Ofcom: Telco & pay-TV complaints decrease
November 16, 2021
Ofcom has published the latest league tables on the complaints it receives about the UK’s major home phone, broadband, mobile and pay-TV firms.
The quarterly report reveals the number of complaints made to Ofcom between April and June this year, when the UK’s lockdown restrictions began to ease. Complaints in this quarter fell across the board to levels seen before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Virgin Media in particular saw its complaint volumes reduce significantly across all four sectors, after Ofcom raised concerns with the provider about its customer service in the previous quarter. However, it was still the most complained-about pay-TV provider. The main reason customers complained to Ofcom about Virgin Media was to do with how the company handled their complaints.
TalkTalk generated the most complaints for broadband and landline, primarily due to faults and service issues.
EE and Sky were also the least complained-about broadband and landline providers, and Sky attracted the fewest complaints for pay TV.
“It’s encouraging to see complaints figures falling across the board to pre-pandemic levels, but providers cannot be complacent about their customer service. Those with a consistently high number of complaints still have a lot of work to do to ensure they meet the expectations of their customers,” commented Fergal Farragher, Ofcom’s Consumer Protection Director.
Home broadband complaints per 100,000 customers
Pay-TV complaints per 100,000 customers
BT and EE both issued statements regarding the report:
An EE spokesperson said: “Our customers already know we provide the best customer service across the industry, and these results reflect the hard work of our teams in UK and Ireland contact centres and retail stores providing the best personal and local service. EE customers also enjoy being part of the UK’s biggest and fastest network. With more 5G coverage than any other provider, EE has been named the UK’s best network for the past 8 years by RootMetrics.”
A BT spokesperson said: “BT is seeing fewer complaints than ever before and we’re dedicated to keeping our customers connected and providing great service with 100% of calls being answered in the UK and Ireland. We’re committed to helping our customers wherever they need us with our nationwide team of Home Tech Experts providing in-home support.”