Uswitch comments on Ofcom complaints data

Uswitch issued the below response following today's Ofcom complaints data.

Ernest Doku, broadband expert at Uswitch.com, says: “Customer complaints spiked during the Covid-19 pandemic as consumers depended on a reliable internet connection but struggled to contact their providers when things went wrong.

“These figures show that complaints have returned to pre-pandemic levels, and are close to the record lows we saw before ‘social distancing’ entered our vocabulary.

“It’s reassuring that customers are mostly satisfied with their broadband, mobiles and pay TV services, but providers still have work to do.

“Virgin Media is still the most complained about pay TV provider - ironically due to how it handled the customer complaints that came in.

“TalkTalk saw the most complaints for broadband and landline services, while Virgin Mobile topped the chart for mobiles.

“Ofcom’s report shows that more than four in ten of all fixed broadband complaints were about faults, service and provisioning. With so many households currently reliant on their internet connections for work, education and entertainment, it’s clear that providers have to do more to prioritise these types of problems.

“More than 15 million consumers suffered a broadband outage in the last year[1], so it’s clear that there are still issues that broadband providers need to deal with. If you’ve experienced a loss of service, make sure you raise the issue with your provider and take it to the relevant ombudsman if they can’t resolve your complaint.”

Notes to editors

1. Uswitch: Broadband outages in the UK