Which? Study Ranks Vodafone Worst Network For Eighth Year Running
Customers give Vodafone and other large networks poor rankings, with GiffGaff and other small operators at the top of the list
Which? users have ranked Vodafone worst in a survey of the UK’s mobile networks, giving it poor ratings for customer service, value for money and technical support.
Vodafone has come in at the bottom of the list for all of the eight years Which? has been running the survey.
Customers also ranked EE and O2 in the bottom three, while the top of the list was dominated by smaller operators.
Virtual network operator GiffGaff led the list, followed by Utility Warehouse and Plusnet Mobile.
Satisfaction
Some 20 percent of Vodafone customers said the firm’s customer service was poor, with 20 percent saying it offered poor value for money and 14 percent saying its technical support was poor.
Twenty-five percent also criticised Vodafone’s incentives and rewards.
Only 27 percent of EE customers said they had received good or excellent technical support, with less than half saying the same about ease of contact and customer service, while 10 percent of O2 customers said it offered poor value for money.
Only 25 percent of O2 customers said its incentives and rewards were good or excellent.
By contrast, nearly all of GiffGaff’s customers said it offered good or excellent value for money and said they would recommend it to friends and family.
Sim-only deals were found to be on average 31 percent (£3.56 per month) more expensive with the four biggest providers, EE, O2, Vodafone and Three.
Value for money
The monthly contract price for an iPhone XS was found to be 18 percent more, while that for a Samsung Galaxy S10 was 6 percent more.
Vodafone said it was “sorry” and was “working hard to understand the issue and what more we can do”.
A total of 13 network providers were included in Which?’s annual survey of 6,135 members.
Which? said the results showed the importance of customer support and value for money to mobile users.
“If you think you’re paying too much or are not getting the level of service you expect from your provider, you should shop around for a better deal – you might find you save yourself some money and probably a lot of grief, too,” said Which? head of home products and services Natalie Hitchins.
