The telecoms providers staying connected to customer service excellence

Given the situation that many of us have found ourselves in during this uncertain year, it’s fair to say that our connectivity to our colleagues, our friends and our family has never been so important – alongside the means to make that happen.

We’ve all been there – the mobile phone signal that keeps dropping, the constantly freezing video calls or the streaming of that film that means it’s taken you twice as long to watch it. Even if your job is not immediately connected to a computer, chances are you’ve been using your broadband and your mobiles a lot more than you may have done before to simply stay in touch.

So it’s important you know that your providers are up to scratch – and that if there is a problem, it’s sorted as soon as possible, with the least amount of inconvenience to you. In our series of celebrating customer service excellence, Resolver has looked at the telecoms providers that customers are saying deliver on that customer experience.

If you’re looking to switch your broadband or mobile provider, and you want to be sure that you are getting top customer service alongside the agreed broadband speed or data allowance, why not take a look at Resolver’s top telecoms companies to see which have been recognised by their own customers in service excellence.

Having analysed more than 54,000 cases in the year to July 2020 from Resolver users, we can now reveal the top telecoms providers for customer service excellence.

Resolver Scores: broadband heroes

Company	Resolver Score
Shell Energy	86%
BT	84%
EE	78%

Following its impressive performance in the energy category, Shell Energy – with a Resolver score of 86% – tops our list of broadband providers followed by BT (84%) and EE (78%).

Both Shell Energy and BT scored five stars out of five for how easy it was for their customers to deal with them and the rate at which complaints were resolved, while Shell Energy particularly stood out for its five stars for response times – showing a quicker response to customers than their competitors.

Meanwhile, EE and BT customers were particularly satisfied with their dealings with these companies, with both achieving five stars for both overall satisfaction and the likelihood of customers to recommend them as providers.

Resolver Scores: mobile providers with standout service

Company	Service	Resolver Score
Giffgaff	Pay-as-you-go	80%
BT	Pay monthly	79%
Smarty	Pay-as-you-go	77%
Sky	Pay monthly	75%

Top of our pay monthly mobile service providers is BT, with a Resolver Score of 79%. With standout five stars out of five for resolution rates and ease, it means its customers are experiencing easy dealings and a conclusion to issues. Sky saw five stars out of five for its resolution rate.

The top two pay-as-you-go mobile services have been called out for their resolution times – with both scoring five stars for its speedy closing of issues.

Top-placed Giffgaff – owned by O2 – sees its Resolver Score of 80% largely due to its impressive five stars across a number of our metrics, including satisfaction, likelihood of their customers to recommend and the ease of dealing with the company.

Meanwhile, Three-owned Smarty – a relative newcomer to the market – compliments its five stars for resolution time with the same top accolade for resolution rate.

More on celebrating customer service excellence

All of the companies in our list are now eligible – alongside our top shops, banks and energy providers, to become Resolver Recognised under our scheme of recognising excellent customer service. Find out more about Resolver Recognised. [jump link to bottom of piece]

Top companies for customer service

How we score

Our scores are calculated using the feedback of Resolver users, along with measures used to assess response and resolution times. But every bit of feedback has a story behind it and our data specialists analyse all the information in detail.

Every Resolver user is asked how satisfied they are with how the company they have had contact with when a case is closed. Our analysis of all these responses focuses on seven measurements of those aspects of customer service to come up with a score out of five. To get five stars for one of our measurements, a company has to score within the top 20%.

Resolver requires a minimum of 30 customer feedback responses for a company for it to be included in our series of customer service excellence, which is perhaps why you may not see some of your most-loved brands here. We are working on widening our analysis.

Here’s our rundown of the seven measurements we use to score customer service excellence:

Response Time: the time it takes the company to provide an initial response to the customer

Resolution Time: the time it takes to resolve the complaint

Resolution Rate: the percentage of the company’s cases satisfactorily resolved from the consumer’s perspective

Feeling Change: the change in the customer’s sentiment from the beginning to the end of the case

Ease: how easy it is to complain

Consumer Advocacy Score (CAS): how likely the customer is to recommend the company

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): how satisfied the customer is with the company.

What is Resolver Recognised?

Resolver Recognised is our scheme offering the seal of approval of customer service excellence.

Our detailed analysis of customer feedback for companies in all sectors means only those identified by their customers as excellent service providers can become Resolver Recognised. When you see the Resolver Recognised logo, you can be confident that you will receive excellent service should you have the cause to raise an issue.

If you work for one of the companies in our lists and would like to know more about its eligibility to become Resolver Recognised please contact resolverrecognised@resolver.co.uk.

If you have a complaint about one of the providers in this article, or any other broadband or mobile supplier we can help. Use Resolver to raise your complaint or query.