Yahoo Finance Home communication provider complaints fall to pre-pandemic levels – Ofcom
Complaints about the UK’s major home phone, broadband, mobile and pay-TV firms have fallen to pre-pandemic levels but some providers still have “a lot of work to do”, Ofcom warned.
TalkTalk generated the most complaints for broadband and landline, primarily due to faults and service issues.
Virgin Mobile was the most complained about mobile operator, along with Three and Vodafone, while Tesco Mobile, BT Mobile, Sky Mobile, EE and O2 were all tied as least complained about operators.
EE and Sky were also the least complained about broadband and landline providers, and Sky attracted the fewest complaints for pay TV.
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 over the quarter fell across the board to levels seen before the Covid-19 pandemic, the regulator said.
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.
Fergal Farragher, Ofcom’s consumer protection director, said: “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.”
A Virgin Media spokeswoman said: “We’re pleased to see improving trends in complaint levels across the board but recognise that we still have more work to do.
“We are continuing to invest in new customer service roles and digital tools and are reviewing our processes and policies to deliver the service and experience that our customers rightly expect from us.”
