TalkTalk And Vodafone Lead Ofcom Broadband & Mobile Complaints League

Steve McCaskill,

Volume of total telecoms complaints roughly unchanged as Ofcom seeks to improve service

TalkTalk and Vodafone are the UK’s most complained about broadband and mobile operators, according to new figures from communications watchdog Ofcom. 

Between July and September last year, 30 complaints per 100,000 customers were made to the regulator about TalkTalk , while Plusnet and BT also received more than the industry average of 18. Sky received the fewest with just 7. 

In the mobile sector, Vodafone received double the industry average with 10 per 100,000, ahead of BT on 9 and TalkTalk and Virgin Media which both received 8. Tesco Mobile received just 1. 

Telcoms complaints 

In the landline sector, the Post Office received 24, while the industry average was 13, and in pay-TV BT received 14. Indeed, only Sky’s record of 2 was less then the average of 5.  

Ofcom hopes that by publishing these figures at regular intervals consumers will be able to make more informed choices, while telco providers will be incentivised to improve performance. 

“We’re shining a light on how different providers perform, and it’s clear many need to up their game on service quality and complaints handling,” said Jane Rumble, Ofcom’s Director of Consumer Policy. 

“People expect high standards from their providers, and companies must put their customers first.” 

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“Ofcom’s complaints data for telecoms providers suggests customer complaints have remained broadly flat since the last quarter, despite a marginal increase across landline and pay-TV services,” added Ewan Taylor-Gibson, telecoms expert. 

“If we take a longer term view, the overall trend is that complaints to Ofcom are continuing to drop which hopefully suggests providers are improving their service delivery rather than consumers being less minded to complain. 

“Having said that, there are still areas that could do with some improvement – customers are still most likely to grumble about broadband and landline services, although there are mitigating factors in the last quarter such as teething issues with the Post Office HomePhone’s acquisition of Fuel Broadband. 

“For those that are experiencing issues with their telecoms provider, it can be frustrating. “

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