Fixed line market: complaints per 1,000 customers

Key:

Notes:
1) Average for fixed line market in previous publication was 0.4
2) MIS-SELLING COMPLAINTS - where the service provider has, or will be, changed without
customer's permission, are excluded from the above table because these are generally not
"active" customers, they have not used the service and are not included in customer base
information provided by the companies. The number of complaints received by Oftel about
mis-selling are:
- British Gas (21)
- Euphony (33)
- Npower (65)
- One.Tel (8)
- Post Office Home (11)
- Powergen (24)
- Telco Global (16)
3) Sky Talk appeared in this graph in the previous publication. Sky Talk does not appear in this
publication due to lack of complaints received.

Mobile market: complaints per 1,000 customers

Key:

Notes:
1) Average for mobile market in previous publication was 0.4
2) Complaints per 1,000 customers for Virgin = less than 0.1

Internet service provision market: complaints per 1,000 customers

Notes:
1) Complaints per 1,000 customers for AOL = less than 0.1

Introduction

This publication provides a broad picture of the level of complaints received by Oftel between 1 April and 30 September 2002. The three graphs highlight the relative performance of the telephone companies and Internet service providers named.

Oftel believes that publishing this information provides an important incentive to telephone companies and Internet service providers to improve the quality of service they offer to their customers.

Whilst individual consumers may also find the publication of interest, our aim is to put data in the public domain in an accessible way. Oftel believes that other sources of information offer more relevant information to help consumer choice. Examples of such sources are:

• Oftel’s leaflet Your rights and choices as a telephone customer (www.oftel.gov.uk/publications/consumer/consguides/cons0602.htm);
• quality of service Comparable Performance Indicators (CPIs) (www.cpi.org.uk);
• telephone bill comparisons web sites (click here for details of the Oftel Price Assurance Standard), and
• individual company literature which will detail services and tariff packages.

The complaints data is presented in the form of three graphs:

• Fixed line market: company complaints per 1,000 customers (business and residential combined) per six months; and
• Mobile market: company complaints per 1,000 customers (business and residential combined) per six months.
• Internet service provision market: ISP complaints per 1,000 customers (business and residential, broadband and narrowband combined) per six months.

Accompanying the company specific data, to give an overall context, is information on the issues most complained about for the period in question.

Fixed line market

This relates to complaints about all services accessed from a fixed telephone line, including BT service, cable service, indirect access, carrier pre-selection.

Oftel received 145 complaints about Breathe and 31 about Post Office Home, but we were unable to obtain customer base information.

The total consumers who complained about the fixed line market included in this publication are:

27,165 (previous publication = 20,400)

The Top 3 issues during the period were:

Position in previous publication shown in brackets.

Mobile market

This relates to complaints about all services accessed from a mobile telephone.

The total consumers who complained about the mobile market included in this publication are:

16,300 (previous publication = 8,032)

The Top 3 issues during the period were:

Position in previous publication shown in brackets.

Internet service provision market

This relates to complaints about Internet service providers.

The total consumers who complained about the internet service provision market included in this publication are:

6,800

The Top 3 issues during the period were:

Criteria used for inclusion in the graphs

Only companies with a customer base of 100,000 and above are included. The customer base figures used have been supplied to Oftel by the named companies. Where Oftel does not have data for the time period in question it has used the most recent available data supplied to it. Oftel has also requested and relied upon confirmation from all named companies, in advance of publication that the figures used are accurate.

Analysis is based on the number of consumers who make a complaint with Oftel about a company, and not on the number of issues each consumer raises.

No complaint is included in the analysis where a consumer does not provide either:

• a full postal address; and/or
• an email address; and/or
• a contact telephone number.

The analysis will not differentiate between business and residential customers.

The analysis will not differentiate between Internet broadband and narrowband customers.

The published data will cover complaints received from the whole UK population and will not seek to distinguish between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland or between regions.

Oftel will rely on the latest customer base information supplied to it by companies. The onus is therefore on companies to continue to supply regular customer base information. Oftel will contact companies close to the publication date to confirm base numbers. Where no confirmation is received Oftel will use the last available information.

A complaint is defined as consumer expression of dissatisfaction relating to their company or service.

Calculation for graphs:

1000 * A / B

where

A = Total number of Consumer complaints to Oftel about a company in the 6 month period,
B = Average population of customer base for company during the 6 month period.

Graph Scale: Results are rounded to the nearest .1

Further details can be found here in Oftel’s October 2001 Statement on Publication of Consumer Complaints made to Oftel.