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BT tops Ofcom's broadband whinge list

Virgin and Sky rated least moaned about

BT has topped a UK watchdog's quarterly whinge list for the most moaned about fixed line broadband provider in Blighty.

Communications regulator Ofcom said it received 300 complaints a day for mobile, broadband, phone and Pay TV. The report for the three months to June published today, deals with Blighty's biggest providers.

Virgin Media and Sky Broadband received the lowest number of complaints per 100,000 customers, with seven and five respectively.

Meanwhile BT scored 26 and Plusnet 23 - with the latter having been subject to a number of recent outage gaffes. Yet that is still an improvement on the previous quarter, when BT scored 31 and Plusnet scored 25.

The regulator noted: "BT’s complaint volumes were on their face higher but, due to operators using different methodologies to compile subscriber figures, we have identified through sensitivity checks that Plusnet’s performance may be comparable to BT’s."

It said BT’s main faults were due to service and provision issues; issues with billing, pricing and charges; and complaint handling.

Plusnet’s were also related to services and provision; complaints handling; and issues with billing, pricing and charges.

EE and TalkTalk also generated above-industry-average relative complaint levels.

BT's Openreach boss Clive Selley has vowed to tackle the company's poor customer service track record, specifically its number of missed appointments.

But the overall number of complaints across the categories decreased during the quarter.

Lindsey Fussell, director of Ofcom's Consumer Group, said: “We expect providers to make customer service and complaints handling top priorities. While complaints have gone down, providers must work harder to better serve their customers.

"Consumers have a right to expect good service and will rightfully complain when that standard isn't met. If companies do fall short, we will step in and investigate, which can lead to significant fines." ®

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