The UK's worst mobile phone provider
Telecoms watchdog Ofcom reveals that Vodafone and BT are the most complained about mobile providers in the UK.
Vodafone and BT are the most complained about mobile phone companies in the UK, new figures from Ofcom have revealed.
The watchdog said that they both received 11 complaints per 100,000 customers between April and June 2017.
It's BT's first appearance in the pay monthly mobile report, but it doesn't seem to be making a good impression.
Gripes about the firms were driven by complaints handling, followed by issues around billing, prices and charges. Changing provider proved to be an issue for Vodafone while faults, service and provision riled up BT customers.
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Ofcom complaint figures
Ofcom publishes data on the number of complaints it receives about each of the big telecoms providers, including mobile phone networks, each quarter.
These are its results for pay monthly mobile phone providers from the most recent report from the first quarter of 2017.
|
Provider |
Complaints per 100,000 customers Q2 2016 |
Complaints per 100,000 customers Q3 2016 |
Complaints per 100,000 customers Q4 2016 |
Complaints per 100,000 customers Q1 2017 | Complaints per 100,000 customers Q2 2017 |
|
23 |
18 |
24 |
17 | 11 | |
| N/A | N/A | N/A | 14 | 11 | |
|
N/A |
6 |
8 |
8 | 9 | |
|
4 |
8 |
8 |
8 | 7 | |
|
4 |
5 |
4 |
3 | 3 | |
|
3 |
3 |
4 |
4 | 3 | |
|
2 |
3 |
3 |
4 | 3 | |
|
1 |
1 |
<0.5 |
<0.5 | 1 | |
|
Industry average |
7 |
6 |
7 |
6 | 5 |
Vodafone, BT, TalkTalk and Virgin Mobile all had above average complaints levels.
At the other end of the scale, EE, Three, O2 and Tesco Mobile received below average complaints.
Mobile coverage
Practically speaking, the most important thing to keep in mind when buying any mobile phone is the coverage and reception of the handset and operator.
However, when it comes to comparing the best networks for this, the answer gets a little tricky as so much of signal strength depends on location.
The links below take you to each network’s coverage map or coverage checker so you can get a decent idea of what coverage you can expect.
Get paid cashback on your mobile bills
Some current accounts now pay cashback on a range of household bills, like your mobile phone contract.
You could save with the Santander 123 Current Account which gives you 3% a month and the NatWest Reward Account, which pays 2% every month.
For more read our guide to the best current accounts for cashback.
Find out which other providers you should be dodging by reading The UK’s worst pay TV provider, The UK's worst home phone provider and The UK’s best and worst broadband provider.
This article is regularly updated
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