How do I get my phone company to talk to me?

Virgin Media have just been fined a whopping £28 million for using a variety of methods to stop their customers from leaving to go to other broadband suppliers. In an unusually firm statement, Ofcom found that the firm had put people on hold for excessive periods, cut them off completely and made one million callers repeat their requests to leave due to a two-tier process for callers. Worst of all, employees were apparently financially rewarded as a result.

Sound familiar? With some degree of irony, broadband and mobile phone businesses – communications companies – are among the worst when it comes to actually communicating with their customers. It’s not just Virgin though. I regularly hear from readers who struggle to even find a telephone number to call a broadband or mobile phone company.

So how do you deal with a phone-dodging firm - and how do you leave when you want to end the relationship? Here’s my guide.

How to contact a business

Telecommunications firms must have customer service numbers, though these are often buried deep in the depths of their websites. It took me over 20 clicks through endless Q&A pages to find the number of one telecommunications company when researching this article. Save yourself some time and use an online search drive instead. Just type in the name of the business and ‘contact number’ or ‘complaints’ and you’ll usually find your way to the number much quicker.

If there’s a phone number, aim to call during off-peak hours. As a general rule, the two best times to call businesses are late morning (10am to 11:30am) and mid-afternoon (2pm to 4pm). As the week progresses, from Monday to Friday, it tends to get easier to get hold of businesses too.

When you speak to someone, make sure you say that you want to register a formal complaint if you are unhappy about the service. According to the Communications Ombudsman, the business must issue a written ‘final decision’ or ‘deadlock’ letter within six weeks. I don’t think communications firms are registering complaints properly, so insist on this and shop them if they don’t.

Shop the supplier

It turns out people power really does work. Ofcom received 1,881 complaints from Virgin Media customers about problems leaving the firm. Ofcom, like other regulators, doesn’t look at individual complaints. But they can investigate if enough people report a problem. Less than 2,000 people was all it took for this matter to be investigated – so it’s worth doing. Report a firm at this link.

How to leave with the minimum of fuss

Good news! If you are at the end of your contract and want to leave your telecoms supplier, you just need to speak to the new provider and provide a few details.

For broadband, the ‘one touch switch’ process is dead easy. Just pick a deal you like using a comparison site. I use Broadband as it’s the only broadband-specific site, but there are loads out there.

Once you’ve picked a supplier, choose an activation date. They will then deal with your old supplier and handle the switch. Make sure that the new service is connected in time though!

For mobile switching you need a ‘PAC’ code, but you only need to text to get it. A PAC code is a series of numbers you give to the new mobile phone company. Text PAC to 65075 to get this. This must be provided within two days.

Your new service provider then does all the work behind the scenes, and you should be set up within one working day.

Communications Ombudsman

Don’t forget that you can make a complaint about most mobile phone or broadband problems to the Ombudsman. These are the Communications Ombudsman and you can contact them here. Alternatively, you can find dispute resolution provider CISAS.

Martyn James is a leading consumer rights campaigner, TV and radio broadcaster and journalist. For more from him visit this link.