TalkTalk still most complained about telecoms provider

The media regulator's most recent quarterly data, compiled between September and December 2011, shows that Ofcom received 0.78 complaints about TalkTalk’s landline coverage per 1,000 customers.

This number is up slightly from the previous quarter, when it received 0.77 complaints per 1,000 customers from the telecoms provider.

Ofcom received 0.61 complaints per 1,000 customers in regards to TalkTalk’s broadband coverage, up from 0.55 the previous quarter.

Ofcom said the complaints were largely related to billing and customer service..

The TalkTalk figures are well down from a year ago, when it received 1.78 complaints per 1,000 customers for its fixed-line service, and 1.27 complaints per 1,000 customers for its broadband service, attracted between October 2010 and February 2011.

Orange also saw an increase in the number of complaints about its broadband coverage, at 0.48 per 1,000 customers.

BT Retail, which reduced the number of complaints it received, it is still the second-most complained about broadband provider after TalkTalk.

Virgin Media and Sky were the least complained about telecoms providers. Virgin received 0.18 complaints per 1,000 customers, for broadband and landline services.

Sky received the lowest amount of complaints for broadband at 0.17 complaints per 1,000 customers and 0.24 complaints per 1,000 customers for landline services.

At the end of last year, it emerged that TalkTalk lost 70,000 broadband customers over the six months to the end of September. The company also received a £3m fine from Ofcom last year for having incorrectly billed customers for services they did not receive.

A TalkTalk spokesperson said : "We’re pleased that Ofcom saw less than half as many complaints about our broadband service than this time last year.

"While there will always be variations in the quarterly data, we are confident that the long-term trend is positive – fewer complaints, more calls being resolved first time and improving customer service. There is more work to do, but we are confident that the measures we’ve put in place are paying dividends."

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Fixed line complaints per 1,000 customers/connections, Oct-Dec 2011

Fixed broadband complaints per 1,000 customers/connections, Oct-Dec 2011

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk