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Complaints, the ombudsman and Ofcom
Ofcom writes the rules. It does not sit on the phone and fix your line. The provider does that first. This page is the order of the calls, and the point at which an independent scheme can look at a complaint the provider has not resolved.
Reviewed 5 November 2026 · 6 min read · Independent · Not a price list
Start with the provider who owns the problem
A fault, a missed appointment, a bill you do not recognise, or a switch that stalled belongs to the provider on that contract. Ask for a complaint reference if the first conversation does not fix it. Write the date you complained. The later scheme will ask whether you gave the provider a chance.
Use the gaining provider for the new order and the losing provider for the old contract’s fee or an early cease. Complaining to both in one undifferentiated email usually produces two partial answers. Separate the questions.
OneTouchSwitch cannot open a complaint for you, escalate a ticket, or see the account. An email to our editorial address is not a complaint to the provider. We can correct a sentence on this website. We cannot reconnect a line.
When an independent scheme can take it
If the provider does not resolve the complaint, or does not resolve it in the time their process allows, you can usually take it to the alternative dispute resolution scheme that provider belongs to. There is more than one scheme in the UK market. The provider’s bill or complaints page should name theirs. We will not guess the scheme from the logo.
The scheme looks at what the provider should have done under the contract and the rules, not at whether you are unhappy in the abstract. Deadlines, missed appointments, billing errors and switches that were mishandled are the usual territory. A wish that a different brand were cheaper is not.
Going to the scheme is free to you. It is not a small-claims rehearsal you must prepare like a barrister, but you do need the dates and the papers. Send the complaint reference, the order, and the notice you were given. Do not send us your case file.
What Ofcom is for
Ofcom is the regulator for telecoms in the UK. It sets general conditions, including rules on switching and on how price rises are disclosed. It collects complaints data and it can investigate patterns. It is not the desk that orders a single provider to refund a single household as your first step.
You can tell Ofcom about a problem so it forms part of the wider picture. That is not a substitute for the provider’s complaint process or for the scheme. People who email the regulator first often lose weeks.
Ofcom does not approve this website, does not approve a provider’s prices, and does not score the guides on this site. Any sentence that sounds like an official endorsement is a mistake. Point it out.
If someone in the home is at risk
Say so at the start. Providers have duties around customers who are vulnerable or who rely on the line for a care alarm, though the detail of the register is theirs to explain. Also call the organisation that monitors the alarm. Do not leave that message only with a broadband chat bot.
Power cut, mobile backup, and battery alarms are equipment questions. A full-fibre install does not invent a battery. If the household needs the phone during a power cut, ask what the new service does when the mains fails, before you cease a copper line that still carried that case.
We do not keep a vulnerability register. Do not send medical information to this website. Tell the provider, and tell the alarm company.
Questions
- Do I call Ofcom first?
- No. Complain to the provider who owns the contract. Ofcom is the regulator, not the first-line helpdesk. An independent scheme comes after the provider’s process.
- Can OneTouchSwitch escalate my ticket?
- No. We do not have access to provider accounts. We can correct our own pages. We cannot reconnect a line.
- Which ombudsman is mine?
- The one named on your provider’s complaints page. More than one scheme operates. We will not guess from a logo.
- Is the scheme free?
- Yes, to you. You still need dates and papers. It is not a way to renegotiate a price you simply regret.
- What if a vulnerable person relies on the line?
- Tell the provider at the start of the call, and tell the alarm’s monitoring company. Do not send medical details to this website.
- Will a complaint freeze my exit fee?
- Not by itself. Ask the provider. Get any hold or waiver in writing, with a date.