Communications Ombudsman Reviews 935

I went down the ombudsman track after trying to get Virgin Media to correct my address on BT Openreach database, i had tried for 8 months and got nowhere so i tried the Ombudsman service without much hope. However i got a good case handler who took time to listen and more importantly understand my grievence and got it sorted for me in a couple of months.

The Ombudsman relied upon BT providing the exidence of their own guilt of mis-selling. Surprisingly BT didn't have a record of the offending sales call. Who'd have thought it!

EDIT: RESPONSE TO YOUR REPLY - YOU SAY IMPARTIAL?! So why advise me to commit to a contract with BT?! That is certainly not impartial!!!

LOOK AT THE REVIEWS!!!!
This says it all!! In my opinion these organisations will rarely side with us the consumer!!
In my case BT I feel screwed over by them for terrible service and paying top money!!! The ombudsman says it’s ok and sided with them. I question what they ultimately get out of this because it certainly isn’t fair!!! Also notice how they craftily send you a questionnaire BEFORE they pull the rug from underneath you hoping for a good review before they slap you down!!!!
Unfair totally now I don’t trust them you shouldn’t trust them either!!! But I guess their Christmas might be merrier than ours in my opinion of course.
So I will suffer with out shiternet paying top money until I find us a better different supplier and I will not trust these again -

Excellent communication- same day always. Spoke on the phone to the case handler at the beginning and impressed we were called first to discuss the outcome, it made the experience personable, it has helped bring closure to a long outstanding matter with BT. Cate is a credit to your business.

The whole process with the communications ombudsman has been nothing but a joke.
Nothing I said or provided as evidence mattered. They been on watchdog, with her sister Company, the Energy ombudsman as none of their rulings are actually enforced by them. They don’t even tell you you have the right to an independent adjudicator after you’ve been through their awful process.
Even after asking for this to happen, they still haven’t bothered to do it. Obviously, it would show the truth. They don’t release transparent information about who pays them what and it would appear that it’s always easier to rule in favour of the company, than the consumer.
Makes you wonder how independent they really are?

Corrupt to the core??? How can a case be reviewed a decision made in favour of the consumer and then when the supplier appeals the decision is completely reversed in the favour of BT. The appealed decision in my case was in my opinion obviously made by someone in under the influence of BT. It completely ignored the facts that had originally been presented and accepted, it might as well been a BT spokesperson reviewing the case. They ignored the wrongs that I had suffered and twisted the truth in favour of BT who are in my opinion one of the worst most corrupt companies on the planet. This so called Ombudsman Service in my opinion obviously been infiltrated by the very industries it is there to investigate it needs to be investigated and the cleared of staff I believe are in the influence of very industry they are there to investigate.

Typing out the details of all the phone calls and emails about my complaint on their website took about an hour (it was very detailed). A few days later I uploaded copies of emails to support my complaint. The next day Ruth, an agent, called me to say that they would take on my complaint and she explained the process. She was very helpful and patient with answering all my questions. Two days later I received a resolution to my complaint which was what I was hoping for.
The whole process from the start to getting a resolution took exactly a week. Thank you.

Absolute waste of time. Made to feel like they didnt believe me and were happy that Utility Warehouse could miss lead with untrained staff who are basically pyramid sellers.
Very disillusioned. Favour big business

Within 2 weeks of them taking up my complaint, i received an offer, which I accepted. Very satisfied.

My complaint was dealt with in good time I would like to thank lesley who was very understanding great service from her.

BT has been charging me for 10 years of broadband service that BT had confirmed had been cancelled and stopped 10 years ago. Being a trusting sole expecting this to have been carried out, found out they had been charging me an continually increasing my dial up broadband to £100 a month!!
On sending all my evidence and proof to the Communication Ombudsman, they eventually stated that they could appreciate and support my position,
that basically they are powerless in making BT provide any evidence or proof...
A total waste of time..

The Communication Ombudsman were a great help to settle my dispute. Brilliant service.

An excellent service, they are compassionate, helpful and listen.
My case handler was amazing.
Being autistic, and disclosing this helped me,nad helped my case handler

If you talk to them about your problem, you're just running out of time. They make a decision without any research.

Having exhausted the companys' proceedures trying to reach an agreement I contacted the Ombudsman. The process was clearly laid out and the person assined to my case was very helpful. It took two months and reached a satisfactory outcome in my favour.

I would give a zero if there were a zero score. My friends and relatives told me that the ombudsman service often resolves disputes on behalf of companies, rather than consumers. The ombudsman service doesn’t help consumers at all. I don’t know what this service is doing. It was impossible to contact the ombudsman caseworker by phone. When I received the resolved email, I was shocked and realised that he had only read the company’s email and reports, and he had never read all my evidence. During the process, I tried to call him several times and left a message requesting a call back, as he had expressed in his answer message. But he had never called me back. I wanted to talk to explain the issue to him better. I was overseas for volunteer work at the beginning of the process, so I asked him to contact me through email. However, when I returned, I sent him an email to contact him by phone, but he never replied to any of my calls. I asked for advice from other services, and I was told that the broadband company, Virgin Media, is wrong to increase the monthly payment from £34.08 to £89.09 and charge me without my prior approval. Virgin Media is supposed to send me a letter by post for the end of the contract, which I requested at the beginning of the contract. It’s very easy to miss it because I receive so many email adverts from the suppliers. They charged me £89 for 4 months, and it’s a significant amount for me as I am a pensioner. When I wanted to cancel my account, they wouldn’t let me use the other broadband supplier, which was a new supplier willing to pay my bills. I had been trying to cancel my account since May 2025 for 6 months, which caused me stress and depression and made worse my anxiety and depression problem. The ombudsman service was extremely slow, and it isn't easy to contact them. Virgin Media had recorded my surname wrong at the beginning of the contract. I had contact with them many times, via email, live chat, and phone calls, to correct my surname on their records. Still, for two years, I couldn't manage it, and I had informed the ombudsman about this issue and explained to them that it means they don't have a contract with me, because my surname is recorded incorrectly. However, the ombudsman had never read my evidence and emails. When I read the decision issued email by mistake, I clicked on 'Decline' to appeal the decision. When I realised I had made a mistake, I sent an email to the ombudsman case worker to ask for help and explained that, due to a language barrier, I had made an error. However, he did not provide any assistance. It’s better to take the case to the sheriff court and my MP. Ombudsman services are typically available only for companies, not for consumers. Don’t trust ombudsman services, and don’t waste your time with them. It's impossible to phone them or contact them. I sent an email to complain, but the email address they provided was incorrect, and my email didn't reach them. I know that it's impossible to contact them anyway. They are asking me to call them here. I know that they won't answer it.

I had been trying for 13 months to get Virgin Media to sort out my account after my husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. After contacting the ombudsman and saying exactly what I wanted from Virgin Media the whole thing was resolved and finalised in 3 weeks. Wish I had saved myself 13 months of stress and contacted them sooner

I have had a great experience with my ombudsman after a 10 month battle with my broadband provider not paying my switch fees I have had them paid plus compensation and this would not have happened if wasn’t for the hard work put in by my ombudsman. From start of claim to the end I was kept informed at every step of the process and had direct line to my personal ombudsman. Cannot praise enough

Following a dispute with Virgin Media and a dreadful outcome whilst trying to resolve this with VM, I took my case to the Communication Ombudsman, Jacqueline . She found in my favour and instructed VM to pay me £125.00 compensation. VM also stated that they were offering me £100. However, VM had defended their poor service and claimed I owed them £560.00 for leaving before my contract had expired. Initially I paid them £250.00 immediately to show willing and try to enter into a discussion on the matter. However, VM refused to acknowledge my offer and left me negative feedback on my credit file. I paid further money to VM and ended up making an overpayment of £31.00. The Ombudsman refused three times to confirm if my calculations were correct in order for me to agree to the solution they offered. As a result despite my three letters to the CO setting out my query I failed to obtain a reply and they closed my complaint in favour of VM. Now all I get from the CO is repeated emails worded like a parrot repeating itself but without a proper response. Now I have received no support and lost the award just because I asked the CO to confirm if I had overpaid including the awards. Why did I bother. I even asked the CO to escalate my case but no response. Thanks Communication Ombudsman.

Excellent personal service, can't fault it.