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How do I complain about my broadband provider?

Our Broadband Expert says...

Telecoms regulator Ofcom receives around 450 complaints about broadband, home phone and mobile providers every day. Complaints cover a wide range of issues from mis-selling and billing errors to a lack of service and customer service problems.

So if you're experiencing problems with your provider, you don’t have to suffer in silence - there are a number of official avenues you can follow to give your complaint a bit more weight.

How to complain

Although Ofcom doesn’t deal with individual complaints from consumers, it does offer advice on how to take your complaints further.

But before you try to do this, you should attempt to resolve the problem with your broadband provider directly. Contact the customer service department, preferably by phone, and talk to them to see if you can get the problem fixed.

If you're unable to get in touch by phone, you might be able to do so online by email, or send a letter or even a fax, says Ofcom.

It’s in your supplier’s best interests to solve any customer problems as quickly as possible, but if it says that it cannot or will not resolve the issue, then it is time to make a complaint.

Tell your provider that you want your complaint looked at in accordance with its formal complaints procedure.

Ofcom says that all telecoms providers must have an official complaints procedure that you should be able to find in its code of practice.

Alternative Dispute Resolution schemes

If at least eight weeks have passed with no resolution since you made your complaint, you can take it further by going to an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme.

You can also complain if you have received a “deadlock letter” from your supplier, stating that it cannot reach an agreement with you.

Ofcom approves two ADR schemes:

• Cisas
• Ombudsman Services: Communications (formerly Otelo)

All broadband providers must be a member of one of these bodies.

ADR schemes are free to use for consumers, and if Cisas or the Ombudsman Services agree with your complaint, it can force your provider to fix the problem or even award you compensation.

Which ADR should I complain to?

Ask your provider which ADR scheme it is a member of. If it refuses to tell you, you should contact Ofcom on 0300 123 3333.

You can also visit the Ofcom website for a full list of which telecoms provider is signed up to which ADR scheme, so that you know who you need to complain to.

Complaining to Ofcom

Even though Ofcom doesn’t deal directly with consumer complaints, it does encourage disgruntled customers to fill out monitoring forms. It says: “The information you provide will help us monitor consumer issues, and could lead to us launching an investigation into a particular company.”

As well as alerting Ofcom to those providers that aren’t performing as well as they should be, this information also allows the regulator to name and shame the big providers that simply aren’t up to scratch.

The biggest culprits

Ofcom received more complaints about TalkTalk (www.Talktalk.co.uk) than any other provider between October 2010 and February 2011 with an average of 1.27 complaints to every 1,000 customers. This contrasted with 0.61 complaints for BT (www.BT.com), 0.39 for Sky broadband (www.Sky.com) and just 0.2 for Virgin Media (www.Virginmedia.com).

Ofcom said that it saw a peak in complaints about TalkTalk after it began an investigation into the company, which was wrongly billing customers for cancelled services. TalkTalk has apologised for the problems and says that the number of complaints has now started to fall.

Ed Richards, Ofcom chief executive, says: “Consumers should have access to as much information as possible to allow them to choose between providers and to take full advantage of the competition in the sector.

“By publishing complaints data, Ofcom aims to provide useful information to consumers, and also to give telecoms providers an incentive to improve their customer service.”

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