Orange, Free, SFR and Bouygues: here are the patterns pushing the French to terminate their box or mobile subscription in 2020

The observatory of terminations at Free, Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom in 2020 is revealed.The opportunity to find out why many users have suddenly changed operator.

Every year, terminate.Combration of his observatory of terminations.Developed from the letters sent by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt, it does not pretend to be the exact photograph of all terminations, due to the possibilities due to the Hamon law or to the portability of numbersfixed and mobile.However, it makes it possible to determine what are the reasons that push subscribers to leave a supplier or provider, and to better understand a market and its evolution.

In the Internet and Mobile category, the reasons for the termination of each operator is thus reported.Overall, customer service dissatisfaction is presented as the main reason leading to a total break with its operator."Customer relations are indeed essential in the eyes of users, who do not always feel accompanied in the event of a problem," explains the observatory.

Untimely telephone canvas.Legitimate reasons are also very represented (24%).These exceptional cases are mainly linked to changes in the habits of the French in times of health crisis.Finally, the significantly more limited budget for certain homes would push them to also turn to competition (15%), or to estimate that the price is too high (13%).

Customer service, main reason for termination at Free and SFR

A closer look at it, the reasons that motivate users to terminate, differ in their proportion among the four national operators.

For example at Free, at the end of a year rich in innovation with the launch of the Freebox Pop and an approved faculty to face the health and economic crisis, the operator remains the one for which subscribers regret mainly the lack of'Customer service efficiency.No less than 35% of terminations at Free are due to a bad customer experience."The paradox of the telecommunications giant is that it is both very subscribed, but also very terminated," said the observatory.We can think in particular of logistical problems with regard to migration to the Delta+Pop offer, whose deliveries are more than 6 months late.

Legitimate reasons also count a lot (29%)."The question of the price or the attraction of a competing offer are however little represented (11 % and 9 %) thanks to the competitiveness of prices and promotions or private sales of the brand".

Users turning their backs on Free, most often subscribe to Orange and Bouygues (26%) offers (26%).In search of an even lower price, other subscribers migrate to SFR (18%) or other low cost operators.

On the SFR side, the number 1 reason for termination is also dissatisfaction with the service (32%).“Since 2019, there has also been an increase in prices for the brand's internet and mobile offers.These prices deemed too high decide users to break their contract (13%).»Even Red by SFR is affected by these increases.

Another observation, users having terminated their SFR contract adopt two different attitudes according to their budget and their requirements.Many customers turn to other operators renowned for their efficient customer service, such as Orange (30%) or Bouygues (18%), they are ready to pay more.But if they decide to set their sights on a cheaper operator, the choice is made on Free (33%) and its competitive prices.

Orange, the quiet strength but high prices

The operator is presented as the sure value of this observatory.Its card on fiber recruitments alongside Free and its "an offer offering access to several SVOD services (Netflix and OCS)", said according to terminate.com considerably the unsubscribing.The operator's dynamism would have played in his favor.

The brand was thus one of the least terminated in 2020."If users are generally satisfied with customer service, some of them are sometimes disappointed (27%).With its status as a historic operator, Orange also practices high prices.This reason for termination (11%) pushes users to subscribe to more accessible operators (14%) », reveals the study.

Among these competitors, we can cite Free (41%), SFR (21%) or other low cost brands like Red by SFR or Sosh.In the same price range as Orange, other subscribers rely on the reputation of Bouygues Telecom (24%).

Bouygues Telecom, the least terminated operator

This is the great its great strength.The termination rate is relatively low, it is even the lowest of all operators this year.This confidence in Bouygues Telecom, the observatory is explained by “its good positioning, its excellent quality/price ratio and its transparency about its offers.»

Nevertheless, the prices applied can however encourage users to terminate their offer (23%), we think in particular like SFR with automatic tariff increases without the possibility of refusing.Always more aggressive competition is also a reason for termination in the operator (25%).

“A l’inverse, le motif “insatisfaction» est peu représenté. Cela s’explique surtout par les retours positifs des abonnés concernant le service client», précise l’étude.