Virgin Media has been fined £28m for repeatedly preventing customers from cancelling contracts, Ofcom said.
It said millions of phone calls from customers were “likely mishandled” over nearly a three-year period which prevented or delayed customers from switching to a better deal.
The communications regulator said it found “deliberate call-dropping” tactics, as well as customers being put on hold “for no reason”.
The penalty was reduced by 30% given Virgin Media admitted its failing and agreed to settle the case, Ofcom added. Virgin Media apologised to “the small proportion who experienced an issue when contacting us to agree a new deal or cancel their service in the past”.
Ofcom said the fine was the largest it had issued under its consumer protection rules, and its third largest ever in general.
Ofcom said its investigation found millions of customer calls between 1 January 2022 and 11 September 2024 were likely to have been mishandled by call agents “in order to delay or prevent customers from cancelling and switching to a competitor”.
It uncovered tactics including: excessive and unnecessary call transfers, repeated attempts to pressure customers to stay, and unnecessarily and repeatedly keeping customers on hold.
Ofcom said Virgin’s commission scheme “effectively encouraged” and financially rewarded call centre agents for “behaving in this way”.
Natalie Black, Ofcom’s group director for infrastructure and connectivity, said: “The facts are clear. Virgin Media made it harder for customers to cancel their contracts and then did not fully cooperate with our investigation.
“As a result, we are levelling our largest ever fine under our consumer protection rules for direct harm to consumers.”
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.”
Ofcom received complaints from 1,881 customers who reported difficulties cancelling.
Black said Ofcom had introduced “further safeguards to prevent this from happening again”, including its “One Touch Switch” process launched in 2024, intended to make changing broadband or landline providers hassle-free.
The regulator found that Virgin Media had two-tier system of retention agents, and only agents in the second tier were able to process cancellations.
This resulted in over a million callers being made to repeat their request to at least one further agent, it said.
A Virgin Media spokesperson said it had “completely redesigned” its customer service in recent years and addressed the “historic shortfalls” through a number of improvements.
“Our customer service turnaround strategy, underpinned by significant investment, has been transformational.
“Ofcom’s latest data shows that Virgin Media is now the least-complained-about broadband provider with complaints at record lows, and complaints specifically relating to ‘difficulties leaving’ were 89% lower last year than in 2023,” the spokesperson added.