Telecoms companies improve complaint handling but challenges remain, says Ofcom

UK telecoms companies have demonstrated a significant improvement in their complaint handling, according to a new report from the industry regulator, Ofcom.

The research compares customer service across broadband, mobile, and landline providers for the quarter from October to December 2024, revealing  a marked increase in customer satisfaction with how their complaints are addressed.

Satisfaction with complaint handling for mobile (61%), broadband (58%), and landline (60%) services all saw a substantial rise in 2024 compared to 2022, when satisfaction levels were just above 50% across the board. This positive trend indicates that providers are responding to calls for better customer service.

Despite these gains in complaint resolution, the report highlights that more mobile and broadband customers had a reason to complain last year than in 2022. The proportion of mobile customers with a complaint rose to 14% (from 12%), and broadband customers to 23% (from 20%). This suggests that while companies are getting better at handling complaints, the underlying issues causing customer dissatisfaction still persist.

Ofcom’s data also shows variations in performance among providers. In mobile, smaller providers like Tesco Mobile and giffgaff achieved higher-than-average overall satisfaction scores (both 94%), while O2 and Vodafone lagged (85% and 84% respectively). Tesco Mobile also excelled in complaint handling satisfaction (68%), whereas Three scored lower than average (51%).

For broadband, Plusnet led in overall satisfaction (91%), while TalkTalk (77%) and Virgin Media (77%) were below average. EE, Plusnet, and Sky received higher-than-average marks for complaint handling satisfaction.

Says Ian Macrae, Ofcom’s Director of Market Intelligence:

“It’s encouraging to see industry rally to our call to improve things for their customers. Call waiting times have come down for many providers and satisfaction with complaint handling is on the up.”

“But there’s further to go. Not all companies have made the same progress and it’s still taking the industry too long to fix things when they go wrong.”

Macrae warned that if companies do not continue to improve, customers may “vote with their feet” and switch providers.

Ofcom customer service report