Proactive Investors - Shell PLC (LON:SHEL), BT Group PLC (LON:BT) and Virgin Media O2 are among the most complained-about broadband, mobile and television providers, according to regulator Ofcom.
Shell’s 1.4mln-strong customer broadband wing, Shell Energy, faced the most complaints over broadband and landline coverage of any UK provider between October and December, Ofgem said on Thursday.
Out of 100,000 customers, 27 and 25 complained to Ofgem over Shell’s broadband and landline coverage respectively, mainly due to faults, compared to the industry average of just 11 and 6 for each.
Vodafone (LON:VOD), TalkTalk and Virgin Media featured as the three following most complained about among broadband and landline customers, each again sitting above the industry average.
BT sat as the most complained-over mobile provider, with 4 in 100,000 customers querying Ofcom, compared to the average of just 2.
Virgin Media, which was also the most issue-struck paid-TV provider and was accused of overcharging customers just last week, faced more complaints than average over its mobile coverage, alongside O2.
Though many of these were related to faults and issues with service, “the main reason customers complained to Ofcom about Virgin Media was due to complaints handling,” the regulator said.
Ofcom also received complaints from customers struggling to change providers and from some facing issues over billings, with Sky customers the least vocal overall in each category.
Share in Vodafone, which has suffered outages in recent weeks, fell 1.4% following the news, while Shell slipped 1.6%.
BT shares climbed 1.2% meanwhile, with the report finding complaints over its market share-leading broadband and landline wings hovered around the industry averages.