Vodafone claims the number of complaints were due to a technical hitch when transferring customers to a new billing system
The number of complaints Vodafone received from customers has more than doubled over the course of a year, according to Ofcom’s latest Telecoms and Pay TV Complaints report.
The figures published today (March 30) cover data for complaints recorded in Q4 last year. This is Ofcom’s twentieth quarterly report. It includes complaints from customers about fixed line, broadband, pay TV and mobile providers.
Vodafone was the most complained about mobile network with 32 complaints per 100,000 customers. This is more than double the number of complaints it received for the same period in 2014 (14 per 100,000). Vodafone has been named the most complained about provider in Ofcom’s report for the fifth quarter running. A network spokesperson claimed the number of complaints were largely due to problems switching customers onto a new billing system last year.
They said: “The points highlighted in this report largely relate to a major programme we undertook last year to transfer customers onto a new billing system, aimed at simplifying the operation of their accounts and opening up a range of better services, such as “click and collect”. Unfortunately, there were some problems during the highly complex migration.
“We are working hard to improve our customers’ experience and more recent data is showing an improvement. Due to new processes we have put into place, helped by significant additional call centre resources, we believe that customers will continue to see further improvements over the coming months.”
Other providers received fewer than 10 complaints per 100,000 customers. Talk Mobile only had nine per 100,000, with EE (7), Virgin Mobile (5), Three (3), O2 (3) and Tesco (1) following.
Broadband
TalkTalk was the most complained about for fixed-line services with 30 complaints per 100,000 customers. EE and PlusNet followed with 25 complaints per 100,000 customers each.
Mobile broadband saw EE take the crown for most complaints. The network received 34 complaints per 100,000 customers. Plusnet (32) and TalkTalk (31) trailed behind. EE’s figure does represent a decline from 51 complaints per 100,000 customers in Q1 2015, however.
An EE spokesperson said: “We’re pleased to see the positive progress we’ve made with customer service since Ofcom’s previous report.
“However, while complaints have reduced by over 20 per cent, there is still work to be done to improve our landline and broadband service. Last year we introduced a broadband service improvement programme including 500 new UK roles to help provide better service. We will continue to invest, increasing the number of customer service agents for broadband and improving our systems to meet our ambition of becoming number one for service in the industry.”
