The UK communications regulator, Ofcom, has fined Virgin Media £28 million due to serious failures in how the company handled customers who wanted to end their contracts.

英國通訊監管機構 Ofcom 罰款 Virgin Media 2,800 萬英鎊，原因是公司在處理想要終止合約的客戶時出現嚴重失職。

The investigation looked at the period between January 1, 2022, and September 11, 2024. Ofcom found that millions of phone calls were handled poorly to stop customers from switching to other providers. For example, the company used a two-tier system where only senior staff could cancel contracts, meaning over one million customers had to make multiple requests. Additionally, the regulator discovered that the company used tactics such as dropping calls, putting customers on long holds, and transferring them repeatedly.

此次調查針對 2022 年 1 月 1 日至 2024 年 9 月 11 日之間的期間。Ofcom 發現數百萬通電話處理不當，目的是為了阻止客戶轉向其他供應商。例如，該公司採用兩級制度，僅高級員工能取消合約，導致超過一百萬名客戶必須多次請求。此外，監管機構發現該公司使用了如掛斷電話、讓客戶長時間等待以及反覆轉接等手段。

Ofcom emphasized that these failures were driven by the company's payment system, which gave bonuses to staff who persuaded customers not to leave. Although the original fine was reduced by 30% because Virgin Media admitted its mistakes, it remains the largest fine ever issued under Ofcom's consumer protection rules. In response, Virgin Media stated that it has completely redesigned its service system, which has led to an 89% drop in complaints about the difficulty of leaving the company.

Ofcom 強調，這些失職是由於公司的薪酬制度驅動的，該制度會向說服客戶不離開的員工發放獎金。儘管 Virgin Media 承認錯誤使原罰金減少了 30%，但這仍是 Ofcom 消費者保護規則下開出的最大金額罰單。對此，Virgin Media 表示已全面重新設計其服務系統，導致關於離開該公司困難的投訴下降了 89%。

Virgin Media has paid a heavy fine for its past service failures and has since changed its internal processes to better support customers.

Virgin Media 因過去的服務失職而支付了高額罰金，並在此後更改了內部流程以更好地支援客戶。