Survey slams JT – but they offer free services to unhappy customers

Friday 16 January 2015

JT have been slammed again in a customer satisfaction survey about landlines – but have responded with a promise of free phone services for Islanders if they don’t improve.

The company has been criticised by the Channel Islands Competition Regulatory Authority after a survey said that the number of people surveyed who thought they were “satisfactory or highly satisfactory” was just 35%, 10% less than last year.

Almost seven-in-ten respondents said that they would be likely or very likely to change their provider when competition arrives in June, although there was a slight improvement in responses about the billing system.

But JT have responded with a big offer to consumers – they say that:

• They’ll give a year’s line rental free to any consumer if they take more than five working days to repair a home phone fault.
• They’ll give a year’s line rental free to any customer who gives 15 working days notice of an address change but doesn’t get their line moved in time.
• They’ll give a year’s fibre line rental to anyone who doesn’t get their fibre connection within three months of the first time installers visit their home.

CICRA director Louise Read said that JT’s results in their survey were disappointing.

She said: “The results for JT suggest that either JT has not initiated improvements or that the improvements it has made have not yet translated into improved customer satisfaction ratings. This is particularly disappointing.”

The regulator has asked JT to put together an action plan, to share with them and customers, setting out the steps it plans to take to improve customer service.

But JT have responded immediately with the offer of free services to customers when they fail to meet targets. In a letter to all JT customers, CEO Graeme Millar said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your patience and loyal custom, and to apologise if at any point you found our service not up to the level you would expect.

“I was disappointed to read today’s report from our industry regulator which reconfirms what I’ve heard directly from a number of customers - we need to do better.”