll of 2,002 British adults from Friday 10th to Tuesday 14th July 2009. Results have been weighted to nationally representative criteria.
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