Vodafone, Sky, Plusnet or Talktalk Broadband

cracker_jack

I will be changing my BB provider in the coming weeks, I have narrowed my choice down to 4, does anyone have any thoughts on which would be the best and which to totally avoid.

I'm looking at a 38 Mb package and would prefer a company that is reliable and doesn't keep hiking prices.

JJ_Egan

For me only consider Sky or PN .


(prefer a company that is reliable ) reliable in what way ??
You want to pay extra then for the top notch suppliers .

( doesn't keep hiking prices. )

That rules those 4 out then .

jd87

Vodafone's customer service is appaling. They installed a new billing system and foreign call centres at the same time recently causing massive problems and were hit with a huge fine. My mobile service was cut off for no reason multiple times. As for broadband, they absolutely refuse to allow you to use your own router (something all other providers let you do). If you want to use your own equipment their sales staff will tell you blatant lies that you can, but when the time comes you find you can't. It's all over the forums on their own website if you want to take a look.

teddysmum

Despite good reports in the past, PlusNet's customer service is terrible with phone waits of 30 to 45 minutes and chat that sends you to another department, thus sending you to the back of the queue,before cutting you off.


I don't know what people can haggle by calling up, but PlusNet ads (appearing on news sites etc) are bragging that ADSL and line are only £25.99 for new customers; over 66% increase on what I'm paying them on a newbie deal.

onomatopoeia99

None of the above.

If you use a big name that does deals, expect poor customer service if anything goes wrong that can't be solved by rebooting the router / computer.

I could make alternative recommendations, but given your list you are considering the bargain bin end of the market, so you wouldn't like the prices.

latvianlegend

Sky out of those 4. In my experience, Plusnet service is appalling, and know too many horror stories about Vodafone and Talktalk. Sky's service is not great, but better than the others. I've yet to find a broadband/phone company that offer particularly good service sadly

Bigphil1474

I've been with PlusNet for about 4 or 5 years now - had occasions to contact their customer services and always had a good experience. They have sorted problems out quickly - only exception was fault with line which was down to Openreach anyway. They have always been easy to negotiate freebies or deals when contract was up as well. Despite being owned by BT, my experience of PN is nothing like the problems I had when I was with BT.
My mum has Sky and she's happy with them, but she basically has everything Sky can offer. My son had Talktalk for 12 months and ditched them as soon as he could - that was about 3 years ago I think, so may be better now. CS was naff. No experience with Vodaphone.
TBH, you'll find good and bad experiences with them all. If you live in a typical urban or suburban area then I'd go with the best price and hope for the best.

teddysmum

Bigphil1474 wrote: »

I've been with PlusNet for about 4 or 5 years now - had occasions to contact their customer services and always had a good experience. They have sorted problems out quickly - only exception was fault with line which was down to Openreach anyway. They have always been easy to negotiate freebies or deals when contract was up as well. Despite being owned by BT, my experience of PN is nothing like the problems I had when I was with BT.
My mum has Sky and she's happy with them, but she basically has everything Sky can offer. My son had Talktalk for 12 months and ditched them as soon as he could - that was about 3 years ago I think, so may be better now. CS was naff. No experience with Vodaphone.
TBH, you'll find good and bad experiences with them all. If you live in a typical urban or suburban area then I'd go with the best price and hope for the best.

But have you tried PlusNet's customer service recently ? They used to get good reports , but have more complaints about lack of contact/help, now.

Gadgetmaster

None of your choices are Which? recommended, so I must ask why they are on your list? My own provider is cheaper than any of those you mention, and was top utility provider in the last Moneywise consumer survey.
If you must stick with those though, then I was happy with Plusnet in the past.

IanWats

Hi, I'm just about to change too. PlusNet quoting £26.98 to renew, TalkTalk effective monthly (including a £75 Amazon voucher) coming to £18.89 and Vodafone £19.93, so a significant difference. This thread is now a few months old - have either of these providers had a wake-up call and improved their offerings as a result? Or are they still bad (which seems to be the consensus). PlusNet have been pretty good when I got through to support on the two occasions I've had to call them over a year (and a good experience on the phone with call centre in N.of England (like FirstDirect, funnily enough) rather than many offshore call centres, but to pay that much more for a couple of times a year? Seems a luxury. But are the others still so bad at the moment?

[Deleted User]

IanWats wrote: »

Hi, I'm just about to change too. PlusNet quoting £26.98 to renew, TalkTalk effective monthly (including a £75 Amazon voucher) coming to £18.89 and Vodafone £19.93, so a significant difference. This thread is now a few months old - have either of these providers had a wake-up call and improved their offerings as a result? Or are they still bad (which seems to be the consensus). PlusNet have been pretty good when I got through to support on the two occasions I've had to call them over a year (and a good experience on the phone with call centre in N.of England (like FirstDirect, funnily enough) rather than many offshore call centres, but to pay that much more for a couple of times a year? Seems a luxury. But are the others still so bad at the moment?

Don't know the answer to your specific questions but NowTV (if available to you) have their straight £20 a month deal back up.