Ofcom’s latest complaints league table is out and Vodafone does not come out well, at all
Ofcom's tables are based on the number of complaints made about broadband, mobile, landline and TV providers
Fresh off the back of releasing a series of performance scorecards designed to help customers choose the best home phone, broadband, and mobile providers, Ofcom has published its latest league tables.
These league tables, which are released on a quarterly basis, are based on the number of complaints the communications watchdog has received about the UK’s leading operators, as well pay-TV firms, between July and September last year.
Overall, the number of complaints received for broadband, mobile and pay-TV rose slightly compared to last quarter, while figures for landline services largely stayed the same.
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Vodafone topped the list as the most complained-about broadband provider for the second quarter in a row, joined TalkTalk as the most complained-about landline provider as was the most complained-about mobile provider, with Virgin Media.
EE and Sky attracted the least complaints among broadband providers. Tesco Mobile was the least complained-about pay-monthly mobile provider, while EE received the fewest complaints among landline providers.
Virgin Media remained the most complained-about pay-TV provider, with Sky continuing to attract the least complaints for the same category.
All complaints volumes shown in the above image are displayed per 100,000 subscribers and have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Where operators had the same score rounded in this way, Ofcom said it then ranks these based on the unrounded figure. You can see more detail here.
“People have never had more choice in the phone and broadband markets,” said Fergal Farragher, Ofcom’s Director of Consumer Policy. “It’s also never been easier to switch your service. So companies that don’t prioritise great service could see customers leaving them for ones that do.”
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The rankings of these latest league tables aligns closely to the ranking seen in Ofcom’s recent scorecards. In addition to looking at complaints, these scorecards rank providers across a range of metrics including customer satisfaction, service quality and value for money.
Vodafone, as a mobile provider, scored below average for all of these metrics except for satisfaction, for which it hit the average of 93%. TalkTalk was the only broadband provider to receive a negative net promoter score and fell well short of the average satisfaction score.
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The scorecards for mobile, broadband and landline are below and can be found in more detail here.
Ofcom fairness framework
The league tables have also been released alongside a new fairness framework developed by Ofcom to reveal how it determines whether ISPs, mobile operators and TV providers are treating their customers fairly.
The framework looks at how customers experience services and what “harm might be inflicted if a service is unfairly delivered” via the following five points:
- How do providers treat customers throughout the customer journey?
- Who is being harmed, if anyone?
- What is the extent of the harm, and why?
- How important is the service?
- Does the service depend on risky new investment?
This framework is a direct result of all major broadband, phone and pay TV companies signing up to a Fairness for Customers charter in June 2019. Ofcom is also consulting on banning phones from being locked to a single network.
