Complaints against UK service provider TalkTalk are declining, but the firm remains top of the list in terms of consumer dissatisfaction, figures from regulator Ofcom show.
TalkTalk is the most complained-about firm in fixed line telephony and fixed broadband provision, with 0.8 complaints per thousand customers in the former and 0.58 per thousand in the latter. The figures apply to the second quarter, and are averaged by the thousand to provide a level comparison regardless of a provider’s subscriber base.
While Ofcom notes TalkTalk has cut the number of complaints against it in each category - fixed telephony complaints stood at 1.12 per thousand in the first quarter, and broadband complaints 0.81 - the second quarter figures still see TalkTalk head and shoulders above the competition. BSkyB and BT, for example, each registered 0.25 complaints per thousand customers, and Virgin Media – making its first entry into Ofcom’s listing – 0.15.
The picture is the same in fixed broadband, however the gap to BT – the second most complained about firm – is smaller.
Ofcom’s figures cap a tough year for TalkTalk, which was fined €3.4 million by the regulator in August for sending the wrong bills to thousands of customers. Chief Dido Harding predicted it would be the last such fine, claiming the billing problems stemmed from work to integrate Tiscali customers acquired when TalkTalk took over its rival in 2009.
Three UK is the villain of the piece in mobile services, with 0.15 complaints per thousand customers in 2Q compared to 0.11 in 1Q. Orange is next with 0.07 complaints in the second quarter, with T-Mobile and Vodafone joint third with 0.06 complaints.