Simplifydigital’s latest research of 2,000 households in November 2008, shows that many households are not switching digital TV, broadband or home phone services, despite recognizing that it is in their interests to do so in order to make big savings.
When consulted, 55% of households were “unsure if they were on the best deal” or indeed “pretty sure that if they checked they would find a better deal”. What’s more 60% admitted to feeling under more pressure to look for savings as a result of the credit crunch.
Only one third of respondents had bothered to research the digital TV and broadband market to look for better deals within the last 3 months, and 38% admitted to having not got round to comparing the market for better deals within the last year. As a result, 79% of respondents claimed not to have switched digital TV, broadband or home phone services in the last 12 months. The three most commonly cited barriers to switching were:
Your top 3 reasons for not switching
- too many conflicting digital TV and broadband deals making choosing an alternative very confusing
- a lack of impartial advice available to help find a better value alternative broadband or digital TV service
- a worry about the excessive time and effort required to switch digital services.
Against this background only 26% of respondents felt that comparison sites offered genuinely impartial advice. 52% of respondents were unsure if comparison sites are genuinely impartial and 22% were sure that comparison sites do not offer a genuinely impartial comparison of digital TV, broadband and home phone services.
Must do better
This is a very poor reflection on comparison site industry which founded itself on being a ”consumer champion” and its positioning of the provision of transparent and impartial advice.
And indeed it is this negative customer perception of the comparison site sector as a whole that has led Simplifydigital to become the first and only digital TV, broadband and home phone comparison service to receive the UK Regulator Ofcom’s PAS (Price Assurance Scheme) accreditation for transparency, accuracy and impartiality.