The UK telecommunications regulator, Ofco, has imposed a £28 million penalty on Virgin Media. This sanction follows an investigation revealing that the internet service provider deliberately made it difficult for customers to cancel their subscriptions between 2019 and late 2021.
Systemic Failures in Customer Service
During this period, staff reportedly ignored cancellation requests or failed to process them correctly. An analysis by the regulator determined that millions of customer calls were likely mishandled, trapping users in contracts they wished to terminate.
Ofco noted that Virgin Media’s internal processes were effectively designed to obstruct loyal customers from leaving. In addition to the financial fine, the company has been ordered to review its practices and compensate approximately 400,000 subscribers who were affected by these failures.
Source: BBC News