Vodafone tops customer complaints in Ofcom quarterly report

EE and Talk Mobile also above industry average while Tesco Mobile was least complained about network for fourth consecutive quarter

Vodafone was the most complained about mobile network during the first three months of 2015 according to figures released by Ofcom.

The operator received 0.14 complaints per thousand customers between January and March, less than in the final three months of 2014 (0.15 per thousand) but significantly more than second worst Talk mobile, who received 0.11 complaints per customer.

EE was also above the industry average of 0.08 complaints with 0.10 per thousand customers but this was an improvement on Q4 2014 (0.12 complaints per thousand customers) and is significantly less than its Q2 2013 peak of 0.19 complaints per thousand customers.

Tesco Mobile was once again the least complained about provider with 0.01 complaints per thousand customers, while Three and O2 tied as the least complained about of the big four with 0.03 complaints each.

Ofcom director of content and consumer group Claudio Pollack said: “Publishing provider-specific complaints data is one way we’re able to help consumers make informed choices about the services on offer to them.

“The reduction in the total volume of complaints is welcome, but there is still room for providers to improve their performance. This report is one of a number of ways we seek to give providers incentive to address areas of customer dissatisfaction.”. 

Broadband complaints

Despite falling complaint numbers across mobile, the results were not all positive for EE who were once again the most complained about broadband provider with 0.51 complaints per thousand customers, almost twice as many as TalkTalk who was the second most complained about with 0.26 complaints.

The quarter saw a significant rise in complaints for EE (from 0.42 per thousand customers in Q4 2014), who has been the most complained about broadband provider for all but one quarter (Q4 2013) for the last two years.

EE was also the most complained about landline provider for the fourth quarter in a row.

An EE spokesperson said: “Our Customer Service Improvement programme is producing positive results but we know there is more work to do.

“We’re very pleased the number of mobile complaints has fallen significantly and we expect to reflect this downward trend in complaints across landline and broadband. Our aim is to offer every customer the best possible service.”