Orange customers unhappy with their broadband aren't alone, as the EE-owned ISP has taken over from TalkTalk as the most complained-about provider.
The news comes courtesy of Ofcom's quarterly report on complaints, and reveals that whinges to the watchdog among Orange customers from July-September were nearly twice as numerous as they were in the previous three-month period.
The spike in complaints seems to be down to the provider's decision to withdraw its offer of free broadband unless customers started forking out for line rental -- a move that left many customers understandably miffed.
"We are of course disappointed by these latest results," an EE spokesperson told me, "and will take on board the findings of the Ofcom report as we strive to offer our customers the best service at all times."
Orange isn't the only company shamed in the report, which singles out the infamous TalkTalk as the most hated pay-monthly phone network. TalkTalk also tops the landline chart, though the number of complaints has decreased by more than half over the last two years -- something Ofcom says is down to a reduction in billing-related gripes.
When it comes to pay TV, it's BT in the dog house, with 0.23 complaints to Ofcom per 1,000 customers -- a marginal decrease from last time, but still miles above the industry average figure. Ofcom says BT Vision's complaints were "partly driven by problems with service provision".
O2 was the least complained-about monthly phone network between July and September, despite a significant outage in July that infuriated many customers. Ofcom also said that overall complaints were "much lower" for pay TV and pay as you go phone services than they were for broadband, landlines and pay-monthly phone services.
Ofcom's results aren't a perfect indicator of service quality, as they only represent complaints submitted to Ofcom, and not gripes levelled at service providers directly. That said, peeking at the watchdog's charts you get a good idea of which companies are improving their service, and which are getting worse.
Check the report yourself to see how your providers stack up against the competition, and let me know if you've had trouble with your broadband, mobile or TV services in the comments below or on our Facebook wall.
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Comments 15
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CaptainPicard 18 December, 2012 19:21
TalkTalk is crap. My internet hasn't been working properly since June and no matter how many times I call them they never seem to solve the problem. And my contract phone is with Orange and my experience with them has been tumultuous. I don't care whether your Black or White or Asian, I dont care if your an Apple fanboy or a Fandroid or a Microsoft lover, please stay away from these money making scams.
billfred 18 December, 2012 22:19
@ CaptainPicard you're* sorry had to.
When I was with Orange I thought they were absolutely abismal.
My parents experience with TalkTalk has actually been very good, they've had them for years now.
anonymous 18 December, 2012 22:33
I am with orange and they are fantastic, just renewed, 3 months free, new latest router, anytime calls, unlimited broadband, line rental, all for £22-75 per month on 12 month contract, only pay for 9 months and free McAfee. It is the best there is, you don't get nothing for free which is why the people who did get it for free are now whining, orange are the best for price and quality.
CaptainPicard 18 December, 2012 22:37
Lol, for 5 years I've had the perfect service from TalkTalk, but this since June my internet has stopped working properly, and their call centers sent me round in circles. And I regret joining Orange, the only reason I joined them is because I thought I found a good deal, but now I'm tempted to pay hundreds of pounds to cancel the contact early.
CaptainPicard 18 December, 2012 22:41
You work for Orange anon 22:33??
CaptainPicard 18 December, 2012 22:46
Please read this everyone before you join Orange. I posted this on their Facebook wall but it magically disappeared!!
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-20567165
Peter Hudson 19 December, 2012 10:07
My parents were with TalkTalk for years, back when it was Tiscali. In recent months (around september time) the quality of the connection dropped so drastically that most of the time, they were unable to browse the web on more than one computer at a time. We complained to TalkTalk but all they did was offer to replace the filters we had. Ended up cancelling and switching to BT.
Meleagru 19 December, 2012 11:06
My personal experience with Virgin has been abysmall. After failing to find the proper address, twice and making me wait for one month, I finally got the message and went with Sky. Three on the other hand have been very helpful every time I needed something. They might not be the most fastest around when it comes to solving problems, but at least they make an effort and actually solve them. I was trying to reach a living person on a mate's T-Mobile phone and there was just no chance. Not to mention that they still haven't got round to release the JB update for S3 which is tantamount to being spat in the face.
Matt Winston. 19 December, 2012 12:29
Im on Three and all the stories about its customer service being crap are true. But the actual service is really good, Im glad I got unlimited data, which is really fast and always works. And Orange is crap, their deals are awful and I know many people on Orange and they regret joining them.
anonymous 19 December, 2012 15:47
Orange are completely abysmal, yet they seem so sacrosanct. Admittedly their data speeds are constantly decent if it doesn't rain (as that seems to reduce speed in my experience), however their customer service and their customer treatment is the worst I've experienced (far worse than Lyca). Lo and behold despite their woeful treatment, they want to over charge you any chance they get! Seriously avoid them, you have been warned!
anonymous 19 December, 2012 21:47
Im getting ready to go to Scotland and Kill whomever is charge of Sky fibre. 20 Days and still not working.
billfred 19 December, 2012 23:52
@Meleagru
Had exactly the opposite experience, had to sack Sky off and went with Virgin. Seriously, Sky were so terrible in pretty much every way possible.
billfred 19 December, 2012 23:53
@anonymous 19 December, 2012 15:47
In total agreement!
anonymous 20 December, 2012 10:09
I can confirm that Orange broadband is the worst customer experience I ever had. It was the cheapest internet broadband on offer, but it was not worth the price. It took them more than 2 months to connect us at all (with hours on a very incompetent helpline), it was really bad connection for the next 9 months, and then they cut us off one month before we moved out, because they say you should tell one month in advance if you want to cancel your contract, but when we called them and told them we are moving house next month on the 16th and want to cancel our contract for that time, they just replied "ok, your internet will get disconnected today around 4 pm, bye" *piep*piep*" - called again: "WE DID NOT WANT TO CANCEL OUR INTERNET TODAY, BUT NEXT MONTH!" - "ok, if you want to reconnect your internet, that will take at least another two weeks to process." ... argh, have I mentioned that because they cancelled our contract on the day we actually had to pay a little extra, because it was before the end of the 12 months minimum contract time.
anonymous 20 December, 2012 11:06
O god i feel sorry for you anonymous 20 December, 2012 10:09. but that shows how S*** they are.