Latest telecoms and pay-TV complaints revealed

Today we've published the latest figures for complaints we've received about the UK's main landline, broadband, mobile and pay-TV services.

These figures cover the period from April to June 2023, and show that while the volume of complaints remained consistent with the previous quarter, there was a slight increase when compared to the same time last year.

We've highlighted the main trends from this quarter's data:

• Vodafone was the most complained-about broadband provider, with a substantial rise in complaints from the previous quarter. Customers’ complaints were mainly driven by their experience with faults, service and getting services connected. We have engaged with Vodafone regarding their performance in this latest round of complaints data – they have been taking steps to identify and address the causes of these complaints and we would expect to see the results of this to show in the coming months.
• TalkTalk, Shell Energy and Virgin Media were the most complained-about landline providers. TalkTalk saw a small decrease, Shell Energy remained static and Virgin Media saw a small increase in their complaints since the previous quarter. Shell Energy’s complaints were mainly driven by customers’ experience with faults, service and getting services connected, while TalkTalk and Virgin’s complaints were mainly driven by how they handled customers’ complaints.
• Sky continued to generate the fewest complaints in both broadband and landline.
• BT Mobile was the most complained-about mobile operator, with customers primarily complaining about how their complaints were being handled and issues changing provider. Sky Mobile, EE and Tesco Mobile were the mobile providers who received the fewest complaints.
• BT and Virgin Media attracted the most complaints among pay-TV providers. BT’s complaints were mainly driven by customers’ experience with faults, service and getting services connected, while Virgin’s complaints were driven mainly by how customers’ complaints were handled. Sky received the fewest pay-TV complaints.

Commenting on the complaints data from this quarter, Fergal Farragher, Ofcom's Consumer Protection Director, said:

"It is positive to see that overall, complaints volumes have remained consistent compared to the previous quarter. However, complaints are still slightly higher than they were in 2022, and this shows that providers still have work to do in improving customers’ experiences.

We work alongside providers to help make sure they improve their performance and acknowledge Vodafone is taking steps to identify and address the increased volume of complaints during this period."

As the UK’s communications regulator, customers can complain to us about the telecoms and pay-TV services they use. While we don’t investigate individual complaints, this complaints data helps us to identify problems and enables us to take action against providers if necessary.

Compiling this data also helps us to understand the reasons for customers’ dissatisfaction across the sectors we regulate. To compare providers’ performance, every quarter we publish the number of complaints we have received about providers relative to the size of their customer bases – per 100,000 customers.

The charts below provide more detail on the complaints we’ve received.

Fixed Broadband

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Complaints October 2023_Broadband ENG

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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.

Complaints October 2023_Broadband drivers ENG

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Reasons for complaining about broadband services. It shows the key complaints drivers for the industry average and the worst-performing provider.

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Landline

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Complaints October 2023_Landline ENG

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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.

Complaints October 2023_Landline drivers ENG

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Reasons for complaining about landline services. It shows the key complaints drivers for the industry average and the worst-performing provider.

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Mobile

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Complaints October 2023_Mobile ENG

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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 2; EE 2; Tesco Mobile 3; Vodafone 3; Industry Average 3; Three UK 4; iD Mobile 4; O2 5; BT Mobile 8; Virgin Mobile 8. Caption 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.

Complaints October 2023_Mobile drivers ENG

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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: complaints handling 29%; faults, service and provisioning 21%; billing, pricing and charges 20%. For BT Mobile: complaints handling 38%; changing provider 31%; billing, pricing and charges 14% and contracts 14%. For Virgin Mobile: complaints handling 37%; changing provider 18% and faults, service and provisioning 18%. Caption Reasons for complaining about mobile services. It shows the key complaints drivers for the industry average and the worst-performing provider.

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Pay-TV

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Complaints October 2023_Pay TV ENG

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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.

Complaints October 2023_Pay-TV drivers ENG

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Reasons for complaining about pay-TV services. It shows the key complaints drivers for the industry average and the worst-performing provider.

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