Choosing a broadband provider is tricky enough, but that’s only the start of your experience getting wireless internet piped into your home. Once set up, you’re hoping that your broadband connection works without a hitch. If it doesn’t, the first thing to do is raise the issue with your internet service provider (ISP).
Those complaints are tallied up throughout the year by Ofcom, the UK’s regulator of digital services including broadband, landline, pay-TV and mobile, and the latest results have just been published.
Totting up complaints to broadband providers in Q3 2024 (July to September) shows the most moaned about ISP was TalkTalk, which registered 14 complaints per 100,000 customers, Ofcom’s measurement metric. Complaints about the company went up compared to the previous quarter.
Ofcom said 39 percent of these complaints were to do with faults, service and provisioning, while 29 percent of complaints were regarding how complaints themselves were handled by TalkTalk. 18 percent of complaints were about billing, pricing and charging issues.
“We have always been committed to delivering the best possible service for our customers,” a TalkTalk spokesperson told Express.co.uk. “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.”
The firm said it would “continue to invest heavily in customer experience” and pointed to its recent implementation of “smart AI features in our customer services journey” that aim to get customers help faster.
By comparison, the firm to receive the fewest complaints was Sky, with five complaints per 100,000 customers.
“Sky has received the fewest complaints in total to Ofcom across all categories out of all providers,” said Devesh Raj, Chief Operating Officer at Sky. “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.”
“As the UK’s communications regulator we compile this complaints data so we can better understand the reasons for dissatisfaction among customers in the sectors we regulate,” Ofcom said. “While we do not deal with individual complaints, compiling this data helps consumers to identify the best performing telecoms and pay-TV providers for their needs.”
EE clocked close to TalkTalk with 13 complaints per 100,000 customers, with NOW Broadband and Virgin Media close behind with 12.
Vodafone received 11 complaints per 100,000 customers, with BT on 10 and Plusnet on 8.
Of these providers, only Virgin Media does not use the BT-owned nationwide Openreach broadband network to distribute internet services to its customers, instead opting for its own infrastructure. BT owns Openreach but allows other broadband companies to use its network.
Elsewhere, the most complained about landline providers were EE, NOW Broadband and TalkTalk with an equal eight complaints per 100,000 customers. The least complained about was Utility Warehouse with just one complaint per 100,000 customers.
The numbers across the board were notably lower for pay monthly mobile contract complaints with O2 receiving the most per 100,000 customers with five, and Tesco and Sky Mobile the least with just one. Virgin Media was the most complained about pay-TV provider with nine complaints per 100,000 customers, with Sky registering the fewest complaints with two alongside TalkTalk. EE racked up eight per 100,000.
