As if you didn’t already know, the quality of broadband in the UK is patchy at best and the support customers get, nothing short of criminal.

According to the latest JD Power survey, 2007 UK Broadband Internet Service Provider Satisfaction Study, customer satisfaction is down on last year with customer complaint calls outnumbering customer support calls - 52% to 48% - for the first time.

Worse, the average time each broadband customer spends on ‘Hold’ is a staggering 17 minutes, waiting to get technical support from their supplier.

“The 2007 study finds that call waiting times continue to increase when customers contact their ISP, with customers now waiting an average of 17 minutes before initially speaking with a representative,” said Caspar Tearle, director of service industries research at J.D. Power and Associates. “Complaints to customer service departments have risen again in 2007, and now outnumber customer service-related questions for the first time (52% vs. 48%). With customers of most suppliers paying from their own pocket for these calls, these high levels of complaints come as no surprise.”

The only upsides are that broadband is now cheaper, averaging £21.10 per month, down from £25.91 in 2006, and the average speed has increased from an average of 3.5Mbps in 2006 to 4.87Mbps.

I imagine that’s ‘quoted’ speed, not ‘actual’ speed because I know lots of folk – including me – who are not getting anywhere near those rates. Are you?-Martin Lynch

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[JD Power]