A Which? magazine survey has confirmed the worst fears of many broadband customers in the UK, that on the whole they are being charged excessive amounts of money for technical telephone assistance. The magazine found that 32 of the 45 technology companies which were surveyed used varying charges to increase their income with companies such as Tesco, Supanet, Nero and Roxio identified as the worst offenders using premium 090 helpline numbers which are the most expensive available.
However, the survey also identified that BT, Waitrose, O2 (home broadband), UK Online, Corel and Sony (software) all offered technical assistance using Freephone 0800 access which many consumers automatically assumed they were accessing with all broadband support services. The survey appears to have prompted some change in the more expensive services with the likes of Tesco suggesting they will be reverting to a local call rate in future for their broadband technical services.
The problem many consumers have is the fact that technical difficulties can arise on a regular basis and while online access would possibly assist with these problems, obviously if your Internet connection is down and you cannot access online help then your choices are very limited. While there has been no official comment from regulator Ofcom it will be interesting to see what its opinion is on these premium rate telephone lines which bring in significant amounts of money for those involved.