Worst Mobile Phone Providers Named In Survey

Phone users have voted Vodafone and EE among the worst mobile providers in the UK.

They both scored 49%, just above the international calls specialist Lebara at 46%, in the Which? annual mobile satisfaction survey.

Vodafone was the most complained about pay-monthly provider while one in 10 EE users rated customer service and being able to contact the company as poor or very poor.

Over 4,000 members of the public who took part gave star ratings on a range of factors including customer service, ease of contacting, value for money and incentives.

Giffgaff, which has no shops or call centres, topped the table for the second year running with 79%.

The online provider's low prices plus flexible approach to selling pay-as-you-go (PAYG) Sim cards and unlocked handsets that can be used with any network proved popular.

Asda Mobile scored 72% while Tesco Mobile recorded 70%.

Asda's good standing may have been boosted by a PAYG service which was rated highly for value for money, according to the survey.

Among the providers, ID scored 64%, Virgin Mobile 62%, Three 61%, O2 60%, Talk Mobile 56% and TalkTalk got 54%.

Alex Neill, campaigns director of Which?, estimates that customers are collectively losing out on £5.4bn a year by being on the wrong contract.

He said: "Our latest survey once again shows that the major mobile providers are still failing on the basics of customer service. Telecoms are an essential part of modern life and so providers need to start delivering for their customers (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) ."