Communications Ombudsman Avis 923

I had already compiled a considerable body of evidence before contacting the Ombudsman, thanks to advice from the CAB, but had to change the file format for much of it to suit the Ombudsman. The effort required, plus the thought of having to do it again for Small Claims Court, put me off pursuing proper action against my broadband provider - who had already admitted they could not supply the service promised when I signed up.

The Ombudsman website is possibly the least user-friendly customer interface in the world. Monochrome, uniform text size and style, multiple boxes with nothing to indicate which areas are important, … and nowhere to find a brief summary, or to highlight changes since the previous visit.

I don’t like that the Ombudsman is referred to as a ‘company’. For a customer to have to ask a company to investigate a company immediately conjures ideas of a stitch-up. This was compounded by the Ombudsman seemingly doing nothing but hand my evidence to the telecoms company, then come back with an offer of hush money. I was alleging breaches of consumer law, possibly even criminal law, but the Ombudsman seemed concerned only with a rapid settlement.

I am not convinced, given the strength of my evidence, the the Ombudsman achieved anything I would not have if acting alone. I AM convinced, though, that the effort required to submit my case to the Ombudsman put me off pursuing the broadband provider through the Small Claims Court, and gave tacit consent to the possibly illegal complaints handling process at my provider.

I can’t claim the Ombudsman failed me, because I cannot say for certain that my personal outcome was worse than I alone could have achieved, but I am certain that they did not stop some very poor practice by the telecoms firm, so failed customers in general.

Comms Ombudsman. Not impartial at all and don't reply to calls or emails
Disgusting.

My experience with the Communications Ombudsman has been extremely disappointing. My dispute with O2 has been ongoing for over 8 weeks — involving misleading information and even debt collectors being instructed during an active dispute, which raises serious FCA concerns.

Despite clearly explaining this and providing all the details, the Ombudsman only sent scripted, copy-and-paste replies with no acknowledgement of the timeline or the seriousness of the situation. As a vulnerable customer, this lack of human response has caused even more stress.

In my personal opinion, if an Ombudsman cannot support consumers in situations involving possible regulatory breaches or distress, then I genuinely question their purpose. Based on my experience, I personally believe the government should review their effectiveness — and if they cannot deliver the service they were created for, they should consider shutting the service down and replacing it with one that actually supports the public.

This isn’t meant to be offensive, just honest. The public deserves protection, not automated responses.

The Ombudsman are waste of time. They reinterpreted my claim and responded to a claim I hadn't made and ignored the claim I had made (which I submitted with a painstaking amount of audio evidence I was obliged to collect) They are there to serve the industry not the consumer.

Evidence was provided that was ignored, one party playing itself off against the other and pulling the wool over the Ombudsmans eyes, please understand that My complaint was upheld against one party, but the Ombudsman has no power, they are toothless and do not pose a tangible enough threat to make a difference.

BT; A SHAMBOLIC DISGRACE AND A FAILED COMPLAINT TO THE COMMUNICATIONS OMBUDSMAN - A SUMMARY.

I am a single man of 85 with little knowledge of the digital world and use public library computers for information only.
I February 2025 I moved into a new retirement flat and asked BT to provide a landline and a new number which the repeatedly failed to do and a letter of complaint of 21,3,25 cancelling my contract was ignored, then to the Chief Executive (8.4.25) also ignored, then 11.5.25.
That should have been the end of the matter but instead - a nightmare began
BT harassed me with 42 emails over 4 months sent to the public library (but none mentioned my letters) - what the Ombudsman laughingly described as
"...actively corresponding.." with {no} "..significant impact on the resolution of the issues..."
apart from ignoring my cancellation of the contract on 21.3.25!!
I find it quite extraordinary that they can write such nonsense. My letters to BT are more than adequate evidence.of their masssive failings and shocking incompetence and one must question if the Ombudsman read them!
I completely fail to understand how such an ill informed conclusion was reached accompanied by a refusal to admit error or give reasons with no appeal.
This matter has ruined my life for 8 months and still no closure! The last thing I needed at my time of life.
There are c18,00 negative complaints on Trust Pilot re BT which reflects a huge dissatisfaction and a failed Ombudsman system but OFCOM shows no interest. It is clear that this is major reason why BT carries on regardless and nothing changes.
A complete breakdown in meaningfull communication that seems to affect so many aspects of life today.

There reply sums up the lack of accountabilty - I spent over 100 hours fighting this nonsense and more hours on complaint to the Ombudsman who decide BT has done nothing wrong in spite of substantial evidence to the contrary. They never spoke to me to clarify matters and failed to answer most calls went I tried to contact the advisor. They completely ignored the stress, frustration and sleepless nights as a result of BT.
It comes to something when you then have to complain about the 'judge'. (but I note others have had similar problems)

Had a complaint with Youfibre. Had to wait the 8 weeks but it was dealt with efficiently and timely within a week and they got Youfibre to offer me a great settlement.

After months of trying to resolve an issue with virgin media i had almost given up.However after contacting the communications ombudsman I recieved a settlement offer within days .Many thanks 👍🏻

I went down the ombudsman track after trying to get Virgin Media to correct my address on BT Openreach database, i had tried for 8 months and got nowhere so i tried the Ombudsman service without much hope. However i got a good case handler who took time to listen and more importantly understand my grievence and got it sorted for me in a couple of months.

The Ombudsman relied upon BT providing the exidence of their own guilt of mis-selling. Surprisingly BT didn't have a record of the offending sales call. Who'd have thought it!

EDIT: RESPONSE TO YOUR REPLY - YOU SAY IMPARTIAL?! So why advise me to commit to a contract with BT?! That is certainly not impartial!!!

LOOK AT THE REVIEWS!!!!
This says it all!! In my opinion these organisations will rarely side with us the consumer!!
In my case BT I feel screwed over by them for terrible service and paying top money!!! The ombudsman says it’s ok and sided with them. I question what they ultimately get out of this because it certainly isn’t fair!!! Also notice how they craftily send you a questionnaire BEFORE they pull the rug from underneath you hoping for a good review before they slap you down!!!!
Unfair totally now I don’t trust them you shouldn’t trust them either!!! But I guess their Christmas might be merrier than ours in my opinion of course.
So I will suffer with out shiternet paying top money until I find us a better different supplier and I will not trust these again -

Excellent communication- same day always. Spoke on the phone to the case handler at the beginning and impressed we were called first to discuss the outcome, it made the experience personable, it has helped bring closure to a long outstanding matter with BT. Cate is a credit to your business.

The whole process with the communications ombudsman has been nothing but a joke.
Nothing I said or provided as evidence mattered. They been on watchdog, with her sister Company, the Energy ombudsman as none of their rulings are actually enforced by them. They don’t even tell you you have the right to an independent adjudicator after you’ve been through their awful process.
Even after asking for this to happen, they still haven’t bothered to do it. Obviously, it would show the truth. They don’t release transparent information about who pays them what and it would appear that it’s always easier to rule in favour of the company, than the consumer.
Makes you wonder how independent they really are?

Corrupt to the core??? How can a case be reviewed a decision made in favour of the consumer and then when the supplier appeals the decision is completely reversed in the favour of BT. The appealed decision in my case was in my opinion obviously made by someone in under the influence of BT. It completely ignored the facts that had originally been presented and accepted, it might as well been a BT spokesperson reviewing the case. They ignored the wrongs that I had suffered and twisted the truth in favour of BT who are in my opinion one of the worst most corrupt companies on the planet. This so called Ombudsman Service in my opinion obviously been infiltrated by the very industries it is there to investigate it needs to be investigated and the cleared of staff I believe are in the influence of very industry they are there to investigate.

Typing out the details of all the phone calls and emails about my complaint on their website took about an hour (it was very detailed). A few days later I uploaded copies of emails to support my complaint. The next day Ruth, an agent, called me to say that they would take on my complaint and she explained the process. She was very helpful and patient with answering all my questions. Two days later I received a resolution to my complaint which was what I was hoping for.
The whole process from the start to getting a resolution took exactly a week. Thank you.

Absolute waste of time. Made to feel like they didnt believe me and were happy that Utility Warehouse could miss lead with untrained staff who are basically pyramid sellers.
Very disillusioned. Favour big business

Within 2 weeks of them taking up my complaint, i received an offer, which I accepted. Very satisfied.

My complaint was dealt with in good time I would like to thank lesley who was very understanding great service from her.

BT has been charging me for 10 years of broadband service that BT had confirmed had been cancelled and stopped 10 years ago. Being a trusting sole expecting this to have been carried out, found out they had been charging me an continually increasing my dial up broadband to £100 a month!!
On sending all my evidence and proof to the Communication Ombudsman, they eventually stated that they could appreciate and support my position,
that basically they are powerless in making BT provide any evidence or proof...
A total waste of time..

The Communication Ombudsman were a great help to settle my dispute. Brilliant service.