The UK's best and worst mobile phone providers
Tesco Mobile has the happiest customers, while Three and ID Mobile generated the joint-highest numbers of complaints, official figures show.
Tesco Mobile generated the fewest official complaints among pay-monthly customers, the latest quarterly figures from the telecoms watchdog have revealed.
At the other end of the table, Three and ID Mobile have replaced Virgin Mobile as the providers with the highest number of complaints.
According to Ofcom, the most common gripe among ID Mobile’s pay-monthly customers (37%) related to complaints handling, Three’s main complaint driver was issues related to billing, pricing and charges (30%).
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Best and worst: networks ranked
The graphic from Ofcom below highlights how all the major networks compare and covers the three months from October to December 2020, which are the latest figures available.
It's worth pointing out that, while the number of complaints appears low for all mobile providers, these are issues that customers have felt the need to escalate to Ofcom as they've been unable to get their issue resolved directly with their provider.
In other words, the actual number of complaints made directly to network providers will be much higher.
Best and worst mobile providers
Tesco generated just one official complaint per 100,000 customers, putting it top of the league.
Remarkably, no other mobile provider has generated a lower number of complaints than Tesco since the regulator Ofcom first added the company to its complaints league table back in 2014, so it could well be worth joining them if you're looking to switch deals soon.
Sky Mobile, EE and O2 were tied in second place with two complaints per 100,000 and were the only other providers to come in under the industry average of three per 100,000.
At the other end of the scale, ID Mobile and Three both generated six complaints per 100,000 meaning they shared last spot in the table.
Virgin Mobile had been the worst performer in the previous quarter, but it saw complaints nearly halve from nine-per-100,000 to five in the latest results, putting it on a similar level to Vodafone.
Which providers offer consistently good service?
Ofcom publishes data on the number of complaints it receives about each of the big telecoms providers, including mobile phone networks, each quarter.
Looking at such a short period can be unreliable – any provider can have a problem that takes a few months to fix, after all.
In order to give you a clearer picture of how the mobile network giants consistently fare, we've listed the complaints figures for the last six quarters in the table below.
If you're fed up with your provider, take a look at our pain-free guide to cancelling your contract then search for a new mobile phone deal on Carphone Warehouse or another comparison site.
Complaints per 100,000 customers over the last 18 months
|
Provider |
Q3 2019 |
Q4 2019 |
Q1 2020 |
Q2 2020 |
Q3 2020 |
Q4 2020 |
|
7 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
9 |
5 |
|
|
7 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
|
|
4 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
|
|
5 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
|
|
4 |
6 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
6 |
|
|
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
4 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
0.4 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Industry average |
4 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
Mobile coverage
Practically speaking, the most important thing to keep in mind when signing up for any phone contract is the coverage and reception offered by the operator (you can read how about the best networks for signal and speed here).
Ultimately, an extremely helpful call centre is of little use if you can't even phone them in the first place!
To make sure you don't live in a particular network's 'blackspot', the links below will take you to each network’s coverage map or coverage checker, so you can get a decent idea of the coverage you can expect where you live.
Finally, 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 providers.
Compare mobile phone deals at Carphone Warehouse
This article contains affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission on any sales of products or services we write about. This article was written completely independently.
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