Broadband, mobiles and TV: who rates and who doesn’t

VIRGIN Media has the lowest level of customer satisfaction among landline providers, with 22 per cent saying they are unhappy with the service, according to new research by regulator Ofcom.

The regulator questioned customers of fixed broadband providers, mobile phone providers and paid-for TV services in a survey designed to look at the standard of service offered by different companies.

It found that overall customer satisfaction remained lower in the fixed broadband and landline markets, at 58 per cent and 61 per cent respectively, compared to paid-for TV and mobile at 68 per cent and 69 per cent.

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The report said Virgin Media had seen an increase in the numbers of issues not resolved and a decline in customer loyalty. By contrast, complaints to customers of Talk Talk had fallen by 22 per cent.

Mike Wilson, manager of mobiles and broadband at moneysupermarket.com said he was surprised Virgin had performed so badly.

He said: “It just shows price isn’t always the key. If things go wrong you need to be sure your problems will be resolved.”

He said quality of customer service and the way complaints and problems were dealt with was often a key question for consumers when deciding which phone, TV and mobile service to choose.

A Virgin Media spokesman said: “Customer service is a big focus for us and we know that there is still more work to do if we are to get to where we want to be – delivering a fantastic customer experience every time – but we’ve come a long way and our customers are seeing the results.”

In terms of landline services, Sky customers reported the most satisfaction at 74 per cent, while BT was second with 63 per cent, TalkTalk had 59 per cent, and Virgin Media had just 53 per cent customer satisfaction. A total of 25 per cent said they were neutral.

Sky’s broadband services did not fare well, with just 64 per cent of its customers saying they were satisfied.

But the company, which has more than ten million customers in the UK, still came out above its competitors in the market, with Orange coming in second at 59 per cent, BT and Virgin Media joint third at 57 per cent, and TalkTalk/Tiscali last at 55 per cent.

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Ofcom said that almost three-quarters of Orange, O2 and T-Mobile customers reported they were satisfied with their mobile phone service.

Vodafone, Virgin Mobile and Three trailed behind, with 66 per cent, 62 per cent and 60 per cent saying they were satisfied respectively.

Ofcom also found that when it came to paid for TV customers, 70 per cent of those using Sky said they were satisfied, with only 62 per cent of Virgin Media customers reporting the same.

The research came about after thousands of consumers were interviewed in September and asked to rate their customer service experience if they had contacted their provider in the previous three months.

The research covered customer service satisfaction for those providers with a market share of four per cent or more.

A spokesman for Orange Mobile said: “We are clearly really pleased with the findings of the Ofcom report, which sees us rank in joint first place for overall customer satisfaction – a position we share with our sister company T-Mobile.”