Broadband provider deliberately prevented customers from cancelling contracts
Ofcom has issued one of its largest ever penalties for “direct harm to consumers”, fining Virgin Media £28 million for deliberately blocking customers who wished to cancel contracts.
The telecoms regulator launched the investigation on 13 July 2023 and announced the results today, 8 July 2026, a three-year-long enquiry. The fine, the third largest ever imposed by Ofcom for “direct harm to consumers”, goes directly to the Treasury. In addition, Virgin Media must compensate affected customers.
Although O2 is part of Virgin Media, its customers were not affected. The abusive behaviour took place prior to the VM/O2 merger.
Talking about the Virgin Media fine in the media
I was on Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2 talking about Virgin Media and the fine. Listen in from 37 minutes. (I was also on other radio stations and Channel 5 News! I am regularly in the media discussing consumer issues see Helen Dewdney – Consumer Rights Expert & Media Commentator.
Deliberate mishandling
Ofcom found that Virgin Media deliberately mishandled customer calls regarding cancellations between January 2022 and September 2024.
Ofcom’s report “Investigation into Virgin Media’s compliance with contract termination and complaints handling rules” states that Virgin Media created procedures and processes to prevent customers from cancelling their contracts.
Abusive tactics included:
“a. repeated attempts to try to retain customers including by offering deals and discounts, when they had made it clear they wanted to cancel.
b. unnecessary and/or excessive transfers to agents in departments outside of the retention team.
c. excessive and/or repeated use of hold (in each case, where it was not necessary and/or used to delay or avoid a disconnection).
d. deliberately dropping calls.
e. failures to put through cancellations on the system”.
There were failures in training and guidance to prevent this behaviour, with “highly selective” and “narrow” quality assurance and monitoring processes. Ofcom noted that Virgin Media had “insufficient control, visibility and/or oversight” over its third party call centre partners.
Shockingly, Ofcom also uncovered a Virgin Media commission scheme which actively rewarded staff for making it harder for customers to leave.
It also found that some customers became so frustrated that they cancelled their Direct Debits which in some cases negatively impacted their credit scores.
Remedies
Ofcom said that millions of calls had been mishandled and that it required Virgin Media “to check that every affected customer who complained has received the compensation or other remedies they were entitled to. The company must complete this in six months.”
However, when I contacted Virgin Media to see how they would be doing this, it provided a generic statement regarding improvement it had made and stated:
We’ve always had an effective complaints procedure and have investigated and resolved every formal complaint we received over this period, and those made to Ofcom, providing redress where appropriate.”
I asked Ofcom for clarity. Its Press Office told me that Virgin Media has said it had reviewed complaints from customers who complained directly and to Ofcom. The broadband company had offered redress where appropriate.
Its decision includes a requirement for Virgin Media to report to Ofcom within 6 months to confirm that it has taken steps to ensure that all complainants affected received appropriate redress for any detriment caused.
When I asked Virgin Media again about specific examples, they replied:
The specific resolution will have varied from customer to customer depending on the circumstances, but the key point is that all complaints were resolved to the customer’s satisfaction and have since been closed down. There are none outstanding.”
So, if you have ever tried to cancel a Virgin Media contract and you put in a complaint and you have not heard from them, write to complain and notify Ofcom.
If you had difficulty cancelling but did not put in a complaint at the time, make one now to get the redress you deserve. You can also make a Subject Access Request (SAR) to get all the information that acompany holds on you. This will give you the evidence for the number of times you contacted them, etc.
You can also email the Virgin Media CEO office. The CEO will not respond personally but it does get the complaint to the Escalation team.
Follow the Top 20 Tips to complain effectively.
There is no set deadline for making this complaint. If you do not receive a satisfactory response then ask for a “deadlock letter”. If it is more than 6 weeks since you sent your complaint you can go to the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) provider. Currently this is CISAS. However, do check because last year Virgin Media’s ADR provider changed from CISAS to the Communications Ombudsman and then back again this year!
(Note that the 8 weeks was reduced to 6 weeks in April 2026).
Why email rather than phone? See my article Why you should write not ‘phone to complain effectively.
Question to Ofcom
I asked Ofcom if they knew whether Virgin Media has made additional revenue through this behaviour and, if so, what amount?
Ofcom’s Press Office told me that it was difficult to know exactly how much customers were losing or how much Virgin Media gained. But from the calls and complaints directly to its contact centre, the regulator knows that there was a serious scale of harm, including instances of customers losing hundreds of pounds.
Ofcom will not investigate individual complaints. However, you can report issues with your provider at https://www.ofcom.org.uk/make-a-complaint
If it identifies a pattern of problems or widespread non-compliance, it can investigate and take enforcement action.
For example, Ofcom received 1881 complaints from Virgin Media customers who reported difficulties with cancelling. Ofcom’s analysis established that at least 649 of these related to “the two-tier system and/or the behaviours detailed above”.
One Touch Switch
In September 2024 Ofcom announced the One Touch Switch process which means that you can contact the new provider and they will arrange the switch. This process takes up to 6 weeks and is for broadband and mobile contracts. For most broadband companies this means that you won’t have to contact your current provider.
It is worth trying to haggle before you move, though.
See my article How to haggle to save the most money.
Below is a clip of when I was on Alexis Show on Channel 5. I am regularly in the media discussing consumer issues see Helen Dewdney – Consumer Rights Expert & Media Commentator.
How to haggle masterclass
Contract Summary
Under Ofcom rules, contracts must be fair and transparent and you should receive a one-page (three page for bundled services) “Contract Summary” in writing. The summary must include all the key information, such as charges, length of contract and the cancellation process.
If you have had problems with a contract, you can contact Ofcom by filling out a short monitoring form. If they collect a large number of complaints about the same provide, they may then decide to investigate.
If you had difficulty cancelling but did not put in a complaint at the time, make one now to get the redress you deserve. You can also make a Subject Access Request (SAR) to get all the information that a company holds on you. This will give you the evidence for the number of times you contacted them, etc.
You can also email the Virgin Media CEO office. The CEO will not respond personally but it does get the complaint to the Escalation team.
Follow the Top 20 Tips to complain effectively.
There is no deadline set for making this complaint. If you do not receive a satisfactory response then ask for a deadlock letter or if more than 6 weeks since you sent your complaint you can go to the Alternative Dispute Resolution provider. Currently this is CISAS. However, do check because last year they changed from CISAS to the Communications Ombudsman and back again this year!
(Note that the 8 weeks was reduced to 6 weeks in April 2026).
Why email rather than phone? See my article Why you should write not ‘phone to complain effectively.
Virgin Media profit
The fact that Virgin Media did not engage in the process might suggest that they thought they were better off letting the practices continue in the risk assessment believing that any fine would be less than the profit that were making?!
I asked Ofcom if they knew how much Virgin Media profited by and how it identified how much profit it had made from these practices. How did Ofcom make sure that this was not the case?
Ofcom Press Office told me that it was hard to know exactly how much people were left out of pocket by, or how much Virgin Media profited by. But from the calls and complaints directly to its contact centre, it knows that there was a serious scale of harm, including a few instances of customers losing hundreds of pounds.
Ofcom investigations
Ofcom will not investigate individual complaints. However you can report issues with your provider at https://www.ofcom.org.uk/make-a-complaint If it identifies a pattern of problems or widespread non-compliance, it can investigate a provider and take enforcement action.
For example, Ofcom received 1881 complaints from Virgin Media customers who reported experiencing difficulties cancelling. Ofcom’s analysis established that at least 649 of these related to the two-tier system and/or the behaviours detailed above.
Further help with complaining about broadband companies
For more help see How to save money on and complain about telecom providers for various posts regarding complaint issues.
For more consumer rights advice, tips, information, real examples and template letters 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
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