Hanging on the telephone?  Ofcom report shows longer customer wait times

Ofcom has today (18 May 2023) released the results of its latest annual customer satisfaction survey for telecoms providers

One in five broadband customers (20%), and around one in ten (12%) mobile customers, said they had a reason to complain about their service or provider in 2022.

Participants in the Ofcom research identified the call centre experience as a key element of the complaints process. Specifically, call waiting times, getting through to the right person quickly and dealing with the complaint.

Today BT, announced that it will get rid of between 40,000 and 55,000 jobs by 2030. Ofcom statistics show that call wait times have gone up from an average of 1:46 minutes in 2021 to 2:45 minutes in 2022.

On 16 May, Vodafone announced that it will be axing 11,000 jobs over the next three years. Its waiting times have gone up from 2:30 minutes in 2021 to 3:19 minutes, an increase of 33%.

In 2019 the average hold time for calls about mobiles was 1:18 minutes

In 2020 it was 2:07 minutes

In 2021 it was 2:15 minutes

In 2022 it was 2:23 minutes

I think these companies should be redeploying staff to their customer service teams. Clearly there are already insufficient staff in these call centres, if customers are waiting longer to get through. And, let’s not forget, these are only averages, some people are waiting much longer.

Even when customers finally get through, between 13% and 15% said that they were dissatisfied with the outcome.

Average satisfaction levels were at 77% for landline, 82% for broadband and 87% for mobile providers.

Ofcom has been saying for years that telecom companies need to improve their customer service but nothing has happened. We need to see the regulator taking decisive action, such as fining providers who give unacceptable levels of service.

The last time Ofcom fined a company for complaint handling was eight years ago, in 2015.

 

How to complain to your telecoms company

As always, I advise putting complaints in writing. “This way you always have the evidence should you take the matter further. Some companies will make it very difficult for you to contact customer services in this way. However you can get the CEO’s email address from ceoemail.com. Even if the CEO does not handle the complaint directly, it does get the complaint into the escalated system, with an evidence trail.

If you cannot get the matter resolved to your satisfaction, ask for a deadlock letter. If your complaint has been going on for more than 8 weeks from when you first contacted the provider you do not need the letter. You can just take the matter to the Communication Ombudsman or CISAS (your provider must be a member of one of these). They will make a decision on your case and the telecoms provider must abide by the ruling.

Further help with complaining about telecom providers

 

How to complain effectively to telecom providers links to various posts regarding mobile, broadband, telecoms…

 

 

 

 

 

And for everything else to complain about effectively GET THE BOOK! How To Complain: The ESSENTIAL Consumer Guide to Getting REFUNDS, Redress and RESULTS!

 

 

 

 

 

Want to get better at complaining? See 101 Habits of an Effective Complainer.

 

 

 

 

Save yourself time and effort finding the laws and wording a letter of complaint. Download a template, fill in your details and get that redress

Purchase downloadable templates to gain redress.

 

 

 

 

 

101 Habits of an Effective Complainer to help you become more skilled and assertive when making complaints