Ofcom Shames TalkTalk and O2 for UK Telecoms Complaints – Q3 2024

Ofcom have today published their Q3 2024 study of UK consumer telecoms complaints, which names and shames TalkTalk for attracting the most complaints about broadband, while O2 took the most flak mobile and Virgin Media was put 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% for landline services, 82% for broadband and 87% for all mobile services. Sadly, we don’t yet have any figures for 2024 or 2025 as Ofcom seems to have stopped tracking this.

Fixed Line Home Broadband Complaints

TalkTalk attracted the most broadband moans in Q3 2024, with customers’ complaints mainly being driven (33%) by issues with faults and service provision. On the flip side, Sky Broadband once again attracted the fewest complaints of all the listed providers.

Devesh Raj, Chief Operating Officer of Sky, said:

“Sky has received the fewest complaints in total to Ofcom across all categories out of all providers. This success is a testament to the outstanding efforts of our teams across all departments, from technology to customer service, enabling us to deliver the best possible Sky experience.”

Fixed Line Phone Complaints

Meanwhile, EE, NOW TV and TalkTalk all jointly attracted the most complaints for fixed line phone services, with their customer complaints being mainly drive by issues with faults and service provisions. By comparison, Utility Warehouse continued to attract the fewest complaints for the third consecutive quarter, followed closely by Sky.

Mobile Complaints

Mobile operators enjoy lower complaint levels than fixed line providers, but that didn’t stop O2 from attracting the most moans again, which were primarily driven by issues with complaints handling. By comparison, both Sky Mobile and Tesco Mobile attracted the fewest gripes.

Pay TV Complaints

Finally, Virgin Media attracted the most complaints for Pay TV services, while Sky TV and TalkTalk received the fewest complaints.

In response to this report, TalkTalk have said they “continue to invest heavily in customer experience“, both in terms of their frontline agents and their digital experience. The operator has also boasted of using AI features to enhance their customer services and expects to see an improvement in Ofcom’s next report.

A TalkTalk spokesperson said:

“We have always been committed to delivering the best possible service for our customers. While this number represents a very small proportion of our total customer base, we are disappointed, and determined to improve on it.

We continue to invest to enhance the way we work with customers, making it easier than ever to get in touch with us through a variety of contact methods, and expect to see this reflected in future reports.”

Similarly, the CEO of Virgin Media and O2, Lutz Schüler, has posted a new blog on the steps they’re taking to improve customer service. To summarise, the operator said their goal is to provide consistently exceptional service and give all their customers confidence that where they do have an issue, they will be able to contact them easily and have it resolved quickly and effectively. As part of this, the operator highlighted some of their recent improvements:

• By the end of last year, we reduced the number of Ofcom complaints by 48% compared with the average monthly run rate in 2023.
• In December, complaints relating to Virgin Media were at the lowest levels since 2017, while complaints about O2 hadn’t been lower for two years.
• In the past three months, 92% of complaints raised were resolved within 24 hours.
• We’ve reduced call transfers for both Virgin Media and O2 customers by 18% and 12% respectively since the start of 2024, while average call waiting times reduced from two minutes in 2023 to 44 seconds in the past three months, and just 20 seconds in January alone.

Ofcom’s Consumer Complaints Report Q3 2024
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/../telecoms-and-pay-tv-complaints