BT has topped the tables for most-complained-about provider of both fixed line broadband and pay-TV in late 2013.
Ofcom’s latest report on customer complaints puts BT in the broadband doghouse for the first time, although it’s had that distinction in TV since 2011 with little improvement.
BT blamed its continued haul of customer complaints on growing pains: it’s the UK’s fastest-growing broadband and pay-TV provider, and has promised to do better.
Libby Barr, BT Consumer’s managing director of customer service, said: “BT is disappointed with the results in broadband and TV, despite the fact that we’ve improved from last quarter.
“BT is the fastest growing business by far in the UK for both pay TV and broadband, and as we process more transactions we have unfortunately suffered more disruption than companies with static or declining customer bases.
“Customers are voting with their feet to join BT in unprecedented numbers and BT is investing heavily to improve our service. We have hired 2,000 extra engineers and are bringing jobs back to the UK and investing in new systems and processes.”
Broadband: even EE isn’t this unpopular with its own users
With 32 complaints for every 100,000 customers during the last three months of 2013, BT beat EE (with 29 moans for every 100,000) for the first time since 2012.
Most of BT’s unhappy customers had problems with service faults and the handling of their complaints by the UK’s biggest broadband provider, Ofcom said.
The rate is an improvement on BT’s nadir of 41 complaints per 100,000 in Q3 2013, but no better than BT has managed to deliver since 2011.
TalkTalk stood below-average at 21 complaints per 100,000, while Sky (8/100,000) and Virgin Media (7/100,000) are sitting pretty.
Pay-TV: BT has a long way to go
The common factor for the pay-TV providers attracting the most complaints is their technical platform: YouView.
With more than four per cent of the market, TalkTalk entered the TV complaints league for this report, but still came second to BT.
BT’s 31 complaints for every 100,000 customers was significantly worse than TalkTalk’s 19 complaints, and Ofcom said service faults and billing were to blame for most of BT’s woes.
It’s an improvement on the 55 complaints per 100,000 that BT was getting in the previous quarter, but BT TV has attracted at least five times the user whinges of its competitors.
Sky remains in the lead with just two complaints per 100,000, while four in every 100,000 Virgin Media TV subscribers reported problems.
Main image: Flickr/velkr0
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