The Phone Co-op Anmeldelser 

Update 09.05.24 I have received yet another bill despite the line being transferred to another provider from 10.04.24. Still no communication from them about the query.

Update 01.05.24 Still no response even though query response chased again. I've given up. Account now cancelled.

I recently queried my telephone bill (landline & broadband) by email and chased twice since 11 April with no response.

Asked for broadband has never been active hub still in box now trying to be charged over 100 pound never been plugged in absolute joke getting in touch with trading standards

Your Co-op is one of the only ethically minded telecoms providers and I've been with them for several years now.
I've had far fewer issues over the years than I did with Talk Talk or Virgin and, with a co-op membership, receive yearly offers in addition to the sale prices on broadband.
On the occasions when an issue has arisen, the customer services have generally been very good and resolved matters quickly. The only issue is that customer services is only 9 to 5 during the week, but there is a technical support line 24/7.

I've just signed up for a mobile SIM only and been offered 10gb data for £9 odd... Very competitive compared to major suppliers.

In addition, each month the co-op supports charitable and community based UK initiatives.

It's not necessarily all the bells and whistles of other providers, but then I don't need all of that. I get no spam style advertising, which is often an annoying part of some providers constantly wanting more money, etc.

I felt a positive review needed to be added as I haven't experienced the negative service that others appear to have done.

We have internet dropping out and slow speed for 3 months. Impossible to get through to Service Dept and emails promise reply in 3 days....and don't.
But they are happy to take your money.
Used to be great but have been taken over, and we all know what that means

Spent over an hour on hold to technical support and had to give up as I needed to use my phone. emailed and they said they would be back in THREE DAYS! finally called me back and said there was external fault and they were calling openreach. The landline is completely down now and absolutely no communication from either party.

A neighbours phone line came down in our garden during he storm so as he lives alone we tried to report it to his service provider (co-op phone) The phone rang for over 30 minutes with no reply so we filled in their online form. A WEEK LATER ! they called us back to inform us that their tests showed his handset was faulty. Whilst we informed them that we could see the broken phone line laying in the garden co-op phone were adamant the handset was the problem. Clearly I would have been better off talking to a parrot in the local pet shop.

Adding my voice to the long list of people who have had bad customer service from The Phone Co-op. Phone rings out a couple of times before people answer, customer services only available 9-5pm, Monday to Friday anyway, once people do answer they have no idea how to solve the problem. I have been waiting for a router for over a week now (having previously been advised that I wouldn't need a new one when I moved house, followed by repeated failures by Co-op technical team to reconfigure my existing router). No one can tell me what has happened to it or provide tracking details. Attempts Co-op has made to contact the company they use to distribute routers have failed, to the point that one customer service representative claimed the entire router system was down and there was no way of knowing when it would be possible to look into the issue. I have requested a refund for the period during which I have been unable to use the service. Two different members of the customer services team have promised to put in writing their agreement to refund me. Neither has followed through.

Does anyone know how to contact the Phone CoOp? Last week I emailed the 'help' address on their website - no response.
I have tried to 'phone them several times today, but can't get an answer after the intial greeting and pressing '2' for domestic customer.
I have messaged their Facebook page, but had no reply.

I have always appreciated the fact that when you call phone coop you get to speak to somebody in this country, who talks 'non-tech' and is dedicated to resolving your issue, which they have always achieved.

Abysmal service.

We’ve been customers for many, many years.

In recent times, it seems since they were taken over by Midcounties Coop, anything like good customer service and technical support has deteriorated, dramatically.

We have been without functioning broadband and landline now for 12 days. Little of any use seems to be being accomplished to fix this, despite still being charged.

I am increasingly disappointed with the wholesale absence of good customer service and the lack of anyone taking any ownership of problems at The Phone Coop in recent months.

It seems that there is a serious deficiency in staff training, a disinterest and unwillingness to do anything to help customers beyond the very bare minimum, and an attitude problem with some of their employees.

They use a ‘third party’ - who unsurprisingly couldn’t care less - if you have any technical problems ‘out-of-hours’.

There is no mention of this anywhere on their website (which is stuck in circa 1981).

Trying to find the name of anyone to complain to is impossible.

The Phone Coop (or what they now laughingly refer to as ‘your coop’) has zero transparency about their business and who works there, and it seems avoids accountability.

I would suggest you save yourself wasted time, effort and stress and look elsewhere for your personal and business telecoms needs.

Utterly useless. And this is just trying to give them my business! I've been sitting on their number 01608 434000 for ten minutes now, no answer. Time to go somewhere else.

I have no service of any kind outside of my home and when I have no access to WiFi. Presumably the problem is a fault with the SIM card service. In France over the weekend I was able to use roaming so I assume the fault is on the SIM card data side rather than anything physical about my card.

I first reported this 5 days ago on Thursday 25th August and spoke to someone calling himself Richard. I was promised a call back from the technical helpline but nothing happened.
I rang again on Friday 26th and was told that the earlier report had been lost and that a new one would be created and actioned. As of this morning nothing has happened.

When I rang again this morning I was cut off twice after being told to contact you on this email address or by Facebook.

The service and help I recieved while a business customer was generally good, apart from little errors in billing on a regular basis. I realised their services were considerably more expensive than other providers so I terminated my contract with them in March 2022. Five months later they are still sending me little bills for a service I no longer receive, seemingly unable to sort this out. I cannot recommend them until they get a grip on their pricing and eliminate the glitches in their billing system.

This month my internet broke, I rang the Phone Co-op ( I always get through to someone straight away). They tested out a few things, worked out the router was broke, sent me one out that day. It was extremely easy. I went over my mobile data this month and sent an email to ask for the limit to be retrospectively upped for the month so I didn't get charges, they rang me the next day and sorted it in about 2 minutes. The woman on the phone was absolutely lovely and efficient. I have been with them for about 5 years and have always had these kind of positive experiences.

Stay well away from this company! I signed up with this company for broadband and telephone, two weeks after my go live date i contacted them as their was no internet. I got an email back from them stating my go live date and any issue to phone them. I phoned them and got told their was an Openreach issue with my line and it was out of their hands, i told them i was going to go elsewhere and got told, "that was my choice"! I decided that being disabled i needed reliable telephone and internet and switched supplier. I then got threatning letters and emails and then a debt recovery company contacted me looking for £260 for leaving their company. They have now taken it to court in Grimsby but i intend to fight this. I will be taking a copy of every negative feedback on their company to court to show this company have a track record of not supplying what they state and when people do the obvious thing they send in debt recovery, they are liars and thieves and i intend to prove this in court and recommend everyone who gets treated badly by this company to put the complaint to Ofcom as i have just done, i for one will not roll over and play dead for this company!!

I had a problem with my internet. The phone co-op were absolutely fabulous. Whenever I called the support team, I was never left waiting long (The phone was often answered immediately.) The team were always helpful, honest and patient, trying out different ways to solve the problem. It took a few days- but we got there in the end. Thanks to all the staff at the Phone Co-op - great customer service!

In December 2021 this lot announced their decision to shut down their mobile PAYG service. Customers were given the option to transfer to a pay-monthly contract with no real advantage whatsoever, or move somewhere else - but in this case they would loose all their remaining credit! Now, in fairness this is stated in their PAYG T&C ["Upon Termination (by You or Us) or suspension of this Agreement, no credits or refunds will be given for unused Credit Balance.], which is not different from the T&C's of any other mobile phone operator. But this precisely my point: there is nothing ethical in this provider.

I would have expected that since the PAYG service is being shut by them and not by the customer, an ethical provider would have refrained from keeping the credit. Instead, they grabbed the cash like the others. It may not be theft, legally speaking, but it feels tremendously like it - especially coming from a self-proclaimed 'ethical' company. On Twitter someone asked to have their credit donated to charity and they were turned down with the risible excuse that "Regrettably our mobile services don't support short code texts."

I had been a customer of theirs for years, and I put up with their mediocre service out of the desire to support ethical alternatives, co-ops especially. But if this experience is any indication, they clearly are not living up to their claims. Avoid at all costs and look for better deals and better customer care. Others won't be 'ethical', but when push comes to shove neither was The Phone Co-op with its PAYG customers.

Been a PAYG customer for more than 5 years. Coverage in rural areas no problem at all, but - they are stopping the PAYG service and moving to PAYM. Signed up to swap over 2 mobile numbers to PAYM. initial contact good, but now emails not responded to, and I cannot use my mobile to call out anymore, so cannot call customer services. I'm not techie at all, just need a working mobile phone from an ethical supplier. These seem to be the only ethically minded company out there - Please contact me - I have sent many callback request forms and emails.

I strongly support co-operatives as a business model. I have been a loyal customer of the Phone Co-op for years. But their technical support and customer service has deteriorated dramatically. Emails go unanswered. I sent speed results to Technical support and got no...support.
It is a shame. I cannot recommend them anymore.

Please do not get a Fairphone contract with the Phone Co-op. We wanted to do the right thing and got two Fairphones. It has been a complete nightmare. One Phone failed in less than 12 months and trying to get it repaired was the worst customer experience possible. Fairphone and the phone co-op do not work together at all and you get bounced between the two of them for months on end. Fairphones are not fit for purpose and sadly neither is the phone co-op. We have had to give up on the phones and buy new ones and are stuck in a contract still paying for it all for over a year. Like most people we've had mobiles for over 20 years and have never had such a terrible experience as this. Avoid!