Communications Ombudsman Reviews 935

Defeated
As i could not put my case across with details as mobile company would not supply paperwork as i requested still fighting mobile company had to threaten with ico

resolution was fast and the agent was super helpful.

Quick response times, listened to my complaint and when complainer tried to shut it down by saying a ticket was raised, she wouldn’t as she was aware this had been said to me several times before. My complaint was felt with fairly to both sides and issue resolved quickly that had taken months to try and resolve on my own. Great service and friendly

It was unnecessarily difficult to get in contact with the agent. They repeatedly called my number and hung up immediately upon my answering. When I promptly attempted to return the call, the agent never answered. Furthermore, my voicemails were repeatedly ignored, with the agent telling me this was because she had so many. Adding to the frustration, the agency swapped agents mid-complaint without telling me. In the end, the process was such a hassle that despite not being completely satisfied with the suggested solution, I just accepted it so the issue could finally be finished.

The representative I dealt with displayed absolutely zero communication skills and demonstrated a clear bias in favour of the supplier (Lebara). Despite multiple pieces of solid evidence supporting my case, he ignored critical information and hastily jumped to a conclusion without proper consideration.

No opportunity for appeal was provided, even though there were clear gaps and overlooked evidence in the decision. I emailed several times seeking clarification or a fair review, yet received no meaningful response. Instead, I was abruptly sent an email forcing me to either accept or reject the outcome, with no alternative or due process offered.

This felt like a forced decision, made with full knowledge that my only remaining option would be to take the matter to court. I am genuinely disappointed and disillusioned with an organisation that claims to support consumers but shows no empathy, fairness, or accountability toward clients who have already suffered due to supplier misconduct.

I work for an MP. I say this because the repeated failure of the agent to escalate a complaint to the Independent Assessor left me wondering how vulnerable members of the public cope with this service. It is not the role of case handlers to act as gatekeepers to this service, and we can only conclude that this was a deliberate attempt to suppress or manipulate complaint figures.

If this reflects a change of policy under Ed Dodsman’s leadership, then stakeholders should be informed without delay.

Dame Meg Hillier, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, recently remarked:

'The attempt to frustrate scrutiny ultimately proved unsuccessful. I hope this sends a clear message to any organisation considering similar action in future: we will have answers on behalf of the British public, whether senior officials attempt to block them or not.”
The communications ombudsman needs a thorough review from top to bottom.
As a further example of their lazy incompetence note the cut and paste responses they attach to every complaint.

Make sure that your grievance is dealt with by a real person. Too often you are fobbed off with repeated automated responses asking for the same information over and over again. Based upon my original experience I would have only awarded 2* but after speaking to David O'Hanlon I have no hesitation in awarding 5*

The communications ombudsman shoukd state clearly on its website that they do not actually deal with disability discrimination cases. By comms companies stating clients HAVE to refer complaints to the CO they are preventing customers from justice. CO are only interested in the fee they get for taking on the investigation not the fact that the client is left without the means of primary communication because of failure in service. Such cases are handled incompetently because the staff have no training and the CO is just there to delay such cases for the comms company and make the client victim ‘out of time’ for court action by delay after delay - and it is reprehensible that the CO financially benefit from discrimination cases time and time again. The staff are so badly trained that they don’t even know what accessible communication is and refuse reasonable adjustments for plain text communication.

**Cut and paste reply not even editied to my situation is an example of how little the CO care about you or your complaint. They just want the £250 you provide. Social Media shaming is the only thing they care about. 'Feedback' does not help.

Time wise it was very efficient but I always had the feeling the mobile operator would come out on top.The mobile operator didn't even have my surname correct yet this wasn't questioned by the Ombudsman.
Overall don't get too optimistic.

Very easy to use and the lady I spoke to was very helpful.Resolved my issue within 24hours after me spending months trying without success.

I came to the ombudsman in hopes of a fair outcome after years of problems with virgin media. Theres nothing that was actually done nor resolved, I wasnt even helped to get out of the contract they're keeping me hostage with.

I was told to request my data for the case, the ombudsman agreed to wait for review until I had recieved and sent in my evidence. Virgin media refused to send it out after being contacted twice, via email and phone (this wasnt fair but no one seemed to care that they had done that to me as a disabled person again and the review went forward despite it, so much for fair right?) i feel virgin media completely controlled this whole process and i was given the same laughable offer as virgin orignally offered.

Apparently there's a huge number of loopholes and specifics that are, obviously, always in favour of the billionaire tech companies! So no, I don't believe this service is fair or impartial in the slightest, it has been specifically moulded over years in favour of the tech companies through ridiculously specific rules and loopholes to help them avoid actual accountability. So instead of helping me, I just got over apologised to and told that I was believed but that the system isnt fair and had no actual resolution, I now am going to have to take this to court which is once again, usually in favour of the billionaires, so I have discovered here that there is no justice nor fair outcome in this country anymore. It's all about keeping money in billionaires pockets and keeping the the lower class in their place, under the boot and I'm deeply saddened that I ever wasted my time hoping for a fair outcome. You cant call yourself fair and then have ultra specific loopholes that keep your billionaires safe, you are just yet another professional apologists protecting the class divide, in favour of the billionaires and it's disgusting.

Edit in response to reply:
You do not give ample time, you gave me 30 days during which time I requested my data TWICE and was refused, which is illegal for virgin media to do. When I contacted the person I charge of my case, I was given a copy and paste response about how legally virgin media have to give me my data within 30 days from the request. No one held virgin accountable for refusing me acsess to my own data, the case went ahead without my consent or knowledge and the outcome was based on virgin media providing a single deadlock letter as evidence.

I am extremely disappointed with how my case was handled. My complaint was not objectively reviewed on its real substance – the unacceptable and humiliating behaviour of the O2 store leader and the moral harm caused by that incident.

The incident in the store was so distressing that I specifically asked to be released from O2 without any termination fee, as I can no longer feel comfortable returning to that shop. Instead of being understood and supported, my case was not truly examined, and I am now effectively punished by being forced to remain with O2 for another 1.5 years. God forbid I ever need in-store assistance again.

The investigation felt completely superficial, relying only on O2’s version of events without any genuine consideration of my detailed explanations or evidence. I provided full documentation and context, yet no one from your team asked any clarifying questions or tried to understand the full background – that this was a repeated issue caused by poor communication between O2 departments and lack of customer care.

Instead, the final decision was based on standard phrases like “I was not present in the store,” which makes me question what real purpose your service serves if it cannot help customers facing mistreatment or discrimination.

Overall, I feel deeply disappointed and let down by this process, which only added to the distress caused by O2’s behaviour.

I already emailed your team on 14 October with all details, and nobody replied. So please don’t tell me to email again — the problem is that you don’t respond or review cases properly in the first place.

Total waste of time.
The didn't ask for any evidence except all letters and emails which i provided. They then dismissed everything out of hand as I hadn't provided any evidence. However they excepted a 100% of the mobile companies claims with them not providing any evidence at all. Just there word !!
They are basically an extension of the mobile phone company.
The person who allegedly "investigated " my claim wasn't aware of many aspects that were raised in detail in emails but then tried to blame me . Incredibly unprofessional and just a total waste of time.
Just to add insult to injury there was no option to appeal. There was a "click button " to accept the decision or a "close case option " . Just a joke really. Don't waste your time !!

The agent dealing with our complaint was either ignorant of how contracts work or wasn't interested. She accepted the other party had credited an outstanding balance that didn't exist without asking for proof or listening to the facts. This is not sorted and I will be raising a complaint.

What an awful service. There's really no point in even talking to them about any issues. BT caused huge problems for us, including by lying and misinforming us, even promising services like someone coming to our house to reconfigure all the wifi connections which then obviously never happened. BT forced us to go to the Ombudsmen and wouldn't communicate with us anymore, telling me to go to them. I did and the Ombudsmen took 3 months to finally say BT were in the right, allowing them to lie and misinform customers (two different staff members said garbage like "you can use your old password in the new router to save changing it everywhere" when you can't, as old ones were 14 characters and the new ones are more), they're also allowed to charge you for services not asked for etc... absolute waste of time. Shameful and 100% 'in bed' with the companies they're supposed to regulate. Where have we heard that before? Water? Trains? Energy firms? Disgusting.

BT have done nothing, although according to the Ombudsman have completed everything required of them

I really wish I could list my whole complaint here. What an absolute waste of time submitting a complaint and for the handler Stephen to waste his time, resources and my time, and in turn cause me horrendous stress. I find it hard to believe it is approved by Ofcom. I can't fault the communication with Stephen or the efficiency in the online system, but what a disappointing outcome. The outcome consisted of being completely sidelined, ignored, and for Stephen/the company to do absolutely nothing. His final outcome was the full regurgitation of my complaint letter with one very small brief paragraph about how he couldn't do anything. What is the actual point of this resolution service - what was the point of the work and effort I put into my complaint and the many messages/screenshots/evidence? I am totally shocked at this whole process/outcome and now plan to take legal action - against Three but also the Communications Ombudsman for the impact this has on me personally, and how it will affect my future and my lifestyle.

FAO CO - DO NOT RESPOND WITH A PALTRY RESPONSE AS IT WILL BE FUTILE AND MEANINGLESS

Very helpful and understanding that these matters can be quite daunting to take on. I would certainly recommend speaking to the Ombudsman to resolve your complaint. Excellent service.

Totally disappointed with the service provided by the telecoms ombudsman. They provided little or no help in dealing with my complaint with Lebara who had allowed a fraudster to port my number from them to another supplier without my knowledge or agreement thus enabling the fraudsters to access my accounts spending thousands of pounds.

I was a home user mistakenly funnelled into a business sale. I complained three days after installation, stopped using the service, and returned the kit—yet faced a £3,300 (ETC + VAT). My appeal, with strong evidence, was rejected within minutes by the same handler; crucially, the Ombudsman did not engage with several of my arguments and issued conclusions that favoured the provider without citing the specific grounds. Their written decision also contained contradictions (saying providers must “ensure” authorisation while excusing no checks). This felt like gatekeeping, not an impartial, reasoned review.

From other public reviews, the same issues keep coming up: rapid decisions, template replies, and limited engagement with evidence.