Anthony, a 58-year-old from Brighton, had been a Virgin Media customer for a decade. But last August, as his TV package came up for renewal, he found the company's prices "were going up astronomically for the last three or four years." When he phoned to cancel, the call ended abruptly – he was hung up on.
Anthony was not alone. Ofcom has fined Virgin Media £28m – its largest-ever consumer protection penalty – for a deliberate campaign of obstruction that the watchdog said "likely mishandled" millions of calls between January 2022 and September 2024.
“Virgin Media fined £28m for deliberately hanging up on customers trying to cancel contracts, Ofcom says.”
The regulator uncovered tactics including agents deliberately dropping calls, putting customers on hold "for no reason," and excessive unnecessary transfers. A commission scheme "effectively encouraged" and financially rewarded retention agents for "behaving in this way," Ofcom found.
Virgin Media admitted its failings and settled, which reduced the fine by 30%. The company apologised to the "small proportion who experienced an issue when contacting us to agree a new deal or cancel their service in the past." It said it had "resolved all formal customer complaints from this period providing redress where appropriate."
Natalie Black, Ofcom's group director for infrastructure and connectivity, called the behaviour "pretty shocking." She told the BBC's Today programme that the regulator had tried to resolve the issue informally in 2022, but "there wasn't the will to do that."
"The facts are clear," Black said. "Virgin Media made it harder for customers to cancel their contracts and then did not fully cooperate with our investigation."
Ofcom has ordered Virgin Media to check every affected customer who complained has received compensation or other remedies within six months. The regulator said its rules "are clear that the conditions or procedures telecoms providers have in place must not act as a disincentive for customers who wish to cancel their contract."
Virgin Media O2, formed by the 2021 merger with mobile giant O2, had split its retention team into two "tiers" of agents, with only the second tier able to process cancellations – a structure that Ofcom said likely acted as a disincentive in millions of calls.
Black warned: "Today, we are sending a clear message that any provider who wilfully acts against the interests of their customers will pay a heavy price."