Vodafone tops list of most complained-about broadband suppliers

Ofcom published the latest league tables on the complaints it receives about the UK’s major providers of telecoms and pay television services on Wednesday.

The regulator said the quarterly report revealed the number of complaints made from July to September last year, about providers with a market share over 1.5% in the home broadband, landline telephone, pay-monthly mobile and pay-TV markets.

For the first time, Vodafone met the benchmark for inclusion on broadband and landline, with Ofcom noting that the company was the most complained-about provider for both of those services.

Liberty Global operation Virgin Media generated the most complaints for both pay-monthly mobile and pay-TV services, with the firm’s main complaint drivers were contract issues and complaints handling.

Post Office was now also included for broadband for the first time, and managed to perform better than the industry average.

Sky, Tesco Mobile, EE and O2 continued to perform better than the industry averages for the services they offered.

Ofcom said complaints information helped people to consider service quality when they were shopping around for a new provider, and incentivised operators to improve their performance.

“With so much competition in telecoms and TV services, companies that are falling short need to make service quality and complaints handling their priority,” said Ofcom director of consumer policy Jane Rumble.

“Customers who aren’t happy with their provider can shop around and vote with their feet.”

Although the regulator said it could not resolve individual complaints, it did offer consumers advice, and the information it received could lead to it launching investigations.

Ofcom said any consumer experiencing problems should complain to their provider first.

If they were unhappy with the outcome, they could take the complaint to an independent ombudsman, who would look at the case and make a judgment on it.

Broadband complaints per 100,000 customers

• Vodafone - 27
• TalkTalk - 23
• BT - 22
• Plusnet - 21
• Industry average - 15
• Virgin Media - 13
• Post Office - 9
• EE - 8
• Sky - 5

Landline telephone complaints per 100,000 customers

• Vodafone - 19
• TalkTalk - 18
• Plusnet - 17
• BT - 13
• Virgin Media - 12
• Industry average - 11
• Post Office - 9
• EE - 6
• Sky - 5

Pay-monthly mobile complaints per 100,000 customers

• Virgin Mobile - 11
• BT Mobile - 8
• Vodafone - 8
• iD Mobile - 5
• Industry average - 4
• Three - 4
• EE - 3
• Tesco Mobile - 1

Pay television complaints per 100,000 customers

• Virgin Media - 19
• BT -15
• TalkTalk - 8
• Industry average - 7
• Sky - 1