New research published by Ofcom  highlights which phone and broadband companies are setting the industry standard for good customer service.

The regulator’s annual customer service report, looks at how each of the major telecoms providers performed last year on measures including customer complaints received, value for money and overall customer satisfaction.

It offers an independent insight into what level of service phone and broadband customers can expect, helping them shop around for a provider that meets their needs. The data is based on how companies performed up to January 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded.

Which broadband companies have the most satisfied customers?

Average satisfaction with overall home broadband service was 85 per cent. For BT overall satisfaction stood at 86 per cent, for EE it was 88 per cent, Plusnet 93 per cent, Sky 86 per cent, TalkTalk 78 per cent and Virgin Media 85 per cent. Average satisfaction with reliability of service stood at 83 per cent, with BT at 86 per cent, EE at 87 per cent, Plusnet 85 per cent, Sky 84 per cent, TalkTalk 75 per cent, and Virgin Media 85 per cent. Average satisfaction with speed of service was 82 per cent. BT was at 84 per cent, EE at 85 per cent, Plusnet 82 per cent, Sky 80 per cent, TalkTalk 76 per cent, and Virgin Media 85 per cent.

Overall, 85 per cent of broadband customers say they are satisfied with their service.

Twelve per cent of broadband customers say they had a reason to complain about their service or provider, in line with 2018 – although people were more likely to be happy with how their complaints were handled than in 2018 (up to 53% from 49% in 2018).

Plusnet customers reported higher than average overall satisfaction with their broadband service. This is despite having to wait longer than average for their calls to be answered.

TalkTalk customers were less likely than average to be satisfied with their overall service and with the reliability of their service. They were also less likely than average to recommend their provider to a friend, and less likely than average to be satisfied with how their complaint was handled. Virgin Media customers had to wait the longest for their calls to be answered (4 minutes 26 seconds on average) and were the also less likely than average to be satisfied with how their complaint was handled.

Which mobile companies have the most satisfied customers?

Average satisfaction with overall mobile service stood at 93 per cent. Satisfaction with reception or signal strength was at 85 per cent, while value for money was 87 per cent. Satisfaction with EE based on this criteria was 93 per cent, 84 per cent and 84 per cent respectively; with giffgaff it was 95 per cent, 86 per cent and 96 per cent; with O2 it was 93 per cent, 85 per cent and 87 per cent; with Tesco Mobile it was 97 per cent, 92 per cent and 97 per cent; with Three it was 89 per cent, 75 per cent and 87 per cent; with Virgin Media it was 93 per cent, 84 per cent and no rating given for value for money; and finally with Vodafone it was 90 per cent, 89 per cent and 83 per cent.

Overall, more than nine in 10 customers say they are satisfied with their mobile phone service, with only 3 per cent of customers saying they had a reason to complain (down by one percentage point since 2018).

Tesco Mobile customers reported higher than average levels of overall satisfaction and were more likely than average to recommend their provider to a friend. Tesco Mobile customers also reported higher than average satisfaction with reception and value for money.

Three customers were less likely than average to be satisfied overall and less likely than average to recommend their provider to a friend; they also had the longest average call waiting times and were less likely than average to be satisfied with their reception.

Which home phone companies have the most satisfied customers?

Average satisfaction with overall landline service stood at 85 per cent. BT was at 90 per cent, EE at 82 per cent, Plusnet at 83 per cent, Sky at 88 per cent, TalkTalk at 83 per cent, and Virgin Media at 77 per cent. Average satisfaction with reliability of landline service was 89 per cent. BT was at 93 per cent, EE at 83 per cent, Plusnet was also at 83 per cent, Sky at 89 per cent, TalkTalk at 86 per cent, and Virgin Media at 85 per cent.

Overall, more than eight in 10 customers say they are satisfied with their landline service. Only 4 per cent of landline customers say they had a reason to complain, an increase of one percentage point since 2018.

BT customers reported higher than average levels of satisfaction with the reliability of their landline service and higher satisfaction overall. While Virgin Media customers reported lower than average levels of overall satisfaction and also experienced the longest average call waiting times.

Consumer Group Director at Ofcom, Lindsey Fussell said: “Checking the quality of a phone or broadband provider’s customer service can be the difference between you signing up to a company that keeps you connected, or one that falls short.”

“Our research helps people to easily compare how providers perform on customer service, so they can choose the one that’s best for them.”

Automatic compensation update

Alongside today’s report, we’ve also published the findings from a review of our automatic compensation scheme. The voluntary scheme was introduced in April last year to ensure that, when things go wrong, people get money back from their provider without having to ask for it.

The scheme works like this:

Table illustrating the problems that would entitle a landline or broadband customer to compensation, and the amount of compensation they should receive.

Between July and December 2019, our automatic compensation scheme saw over £20.7 million(US$27.10million) paid out to broadband and landline customers who experienced problems with their services. This is more than double the £8m we estimated was paid out over an equivalent six-month period before the scheme was in place.

The following providers are currently part of the scheme:

BT

Sky

Talk Talk

Virgin Media

Zen Internet

Hyperoptic

Utility Warehouse

We strongly urge other providers to join the scheme to ensure that as many customers as possible can receive compensation when things go wrong.

Participating companies in the scheme have now committed to annual increases in compensation in-line with inflation (CPI) from April 2021. That means that people will continue to receive a fair amount in compensation when things go wrong. We will continue to monitor how the scheme is operating to make sure customers are being treated fairly.

Temporary licences for radio services in areas subject to local lockdown restrictions

Temporary radio stations providing news and information about the coronavirus pandemic have the option to continue to broadcast beyond 5 September, in areas which are subject to additional lockdown restrictions.

Ofcom introduced the new temporary COVID-19 “short-term restricted service licence” (SRSL) at the start of lockdown in March. Licences were granted to stations to broadcast temporarily during the pandemic.

Recently the UK Government has moved to introduce localised lockdown measures to help control the spread of the virus. Radio services holding temporary COVID-19 SRSLs in affected areas will be able to extend their licences to continue to provide important services to local people. The extended period will be sixty days.

Ofcom will continue to accept applications from new applicants for this type of licence, if the area they wish to serve has additional restrictions in place.