Virgin Media tops Ofcom complaints list following probe

Ofcom’s HQ (Source: Ofcom)

Virgin Media was by far the most complained-about UK service provider across the broadband, landline and pay-TV categories in regulator Ofcom’s latest bulletin, covering July to September 2023, seeing significant rises across all these areas from the previous quarter.

Sky continued to be the provider that attracted the fewest or joint fewest complaints per 100,000 subscribers across all four services.

TalkTalk and Sky were the least complained-about pay-TV providers.

Virgin Media generated 20 complaints per 100,000 customers fodr pay TV, compared with one for TalkTalk, two for Sky and seven for BT, with the latter number being the industry average.

Virgin Media generated 32 complaints per 100,000 for broadband, compared with five for Sky and an average of 15.

Ofcom however acknowledged that a factor in Virgin Media’s complaints figures for this quarter was its launch of an investigation into customers’ difficulties cancelling contracts and how the company handled complaints, launched last July.

Fergal Farragher, Ofcom’s Consumer Protection Director, said: “The slight increase in complaints on the previous quarter shows that providers must continue to focus on improving customer service.

“The launch of our investigation into Virgin Media in July, looking at difficulty cancelling and complaints handling, has led to more customers coming forward to share their experiences with us. Our investigation continues and updates will be published on our website.”

Virgin Media said that the results were an anomaly because of the investigation and noted that some of the complaints were from former customers, some going back 10 years.

“Our number one priority is to provide an excellent service to our customers, and we accept that the rise in complaints in the third quarter falls far short of our expectations,” said a spokesman.

“As Ofcom acknowledges, the rise is largely due to its investigation announcement in July which subsequently generated a higher number of complaints than would ordinarily be expected. However, it should be noted that overall complaints about Virgin Media products still represent a very small proportion of our customer base.

“As well as engaging fully with Ofcom’s ongoing investigation, we are investing in every area of our business to give our customers the best possible experience, with a real focus on resolving any issues at the first time of getting in touch and making it easier for them to get support when they need it.”