Survey Reveals Why We Don’t Change our Broadband Supplier

It doesn’t exactly take a consumer expert to know that by and large people are often very reluctant to ‘shop around’ when their various home product contracts expire. It is, after all, much simpler to simply ‘renew’ and carry on as usual. It is, however, somewhat unusual when the reality is that money could be saved or, better still, the service you are getting could be improved. Factors that can both easily apply to your broadband provider.

In a report via ISPreview, however, an extensive Which? survey conducted on UK customers has revealed the top 6 reasons why customers are so reluctant to swap their ISP.

Why We Don’t Swap Our Broadband Supplier!

1 – 43% of people surveyed were happy with their current service

The term ‘happy’ is arguably questionable. Perhaps ‘satisfied’ would have been a better word. For many, however, if the connection is solid, stable and reasonably fast, I daresay the vast majority of customers would be ‘happy’.

2 – 37% didn’t want to lose their e-mail address

Of all the reasons given, this is perhaps the most practical one. If you do have numerous online accounts associated with an e-mail address given by your provider, it would be a pain to get those all swapped. Yes, we still see more than a few @aol addresses out there.

3 – 32% believed the process of swapping would be “too much hassle”

While this may have been true 5-10 years ago, swapping your broadband is actually much easier these days. ISPs are now pretty much required to do all the legwork for you. This also (largely) includes informing your (soon to be former) supplier that you are migrating so that they can produce a final bill.

4 – 20% said they can’t find a better deal

This is once again a little subjective based on what you would consider a ‘better deal’. Is your priority price or speed? – Either way, deals are always out there if you look hard enough.

5 – 14% were afraid of getting worse speeds.

A fair point! No one wants to make a swap that is effectively a downgrade.

6 – 13% said they felt loyal to their current ISP

Sorry, but these people are just morons. Don’t think for one second that your ISPs loyalty to you goes anything beyond collecting your payments each month!

What Do We Think?

Having recently swapped my own supplier, I can at least confess to falling into the 14% who were concerned about making the change and getting a worse service. Better the Devil you know, right? I do, however, know many many people who grumble incessantly about their broadband supplier, yet never take the time to look into making the change.

As with all things, most companies business relies on us being lazy and willing to go along for the ride. Forgive me, however, but when my renewal comes, I’m on the prowl for the best deals, and so should you be too!

What do you think? How long have you been with your current broadband supplier? Are you (genuinely) happy with the service you get? – Let us know in the comments!