Plusnet Shamed for Q1 2019 UK Broadband and Phone Complaints

A new report from Ofcom has revealed that Plusnet attracted the most UK consumer complaints for fixed line broadband and phone in Q1 2019, while Vodafone attracted the most gripes for Mobile and TalkTalk for Pay TV services. On the flip side Sky Broadband (Sky TV) and EE generated the fewest fixed line moans.

The latest quarterly report only covers complaints that the regulator itself has received and not those sent directly to an ISP or one of the two ombudsman providers (i.e. Ombudsman Services or CISAS). Ofcom does not itself deal with individual complaints but they do monitor them and can take action if enough people inform them of a problem.

Meanwhile the results below are said to be reflected as a proportion of residential subscribers (i.e. the total number of quarterly complaints per 100,000 customers), which makes it easier to compare providers in a market where the largest ISPs can vary significantly in size. The regulator’s study only includes feedback from the largest ISPs (i.e. those with a market share of at least 1.5%).

Overall the total volume of complaints across all service sectors has declined since the start of 2018. Meanwhile the overall level of consumer satisfaction with communications services is listed as 86% for landline phone, 83% for broadband and 93% for mobile.

People who are unable to resolve a complaint with their provider can (after 8 weeks) raise a case with one of the two ombudsman operators under the Alternative Dispute Resolution process. The ADR handler will then investigate the issue at no cost to yourself.

Fixed Line Home Broadband Complaints

Vodafone will be pleased to note that they’re no longer top of the complaints pile now that Plusnet has dislodged them, although the latter saw their complaint volume fall in the quarter while Vodafone’s increased. Almost four in ten of Plusnet’s complaints were about billing, pricing and charges (38% of complaints). The other main drivers of Plusnet’s complaints were complaints handling (28%) and faults, service and provision issues (26%).

Meanwhile Sky Broadband and EE deserve some praise for returning proportionally fewer complaints than any of the other providers.

Fixed Line Phone Complaints

Plusnet also comes top of the naughty list for landline phone services, which is hardly a surprise since these are often directly linked with broadband issues due to the shared copper lines that most ISPs still use. Over four in ten of their complaints were about billing, pricing and charges (44%). The other main drivers of Plusnet’s complaints were complaints handling (28%) and faults, service and provision issues (16%).

Once again Sky and EE both enjoyed the position of being the least complained about providers.

Mobile Complaints

On the most front most operators saw their quality complaint figures decrease during the last quarter, while Vodafone and Virgin Mobile (Virgin Media) generated the highest volume of gripes. The main drivers of Vodafone’s complaints were complaints handling (35%), followed by issues relating to billing, pricing and charges (33%) and issues relating to changing provider (13%).

On the flip side Tesco Mobile generated the lowest volume of pay-monthly mobile complaints per 100,000 subscribers. Meanwhile Sky Mobile has entered the table and they appear to have seen a rise in complaints, although they remain just on the industry average line.

Pay TV Complaints

Out of nowhere TalkTalk has suffered a sharp doubling of their complaints during the first quarter and are now the most moaned about of the Pay TV providers. At the same time BT and Virgin Media saw a sharp reduction in complaints, which is positive news. A third of TalkTalk’s TV complaints were about complaints handling (33%) and the other main drivers included issues relating to contracts (27%) and issues of billing, pricing and charges (18%).

Sky was the only Pay TV provider to sit below (well below) the industry average line.

Ofcom’s Complaints Report Q1 2019
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/../telecoms-pay-tv-complaints-q1-2019.pdf