Best and worst mobile and internet providers
Consumer NZ has surveyed the nation’s mobile and internet customers to gauge their satisfaction with their service providers.
Skinny and Sky Broadband have come out on top of those respective categories.
Mobile results
It’s the eighth successive year that Skinny has won the mobile providers People’s Choice award.
“Skinny has the highest satisfaction levels and the highest level of value for money across the mobile phone sector,” said Ruairi O’Shea, Consumer investigative writer.
Value for money sets Skinny apart from its competitors - 69% of Skinny customers were satisfied with the value offered, compared to a measly market average of 54%.
Almost three-quarters of Skinny customers report they are "very satisfied” with its service.
Yet again, One NZ (formerly Vodafone) is at the bottom of the pile. One NZ is the largest network provider in New Zealand.
“One NZ has the most customers and the most unsatisfied customers,” said O’Shea.
One NZ finished in last place when it came to satisfaction with customer support, bill accuracy, clarity of contract terms, network coverage and technical support.
Internet results
This year’s survey results uncovered three distinct performance levels among the nation’s internet providers.
“Four providers had low satisfaction levels, three were middling, and two were distinctly better.”
Sky Broadband and Now customers reported very high levels of overall satisfaction.
“Sky Broadband had the highest level of overall satisfaction and was also the top scorer when it came to speed, reliability of connections, bill accuracy and clarity of contract terms.
“Now came a close second in terms of overall satisfaction and it performed consistently well across other measures of satisfaction too.”
Contact emerged as the worst internet service provider. While just over half of its customers were very satisfied, less than half felt it offered value for money.
One NZ also performed poorly again.
“Only 55% of One NZ customers were very satisfied and it was the worst rated provider for clarity of contract terms, customer support, technical support and value for money.”
The other two providers who make up the bottom four are Slingshot and 2degrees.
“We urge New Zealanders to do their research and if it makes sense, switch providers.
“Sticking with the same provider instead of checking out the competition can cost you hundreds of dollars per year. As soon as your fixed-term contract is up, search for other options, you might just up your satisfaction levels and lower your bills.”
If you have an issue with your telco and are unable to resolve it, you can contact the Telecommunications Dispute Resolution Service. The service is free for consumers.