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13 July 2022

Latest complaints data shows widening gap between best and worst telecoms and pay-TV providers

Phones and internet
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Today we’ve published the latest league tables of complaints we’ve received about the UK’s major home phone, broadband, mobile and pay-TV firms.

The report reveals the number of complaints made to Ofcom in the first quarter of this year, from January to March.

We gather this data to improve our understanding of the causes of customer dissatisfaction. It allows us to identify the reasons people complain, and which services and providers they complain about.

We do this every quarter, comparing providers’ performance by publishing the number of complaints that we received about them relative to the size of their customer bases (per 100,000 customers).

Fixed broadband

How the providers ranked

Broadband complaints per 100,000 subscribers. It illustrates the providers receiving the fewest complaints at the top of the table and those receiving the most complaints are placed at the bottom of the table. The results are as follows:EE 3, Sky 4, BT 7, NOW Broadband 8, industry average 10, Plusnet 11, Vodafone 13, TalkTalk 14, Virgin Media 18 and Shell Energy 22.

Reasons for complaining

Reasons for complaining about broadband services. It shows the key drivers of complaints for the industry average and the worst performing provider. For the industry average: faults, service and provisioning 37%; complaints handling 31%; and billing, pricing and charges 14%. Shell Energy: faults, service and provisioning 40%; complaints handling 30%; and billing, pricing and charges 23%.

Landline

How the providers ranked

Landline complaints per 100,000 subscribers. It illustrates the providers receiving the fewest complaints at the top of the table and those receiving the most complaints are placed at the bottom of the table. The results are as follows:EE 1, Sky 2, BT 5, NOW Broadband 5, Plusnet 6, industry average 6, Vodafone 8, TalkTalk 10, Virgin Media 11 and Shell Energy 20.

Reasons for complaining

Reasons for complaining about landline services. It shows the key drivers of complaints for the industry average and the worst performing provider. For the industry average: faults, service and provisioning 31%; complaints handling 31%; and billing, pricing and charges 15%. Shell Energy: faults, service and provisioning 42%; complaints handling 35%; and billing, pricing and charges 12%.

Pay-monthly mobile

How the providers ranked

Mobile complaints per 100,000 subscribers. It illustrates the providers receiving the fewest complaints at the top of the table and those receiving the most complaints are placed at the bottom of the table. The results are as follows: Sky Mobile 1, Tesco Mobile 1, EE 1, industry average 2, Three 2, Vodafone 2, iD Mobile 3, O2 3, BT Mobile 3 and Virgin Mobile 4.

Reasons for complaining

Reasons for complaining about mobile services. It shows the key drivers of complaints for the industry average and the worst performing provider. For the industry average: faults, service and provisioning 24%; complaints handling 25%; and changing provider 19%. Virgin Mobile: changing provider 31%; complaints handling 22%; and billing, pricing and charges 18%.

Pay-TV

How the providers ranked

Pay TV complaints per 100,000 subscribers. It illustrates the providers receiving the fewest complaints at the top of the table and those receiving the most complaints are placed at the bottom of the table. The results are as follows:Sky 1, TalkTalk 3, industry average 4, BT 5 and Virgin Media 10.

Reasons for complaining

Reasons for complaining about pay-TV services. It shows the key drivers of complaints for the industry average and the worst performing provider. For the industry average: faults, service and provisioning 15%; complaints handling 44%; and billing, pricing and charges 19%. Virgin Media: changing provider 13%; complaints handling 47%; and billing, pricing and charges 20%.

In summary, our latest data shows that:

  • Between January and March complaints to Ofcom stayed broadly at the same levels as during the previous quarter. Complaints about fixed broadband and pay TV increased slightly and complaints about landline and mobile pay-monthly stayed the same.
  • Shell Energy generated the most broadband complaints per 100,000 customers, primarily due to faults, service and provisioning while EE and Sky attracted the fewest broadband complaints.
  • Shell Energy was the most complained-about landline provider with complaints mainly arising because of faults, service and provisioning while EE attracted the fewest landline complaints.
  • Virgin Mobile, BT Mobile and O2 were the most complained-about mobile operators. Customers were mainly unhappy with how their complaint had been handled. Sky, Tesco Mobile and EE attracted the fewest complaints.
  • Virgin Media generated the highest volume of pay-TV complaints; the main reason customers complained to Ofcom was complaints handling. Sky was also the least complained-about pay-TV provider.

While the overall level of complaints has been consistently low over recent months, the gap between the best and worst providers in the broadband, landline and pay-TV sectors is widening.

The figures highlight how some firms have plenty of work to do to keep their customers happy and catch up with their rivals. If you’re not happy with the service you’re getting, consider shopping around and moving elsewhere.

Fergal Farragher, Ofcom's Consumer Protection Director

Why we publish this data

Our complaints data helps people to compare providers when they’re shopping around for a new service – and it also helps to encourage companies to improve their performance.

Although Ofcom cannot resolve individual complaints, we offer advice to people about the telecoms and pay-TV services they use, and the information we receive can lead to us launching investigations.

If you’re experiencing problems with your home phone, broadband, mobile or pay-TV service you should complain to your provider first. If you are unhappy with the outcome, you can take the complaint to an independent ombudsman, who will look at the case and make a judgment on it.

Notes for editors

Where the actual measurable difference between providers’ number of complaints per 100,000 customers is less than one, we consider their results to be comparable. Within the following sectors, we consider the listed providers to be comparable:

Fixed broadband

  • EE and Sky;
  • BT and NOW Broadband; and
  • Vodafone and TalkTalk.

Landline

  • BT, NOW Broadband and Plusnet; and
  • Plusnet and industry average.

Pay-monthly mobile

  • Sky Mobile, Tesco Mobile, EE and industry average;
  • EE, industry average, Three and Vodafone;
  • Industry average, Three, Vodafone, iD Mobile, O2 and BT Mobile; and
  • O2, BT Mobile and Virgin Mobile.

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