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Guess who's still most moaned about UK ISP... Rhymes with BorkBork

No, BT and Plusnet, you're not off the hook either

Despite efforts to return to its roots as a broadband-only biz, TalkTalk remains the most moaned about ISP in the UK, according to data from regulator Ofcom.

TalkTalk scored highest out of the top seven providers, with 31 complaints per 100,000 customers – a slight increase on last quarter.

The main reasons for customer complaints were faults and other problems with TalkTalk's services, quarterly data from between October and December reveals.

Last year TalkTalk announced it was ditching its mobile service to concentrate on its core broadband business and began notifying mobile customers of this in January.

Yet the firm has so far shown no signs of improving its poor track record in this space. TalkTalk was also named worst ISP in the last biannual survey of providers by consumer charity Which? for the fifth time in a row.

The Register asked TalkTalk what it is doing to address its consistently bad record for customer complaints. The biz pretty much wheeled out the same excuse as last time.

"We always strive to provide the best possible experience and are disappointed by these results," a spokesperson said. "Ofcom's historical data reflects a short period last year which coincided with the closure of our contact centre in India. The move was part of a major investment to improve our services but caused some temporary disruption for customers."

It added: "We continue to roll out service improvements, including new online tools to help customers resolve issues more quickly and conveniently."

Closely behind TalkTalk were the usual suspects, BT and Plusnet – both on 27 complaints per 100,000 customers.

BT and Vodafone drew the most complaints about mobile services, and BT also received most complaints about pay TV. For both, customers' gripes centred on complaints handling, billing, prices and charges.

Ofcom said it had received nearly 300 complaints a day from consumers about TV, mobile and landline services.

Telcos have been attempting to improve their customer service. Vodafone has invested £2bn upgrading its networks since 2015 after an IT cock-up sparked a billing fiasco resulting a record fine of £4.6m. It has also brought 2,100 customer service bods in-house.

EE is also bringing 1,000 customer service operator jobs in-house, and BT has hired 1,500 call centre staff in the UK and Ireland. ®

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