Vodafone and EE: Worst mobile network operators in UK

According to Consumer watchdog Which?, Vodafone, and EE scored the lowest in a customer satisfaction survey which compared all the UK's mobile network operators.

"Our latest survey once again shows that the major mobile providers are still failing on the basics of customer service," said Alex Neill, director of campaigns and communications. "Telecoms are an essential part of modern life and so providers need to start delivering for their customers."

Both managed just two out of five stars for value for money and easy access to technical staff when users hit a glitch. EE scraped just one star for incentives to keep customers loyal and two for overall customer service. While Vodafone managed two stars for trying to hang on to customers it was awarded three for customer service.

After the survey, Vodafone apologized and said, “We realize how frustrating it is for our customers when things go wrong, which is why we are working hard to improve our customers’ experience. Due to new processes we have put into place, helped by significant additional call centre resources, we believe that customers will see improvements over the coming months.”

EE said it had slashed customer complaints by 50 percent in the last year, “We continue to transform our customer service and are committed to providing the best experience for our customers.”

Contract-free mobile network GiffGaff came top with 79 percent, beating all the big names including Three, O2 and Virgin Mobile for the second year running.

Supermarkets Asda and Tesco also made the top three with both picking up four stars for customer service and ease of contacting the right person to sort out problems. Asda scored 72 percent overall and pipped its arch rival on value for money with five stars compared with Tesco’s four and total score of 70 percent.