Some might say that the humble home phone has had its day, as many of us now opt for the convenience of mobiles to keep in touch instead.
That said, we still need a landline to receive broadband in our homes (unless you live in a Virgin Media fibre-optic area), so most internet bundles come with one as standard.
But which providers should you go for and which should you avoid?
While price is obviously a key concern, reliability and the quality of service you can expect to receive should also be front of mind.
Before we look into the latest customer complaint trends from Ofcom, it’s important to flag that these figures only reflect the complaints escalated by customers to the telecoms regulator when the provider has failed to resolve the issue.
So, while these figures may look low, the total number of complaints filed with each provider will likely be far higher.
You can compare broadband, phone and pay TV deals with Sky, or ditch the landline and compare mobile deals with Carphone Warehouse.
Worst landline providers
Ofcom's latest data looks at all complaints received between the three months between January and March 2023, so it won't cover any recent major issues or faults that customers might have endured.
The report revealed that TalkTalk was the company that generated the most complaints.
Its total of 13 complaints per 100,000 customers is almost double the industry average of 7.
According to the regulator, the most common issues raised by TalkTalk customers were poor service problems (31%), complaints handling (21%) and billing issues (19%).
Best landline providers
At the other end of the scale, Sky was the landline provider with the lowest number of complaints at three per 100,000 customers.
You can compare broadband, phone and pay TV deals with Sky here, or ditch the landline and compare mobile deals with Carphone Warehouse.
EE wasn't far behind with five per 100,000, while Now Broadband (six) was the only other landline provider to come in under the industry average.
See below for the complete complaints league table, according to Ofcom.
So, there you have it, your round-up of the worst (and best) landline firms.
If you'd like to find out which firms topped the broadband complaints list then head this way, while this article will highlight the worst Pay TV providers.
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