Virgin Media has been hit with a record £28 million fine after Ofcom found the telecoms giant made it unnecessarily difficult for customers to leave their contracts.
The regulator said the company caused customers “unreasonable effort, hassle or undue difficulty” when trying to cancel broadband, landline and TV services between January 2022 and September 2024.
Ofcom found customers faced unnecessary call transfers, long waits, dropped calls and delays in processing cancellations. Some were pressured to stay with the company through retention tactics.
The watchdog said Virgin Media split its retention team into two tiers, meaning only certain staff could complete cancellations and forcing customers to repeat their requests.
Ofcom launched its investigation after receiving almost 2,000 complaints from frustrated Virgin Media customers.
Natalie Black, Ofcom’s Group Director for Infrastructure and Connectivity, said: “Virgin Media made it harder for customers to cancel their contracts and then did not fully co-operate with our investigation.”
Consumer group Which? called the findings “shocking”, accusing Virgin Media of making it harder for households to find better deals during the cost-of-living crisis.
The £28 million penalty is Ofcom’s largest-ever consumer protection fine and will be paid to the Treasury.
Virgin Media said it had since overhauled its customer service operation, improving staff training, monitoring and its commission scheme.
The company apologised to customers affected and said all formal complaints from the period investigated had been resolved with compensation provided where appropriate.
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