Vodafone gets double the complaints of any mobile network

The latest customer service report from industry regulator Ofcom reveals Vodafone have the worst of all UK mobile networks – but they are getting better.

Vodafone has consistently topped the complaints rankings, reaching an embarrassing high in late 2015 and reaching another peak of complaints in late 2016, after news broke in October that Ofcom had fined Vodafone £4.6 million for “mis-selling, inaccurate billing and poor complaints handling procedures.”

Unsurprisingly Ofcom revealed that Vodafone’s recent complaints were still “mainly related to issues about billing, pricing and charges”, highlighting the network’s continued problems with this part of their business.

Ofcom’s June 2017 report shows Vodafone now has 17 complaints per 100,000 customers, down from 24 per 100,000 since Ofcom’s previous report, in March.

While this is a significant improvement, Vodafone still has over twice as many complaints than TalkTalk and Virgin Mobile, who each have 8 complaints per 100,000 customers and are tied for the second-highest amount of complaints.

EE and O2 are tied for third place, with half as many complaints again at just 4 per 100,000 customers.

This is a slight step down for O2, who have managed to gain 1 complaint per 100,000 since the March report and trade places with Three, who have lost 1 complaint to total 3 complaints per 100,000.

Once again, Tesco Mobile prove to have far-and-away the best customer service with just 0.5 complaints per 100,000 customers. This comes as no surprise as Tesco Mobile have sustained a long history of high customer satisfaction and low complaints numbers.

In spite of Vodafone’s persistent issues, overall customer satisfaction with mobile networks is significantly higher than both fixed-line broadband and landline telephone services.

On average, Ofcom only receives 6 complaints per 100,000 mobile customers, compared to 16 and 21 complaints per 100,000 for landline and broadband, respectively.

Ofcom’s Consumer Group Director, Lindsey Fussell, has again stressed that customer service and complaints handling should be a “number one priority” for all telecoms companies.