UK regulator Ofcom reports four times per year on the state of customer satisfaction when it comes to broadband, pay-monthly mobile and pay-TV services, and the latest stats are in that cover October to December 2024. Measured on number of complaints per 100,000 customers, Now Broadband and TalkTalk were the most complained about broadband providers, with 13.
Though they tied, Now’s complaints were up on the previous quarter and TalkTalk’s were down, according to Ofcom.
That duo was followed closely by EE with 12 per 100,000, Virgin Media and Vodafone on 11 and BT on 10.
“To better understand the reasons for dissatisfaction among residential customers in our sectors, we compile that data and determine the number of complaints received by provider and by service,” Ofcom said.
“To compare the performance of providers, on a quarterly basis we publish the number of complaints that we received about them relative to the size of their customer bases.”
Plusnet was the least complained about with 5, narrowly fending off Sky, which clocked up 6. This makes Plusnet the best broadband provider to go for, according to the stats, if you don’t want to be driven to distraction and feel the need to lodge a formal complaint.
Ofcom’s numbers found that faults, servicing and provisioning accounted for 39 percent of all complaints against all providers, with how the complaints themselves were handled contributing another 27 percent, with billing, pricing and charges 21 percent of complaints.
In a double whammy for most-complained about Now Broadband, a subsidiary of Sky, the firm also got the most landline complaints with 10 per 100,000, compared to the best-performing Utility Warehouse with just 1.
Pay-monthly mobile services were found to be less complained about in the quarter compared to fixed broadband, with O2 racking up the most complaints with just 4 per 100,000.
Tesco Mobile and Sky Mobile, two mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) that interestingly use most-complained about O2’s network, were the least complained about providers with 1 per 100,000.
When it comes to pay-TV, Virgin Media received the most complaints with 7 per 100,000, just above EE with 6 and TalkTalk and Sky with 2.
“Today’s Ofcom stats show that our customer service transformation strategy is delivering real improvements for our customers, with significant reductions in complaints across the board,” said Alan Stott, Virgin Media O2’s Director of Customer Contact. “We’ve turned a big corner from this time last year, and we’ll continue investing across the business to ensure we give all our customers the best possible experience.”