Ofcom Blasts NOW and TalkTalk for UK Broadband Complaints – Q4 2024

Ofcom have today published their latest quarterly (Q4 2024) study of UK consumer telecoms complaints, which shames NOW Broadband (NOW TV) and TalkTalk for attracting the most complaints about broadband, while O2 took the most heat for Mobile and Virgin Media was put on the naughty step for Pay TV services.

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 due to limited data (i.e. those with a market share of at least 1.5%).

Fixed Line Home Broadband Complaints

Both NOW Broadband (NOW TV) and TalkTalk attracted the most broadband moans in Q4 2024, with customers’ complaints about NOW mainly being driven by issues with complaints handling itself. The main driver of complaints about TalkTalk related to issues with service faults and provisioning. On the flip side, Plusnet attracted the fewest complaints of all the listed providers.

A special mention also goes out to Virgin Media, which has seen a sharp drop in its complaint levels since the start of 2024.

Fixed Line Phone Complaints

NOW Broadband (NOW TV) also attracted the most complaints for fixed line (landline) phone services, which were mainly driven by issues with service provisioning and network faults. By comparison, Utility Warehouse continued to attract the fewest complaints for the fourth consecutive quarter, followed closely by Sky. As above, Virgin Media also saw a sharp fall in complaints.

Mobile Complaints

Mobile operators enjoy lower complaint levels than fixed line providers, but somebody has to attract the most complaints and once again that turned out to be O2, where the quarterly moans were primarily driven by issues with complaints handling. By comparison, Sky Mobile and Tesco Mobile jointly attracted the fewest gripes.

Pay TV Complaints

Finally, Virgin Media attracted the most complaints for Pay TV services, while Sky TV and TalkTalk jointly received the fewest complaints. But it should be said that Virgin Media’s complaint levels have continued to fall.

Alan Stott, Virgin Media O2’s Director of Customer Contact, said: “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. 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.”

Ofcom’s Consumer Complaints Report Q4 2024
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/../telecoms-and-pay-tv-complaints