Ofcom Put NOW, EE and O2 on Naughty Step for UK Telecoms Complaints – Q2 2024

Ofcom has published their latest Q2 2024 study of UK consumer complaints, which names and shames NOW Broadband (NOW TV) for being the worst provider by attracting the most complaints about broadband, while EE did the same for landline phone and O2 took most flak mobile. Finally, both EE and Virgin Media were jointly on the naughty step for Pay TV.

Take note that the regulator’s report only covers complaints that Ofcom itself has received and not those sent directly to an ISP, the ISPA or an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) complaints handler (i.e. Communications Ombudsman or CISAS). Ofcom does not deal with individual complaints, but they do monitor them and can take action if enough people raise a concern.

Otherwise, the results below reflect a proportion of residential subscribers (i.e. the total number of quarterly complaints per 100,000 customers per provider), which makes it easier to compare providers in a market where ISPs can vary significantly in size. But sadly, the study only covers feedback from the largest ISPs (i.e. those with a market share of at least 1.5%) due to limited data.

Take note that the proportion of people who were satisfied with their communications services in 2023 was 77% (unchanged from last year) for landline services, 82% (down from 83%) for broadband and 87% (down from 91%) for all mobile services. We don’t yet have any figures for 2024.

Fixed Line Home Broadband Complaints

NOW Broadband (NOW TV) attracted the most broadband moans in Q2 2024, with customers’ complaints, perhaps ironically, mainly being driven by how their complaints were handled. On the flip side, Sky Broadband once again attracted the fewest complaints of all the listed providers.

Fixed Line Phone Complaints

EE attracted the most complaints for fixed line phone services, with their customer complaints being mainly due to issues with faults, services and provisioning. By comparison, Utility Warehouse attracted the fewest complaints after only recently entering the table (they appear to have had zero gripes this quarter).

Mobile Complaints

Mobile operators generally enjoy lower complaint levels than fixed line providers, but O2 continued to attract the most gripes during the quarter, with issues around complaints handling driving most of it. By comparison, Tesco Mobile attracted the fewest gripes.

Pay TV Complaints

Finally, both EE and Virgin Media jointly attracted the most complaints for Pay TV, while Sky received the fewest complaints.

Ofcom’s Consumer Complaints Report Q2 2024
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/../telecoms-and-pay-tv-complaints