Broadband providers in SA: service levels compared
HelloPeter is the premier online destination for consumers in South Africa to voice their opinions about customer service levels, and to try have their problems resolved.
According to the HelloPeter website 44,093 complaints were lodged by South African consumers over the last 90 days, bearing testimony to the popularity of the consumer website.
With over 1,400 companies who respond on HelloPeter, the website is attracting thousands of consumers per week who are sharing their experience online and hope that this channel will reap better results than the company’s official support centres.
With its large user base, HelloPeter’s statistics can be helpful to gauge the overall performance of companies when it comes to service levels.
A high number of complaints (with very few compliments) are likely to point to poor customer service, while low complaint levels should show the inverse. Unsurprisingly, complaints significantly outnumber compliments.
To try establish an objective measure of the service levels of a company, HelloPeter provides visitors with league tables which include a compliments/complaints ratio.
This ratio indicates which percentage of feedback received is positive, giving an indication of the service levels of a company.
| Company | Total Feedback | Compliments | Complaints | Compliments % | Complaints % |
| Neotel | 668 | 119 | 549 | 17.81 | 82.19 |
| Virgin Mobile | 2622 | 314 | 2308 | 11.98 | 88.02 |
| Vodacom | 9519 | 1131 | 8388 | 11.88 | 88.12 |
| MTN | 8448 | 820 | 7628 | 9.71 | 90.29 |
| Cell C | 8732 | 714 | 8018 | 8.18 | 91.82 |
| Telkom SA | 2041 | 155 | 1886 | 7.59 | 92.41 |
| iBurst | 378 | 19 | 359 | 5.03 | 94.97 |
Another way to see how a company performs is to evaluate the number of complaints and compliments per 1,000 customers.
Large providers with millions of subscribers, such as Vodacom and MTN, will clearly attract more complaints than their smaller counterparts, but the ratio of complaints may even the playing field.
| Company | Subscribers | Compliments | Complaints | Compliments per 1000 subscribers | Complaints per 1000 subscribers |
| Vodacom | 25300000 | 1131 | 8388 | 0.04 | 0.33 |
| MTN | 18800000 | 820 | 7628 | 0.04 | 0.41 |
| Telkom SA | 4200000 | 155 | 1886 | 0.04 | 0.45 |
| Cell C | 7000000 | 714 | 8018 | 0.10 | 1.15 |
| iBurst | 70000 | 19 | 359 | 0.27 | 5.13 |
| Virgin Mobile | 300000 | 314 | 2308 | 1.05 | 7.69 |
| Neotel | 50000 | 119 | 549 | 2.38 | 10.98 |
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