BT’s Home IT Support service has launched BT Broadband Accelerator – a £90 home visit service to help improve the performance of customers’ computers and speed up their broadband connection. Customers are refunded if a 0.5Mb improvement on speed is not achieved.
The trial of the new service follows a Home IT Support survey that reveals almost half of the UK’s home computers are getting stuck in the slow lane of the information superhighway as they struggle to keep up to date with new technology.
Head of BT’s Home IT Support service, Taza Mohammedbhai, said: “Based on our research we are confident that up to 60 per cent of customers could benefit from the Accelerator service. And if customers don’t see at least a 0.5Mb improvement on speed, we will refund the fee.”
The poll revealed that 44 per cent of computer owners surveyed had experienced their home PC or laptop becoming sluggish or slowing down to a crawl – a majority - more than 95 per cent – while surfing the net.
A majority of those questioned reported problems while downloading files or viewing photos or videos and had experienced problems in the last three months.
The survey also revealed that the issue of sluggish computer hardware was a major cause of another growing hi-tech phenomenon – computer rage, with 36 per cent of those questioned admitting to shouting or swearing at their computer on a daily basis.
Taza said: “We know that the issue of slow or sluggish hardware is a real bugbear for our customers. So BT’s Home IT Support service is offering a PC ‘pitstop’ service to help advise customers on how to tune-up their computers and get back in the fast-lane.”
The BT Broadband Accelerator service offers handy hints and advice on how to tweak performance but also solutions for more complex problems which can effect speed such as the rewiring of sockets or improving the quality of the home wiring.