Ofcom’s latest league tables reflecting complaints it receives show Virgin Media, Shell Energy and Vodafone customers were most likely to complain to the regulator.
The quarterly report released today reveals the number of complaints made to Ofcom between October and December 2021. Overall, complaints figures decreased slightly over this period. Compared to the last decade, complaints to Ofcom remained at all-time low levels.
Nearly all providers across all sectors reduced or maintained the same level of complaints from the previous quarter.
Pay TV providers
- Virgin Media (most complained about)
- BT
- TalkTalk
- Sky (least complained about)
Broadband providers
- Shell Energy (most complained about)
- TalkTalk
- Vodafone & Virgin Media
- Plusnet
- BT
- EE
- Sky (least complained about)
Mobile phone providers (pay monthly contracts)
- Virgin Mobile (most complained about)
- Vodafone
- Three
- O2 / BT Mobile / iD Mobile
- EE / Sky Mobile / Tesco (least complained about)
(Smaller providers and providers only offering prepaid 30 day bundles or pay-as-you-go services like Giffgaff or Voxi only aren’t included.)
Landline providers
- TalkTalk (most complained about)
- Shell Energy
- Virgin Media
- Plusnet / Vodafone
- BT
- EE
- Sky (least complained about)
Despite being on the receiving end of many complaints, Ofcom can’t actually resolve individual complaints. These would normally be dealt with by the independent ombudsman.
Instead, Ofcom offers advice to consumers. The information it receives from individuals may lead to it taking regulatory action, including investigating a company.
Speaking about the latest figures, Fergal Farragher, Ofcom’s Consumer Protection Director commented:
It’s encouraging that overall complaints remain at record lows. But that doesn’t mean customer service is where it should be across the board.
There are still big differences in performance between some providers. So it’s definitely worth shopping around and voting with your feet, if you’re not happy with the service you’re getting.