Virgin Media has been fined £28 million by the UK telecoms watchdog Ofcom for systematically preventing customers from cancelling their contracts over a nearly three-year period. The penalty is the largest ever imposed under Ofcom's consumer protection rules.
Ofcom investigation reveals deliberate call mishandling
Ofcom discovered that Virgin Media “likely mishandled” millions of phone calls between January 2022 and September 2024. Tactics included deliberate call-dropping, unnecessary call transfers, and putting customers on hold for “no reason.” The watchdog launched an investigation after receiving nearly 2,000 complaints from broadband, landline, and pay TV customers who struggled to cancel their contracts.
The fine, reduced by 30% because Virgin Media admitted to its failings and agreed to settle, is Ofcom's largest ever under consumer protection rules. Ofcom found that call agents deliberately delayed or prevented customers from cancelling and switching to competitors, where customers could save hundreds of pounds.
Commission scheme incentivised obstruction
The investigation uncovered evidence of “deliberate mishandling of calls by retention team agents,” with a commission scheme that “effectively encouraged” and financially rewarded agents for obstructing cancellations. Virgin Media had been fined in 2018 for breaching the same rule and also repeatedly failed to comply with Ofcom's information-gathering process.
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 cooperate 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.”
Virgin Media's structural changes and response
The regulator noted that Virgin Media has since made important changes, including improvements to its commission scheme, training, quality assurance, and monitoring. Ofcom has ordered Virgin Media to check that every affected customer who complained has received compensation or other remedies within the next six months.
Ofcom found that Virgin Media, which merged with O2 in 2021 to form Virgin Media O2, split its retention team into two “tiers” of agents, with only the second tier able to process cancellations. This forced customers to repeat their request to at least one further agent. Some frustrated customers resorted to cancelling direct debits, affecting their credit scores.
Consumer group reaction
Which? called Virgin Media's behaviour “shocking,” especially given it occurred during 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.”
A Virgin Media spokesperson apologised: “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 added that Ofcom’s latest data showed Virgin Media now had the fewest complaints among broadband providers.
Previous fine and context
The £28 million penalty follows a separate £23.8 million fine Ofcom issued in December 2023 after finding the company had put thousands of vulnerable people “at risk of harm” when switching them from analogue to digital landlines.
