Customers clobber Xtra over connection speed

By ALEXIS GRANT


If you're unhappy with your internet service provider, you're not alone.

Thirty-eight per cent of customers of New Zealand's biggest internet company, Telecom's Xtra, are not satisfied with the service, according to a survey by Consumer magazine.

Consumer readers rated one of the country's smaller internet service providers, Inspire, as the best provider.

Xtra, which serves more than 500,000 customers, has more problems than other providers with failed connection attempts, disconnections and slow connections, according to the magazine.

"[The survey] definitely shows that the biggest [provider] in New Zealand, Xtra, needs to address the services it's offering its subscribers, said Consumers' Institute chief David Russell.

Overall, 68 per cent of respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with their internet provider, both dial-up and broadband. But 38 per cent of dial-up customers were unhappy with the connection speed. Most other complaints were of customer service and technical support.

"We're surprised by the survey," said Xtra spokesman Nick Brown. "It appears inconsistent with our recent achievements."

Inspire, with only 10,000 customers, received the best ratings in the survey, which was completed by 6259 of the magazine's readers. Eighty-four per cent of Inspire customers who responded to the survey said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the company's service.

One Inspire customer told Consumer that the company had "fantastic service" and another said the company was "always most helpful".

Other internet companies who fared well in the survey included Orcon (with 81 per cent satisfaction) and Value Net (79 per cent).

Slingshot and Freenet received only slightly better ratings than Xtra, with 66 and 65 per cent satisfaction.