Virgin Media Fined £28m for Blocking Customer Contract Cancellations
Virgin Media has been fined £28 million by the UK telecoms regulator Ofcom for repeatedly obstructing customers from cancelling their contracts over nearly three years.
Ofcom found that Virgin Media likely mishandled millions of phone calls between early 2022 and autumn 2024 by employing deliberate call-dropping tactics, unnecessary call transfers, and placing customers on hold without justification.
The regulator launched an investigation after receiving close to 2,000 complaints from Virgin Media broadband, landline, and pay TV customers regarding difficulties in cancelling their services.
This £28 million penalty, reduced by 30% following Virgin Media's admission of fault and agreement to settle, represents Ofcom's largest fine under its consumer protection regulations.
Investigation Findings
The Ofcom inquiry revealed that millions of calls made by customers from January 2022 to September 2024 were probably mishandled by call agents with the intent to delay or prevent cancellations and switching to competitors, potentially costing customers hundreds of pounds in savings.
Evidence also showed deliberate mishandling by retention team agents, motivated by a commission scheme that effectively encouraged and financially rewarded such behavior.
Virgin Media, previously fined in 2018 for breaching the same rule, also repeatedly failed to comply with Ofcom's information-gathering procedures during the investigation.
Regulator's Response
Natalie Black, a director at Ofcom, stated: "The facts are clear. Virgin Media made it harder for customers to cancel their contracts and then did not fully co-operate with our investigation."
She added: "Today, we are sending a clear message that any provider who wilfully acts against the interests of their customers will pay a heavy price."
Ofcom noted that Virgin Media has since implemented several important changes, including improvements to its commission scheme, enhanced training and quality assurance, and better monitoring practices.
The regulator has mandated Virgin Media to verify that every affected customer who lodged a complaint has received appropriate compensation or remedies within the next six months.
Retention Team Structure and Customer Impact
The investigation found that Virgin Media, which merged with mobile operator O2 in 2021 to form Virgin Media O2, divided its retention team into two tiers. Only agents in the second tier were authorized to process cancellations, forcing customers to repeat their cancellation requests to at least one additional agent.
Some customers, frustrated by these obstacles, resorted to cancelling their direct debits, which negatively impacted their credit scores.
Consumer Group Reaction
Consumer group Which? described Virgin Media's conduct as "shocking," especially given it occurred during the height of the cost-of-living crisis.
Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy at Which?, said: "It’s shocking that Virgin Media was deliberately making it harder for customers to leave for a better deal.
"This was a deeply cynical tactic at a time when so many households were struggling with cost-of-living pressures."
Virgin Media's Statement
A Virgin Media spokesperson said: "We’re committed to giving all our customers great service and apologise to the small proportion who experienced an issue when contacting us to agree a new deal or cancel their service in the past.
"We have completely redesigned our customer services in recent years, addressing the historic shortfalls identified by Ofcom through a number of improvements, and have resolved all formal customer complaints from this period providing redress where appropriate."
The company also noted that Ofcom's latest data shows Virgin Media now has the fewest complaints among broadband providers.
Previous Fine and Additional Context
The £28 million fine announced on Wednesday follows a separate £23.8 million penalty Ofcom imposed last December after finding that Virgin Media had put customers at risk when switching them from analogue to digital landlines.
