The latest stats are in and here are the winners and losers when it comes to broadband.
The UK’s biggest broadband providers have been put through their paces yet again by Ofcom and there are some definite winners and big losers. The telecoms regular has been monitoring customer complaints made about the main suppliers and it appears that Virgin Media needs to up its game.
The popular Internet Service Provider – which has millions of users across the UK – registered the worst overall score with 20 complaints per 100,000. That’s well below the industry average of 12 complaints per 100,000.
According to Ofcom, customer complaints were mainly driven by how their moans were being handled by Virgin. There were other losers as well with NOW broadband, Shell Energy and Vodafone all scoring poorly compared to their rivals.
At the other end of the scale was Sky with the firm scoring just 5 complaints per 100,000. Plusnet, EE and BT also scored lower than the average.
HERE ARE THE FULL BROADBAND RESULTS
SKY • 5 complaints per 100,000
PLUSNET • 9 complaints per 100,000
EE • 9 complaints per 100,000
BT • 11 complaints per 100,000
TALKTALK • 13 complaints per 100,000
VODAFONE • 14 complaints per 100,000
SHELL • 14 complaints per 100,000
NOW • 18 complaints per 100,000
VIRGIN MEDIA • 20 complaints per 100,000
Along with checking out broadband complaints, Ofcom has also released figures about Landline, Mobile and Pay-TV gripes.
Once again Virgin came bottom of the pile for landline and Pay-TV complaints. Sky came top across the board with the least complaints in all categories.
HERE ARE THE FULL PAY TV RESULTS
SKY • 2 complaints per 100,000
TALKTALK • 2 complaints per 100,000
BT • 7 complaints per 100,000
VIRGIN MEDIA • 13 complaints per 100,000
“We can see from these latest figures that customer dissatisfaction remains at a similar level to the previous quarter,” said Fergal Farragher, Ofcom’s Policy Director, said: While there has been an improvement in Virgin Media’s performance, its position at the bottom of our tables shows there is further room for improvement.”
Commenting on the latest figures Rocio Concha, Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy, added: “At a time when many telecoms firms have implemented mid-contract price hikes of almost nine per cent, it’s unacceptable that poor customer service from some of the biggest telecoms firms has led thousands of their customers to complain to the regulator.
“Virgin Media is the most complained-about broadband firm and also performed particularly poorly for customer service in Which?’s most recent broadband customer satisfaction survey.
“While many consumers will rightly consider switching, firms that are falling short must urgently make improvements so all customers are getting the standard of service and support they need and deserve.”