Mobile and broadband providers found overcharging customers "yet again", Citizens Advice says

Citizens Advice has responded to Ofcom’s announcement today that EE and Virgin Media will be fined for overcharging their customers who have ended their contracts early.

Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said:

"Yet again mobile and broadband companies have been caught overcharging their customers. Anyone who has been affected by this deserves a refund.

“Our own research exposed mobile providers for knowingly overcharging customers for phones they already own by £500 million.

“This is another in a long line of failings in the mobile and broadband industry - we need an independent consumer champion to stick up for customers and stop this from happening.”

Notes to editors

  1. Citizens Advice is made up of the national charity Citizens Advice; the network of independent local Citizens Advice charities across England and Wales; the Citizens Advice consumer service; and the Witness Service.

  2. Together we help people resolve their money, legal and other problems by providing information and advice and by influencing policymakers.

  3. Citizens Advice is the statutory consumer advocate for energy and postal markets. We provide supplier performance information to consumers and policy analysis to decision makers.

  4. The Citizens Advice Witness Service provides free and independent support for both prosecution and defence witnesses in every criminal court in England and Wales.

  5. Citizens Advice also offers Pension Wise appointments at 500 locations across England and Wales.

  6. The advice provided by the Citizens Advice service is free, independent, confidential and impartial, and available to everyone regardless of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age or nationality.

  7. To get advice online or find your local Citizens Advice in England and Wales, visit citizensadvice.org.uk

  8. You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 03454 04 05 06 or 03454 04 05 05 for Welsh language speakers.

  9. We helped 2.6 million people face to face, over the phone, by email and webchat in 2017-18. For full service statistics see  our monthly publication Advice trends.

  10. Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 23,000 trained volunteers, working at over 2,500 service outlets across England and Wales.