Ofcom best and worst: TalkTalk, Three and Virgin Media come bottom for customer service satisfaction

However Tesco Mobile achieved the best scores for the mobile measures 

Ofcom has revealed the best and worst telecom firms for customer service in the UK, with TalkTalk ranking as the worst broadband supplier.

The regulator published its annual telecoms customer service satisfaction report for last year.

Three came bottom out of the mobile providers for overall service satisfaction, while Virgin Media propped up the list of landline telcos.

The report measured the major telecoms providers on customer complaints received, value for money and overall customer satisfaction.

All the data was based on how companies before up to January 2020, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Plusnet on top for broadband 

Overall 85 per cent of British broadband customers were satisfied with their overall service last year.

Plusnet achieved the highest satisfaction with 93 per cent, followed by EE (88pc), BT and Sky (both 86pc) and Virgin Media 85pc.

However TalkTalk was well below the average with its 78pc score. The telco also performed well below the satisfaction of reliability measure with 75pc, compared to the average 83pc.

Ofcom also revealed that broadband customers are likely to be more satisfied with how complaints are dealt with than in 2018. This satisfaction measure grew to 53pc, up from 49pc.

While the regulator revealed Virgin Media customers had the longest wait for their calls to be answered, with holding times being four minutes and 26 seconds on average.

Tesco Mobile success 

Meanwhile Tesco Mobile topped all three of the measures when it came to mobile satisfaction.

The MVNO achieved a score of 97pc for satisfaction of overall service and value for money, and was the operator most likely to be recommended to a friend.

Another MVNO, Giffgaff, also achieved a high satisfaction of overall service with 95pc, while EE, O2 and Virgin Media all hit 93pc.

Vodafone was just inline with the overall average of 90 per cent, with Three below the average in last place with 89pc.

Three also underachieved with the satisfaction of reception and signal strength, scoring just 75pc, with the average 85pc.

Landline

BT led the way for the landline providers with a score of 90pc, compared to last-placed Virgin Media’s 77pc.

BT also came out on top for satisfaction of reliability with a score of 93 per cent.

Overall only four per cent of landline customers said they cause to complain during 2019.

Commenting on the report Ofcom consumer group director 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.”