Charity helps consumer with telecoms problem every three-and-a-half minutes

Citizens Advice helps a consumer with a telecoms problem every three-and-a-half minutes, the charity has revealed, just before millions of customers face price hikes.

The charity said almost 35,500 people contacted it for help with a mobile or broadband issue last year, more than double the amount in 2020.

UK consumers had more issues they wanted to complain about with mobile and broadband providers (16%) than in any other essential services market, including energy (12%), postal services (9%), water (5%) or financial services (4%).

Technical issues were the most common problem in relation to mobile and broadband, at 21% of complaints, including damaged or faulty equipment, service outages and poor connection.

The charity found these problems often escalated, and in some cases left the consumer liable to pay for a service they had not received.

Billing problems made up 20% of complaints, with the consumer sometimes only realising they were receiving the wrong service or paying the wrong amount when their bill arrived – which by then meant they were past their cooling-off period and liable for termination fees.

Customers often contacted the charity when they realised they were paying more than new customers for the same service – known as the loyalty penalty.

Issues with cancelling – making up 14% of problems – included some consumers being charged a termination fee when they were still in their contract’s cooling-off period, and when the devices given to them were faulty.

More than one in eight people who contacted the Citizens Advice helpline with a telecoms issue had been targeted by a scam, suffering an average financial loss of £700.

Just over a tenth of issues were from consumers complaining about providers’ sales practices, such as facing a lack of pricing clarity, being directed to the wrong offer or given incorrect information.

Tom MacInnes, director of policy at Citizens Advice, said: “Clearly consumers are facing significant hurdles in this industry, but without a watchdog or advocate they’ve no way of making their voices heard.

“We see the fallout from this, with consumers coming to us every three-and-a-half minutes for help with telecoms issues.

“What we hear shows how urgently a statutory body to represent consumers is needed. There will be benefits for providers too, decreasing the number of issues which escalate unnecessarily, and result in people cancelling their contracts.”

Price hikes totalling £74 million per month are set to hit broadband and mobile customers from March 31, according to comparison and switching site Uswitch.

The April broadband increases are expected to add an average of £21.99 annually for those on inflation-linked contracts and up to £42 a year for those on newer “pounds and pence” plans that are subject to fixed price rises set by the provider at the start of their contract.

Price rises will add an average of £15.90 a year to the bills of mobile customers on inflation-linked contracts or up to £48 for those who took out a contract more recently with Ofcom’s new “pounds and pence” rule applied.