Ofcom’s £28 million Virgin Media fine: A wake-up call for consumer-facing businesses

Consumer-facing businesses are facing more scrutiny than ever. Following several recent enforcement actions by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Ofcom has now issued Virgin Media with a record £28 million fine after finding the company made it unnecessarily difficult for customers to cancel their contracts or switch to another provider.

Although this case is about a telecoms company, the wider message applies across many sectors. It’s another sign that regulators are looking much more closely at how businesses actually treat customers in practice, not just what their policies or terms and conditions say.

What happened?

Ofcom found that between January 2022 and September 2024, millions of customer calls weren’t handled properly. Customers trying to cancel were often passed between different departments, left on hold for long periods, disconnected, or had their cancellation requests delayed or not processed. Many people had to repeat themselves several times before their request was finally processed.

One of the biggest concerns was Virgin Media’s commission structure. Ofcom concluded that it encouraged staff to keep customers from leaving, with financial incentives that rewarded retention over helping customers complete a cancellation. Rather than blaming individual employees, Ofcom said the problems pointed to wider failings in the company’s systems, training, management and oversight.

Customer journeys are getting much closer attention

For a long time, businesses have focused on customer journeys from a commercial perspective, looking at sales, retention and customer loyalty. Regulators are now looking at those same journeys from a consumer protection angle.

In this case, Ofcom wasn’t just interested in what Virgin Media’s contract said about cancelling. It wanted to know what actually happened when customers tried to exercise that right. If the process creates unnecessary obstacles or makes it harder for people to leave, that can become a compliance issue.

This is part of a wider trend. Businesses should expect regulators to examine the whole customer journey, from sales and sign-up through to renewals, cancellations and complaints handling.

The question regulators are increasingly asking is: can customers easily understand and exercise their rights?

Incentives matter

Another interesting part of the decision is the focus on staff incentives.

Ofcom found that the commission arrangements encouraged contact centre staff to prioritise retaining customers rather than processing cancellations.

Many businesses use bonus schemes linked to sales, customer retention, upselling or reducing customer churn. There’s nothing wrong with these arrangements in themselves, but businesses should think carefully about whether they could unintentionally encourage behaviour that conflicts with consumer protection rules.

Outsourcing doesn’t remove responsibility

The decision also reminds businesses that outsourcing customer services doesn’t mean outsourcing accountability.

Many organisations rely on third-party contact centres, but regulators still expect the business itself to make sure customers are being treated fairly. That means having proper oversight, monitoring performance, carrying out audits where appropriate and testing customer outcomes rather than simply relying on contractual arrangements.

The CMA is taking a similar approach

Ofcom’s action comes as the CMA is making full use of its new consumer enforcement powers under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA).

In June 2026, the CMA fined StubHub UK £889,200 for using “drip pricing”, where mandatory service and delivery fees only appeared at the final stage of the checkout process.

During the same month, Marks Electrical was fined £720,000 after customers buying online were automatically opted into appliance recycling and packaging removal services through pre-ticked boxes, rather than actively choosing those services themselves.

These followed the CMA’s £4.2 million fine against AA and BSM in April 2026. Together, these cases show that regulators are increasingly prepared to issue significant financial penalties where businesses fail to meet consumer protection requirements.

What should businesses be doing now?

The recent decisions from both Ofcom and the CMA should prompt consumer-facing businesses to take another look at their customer journeys from beginning to end.

Some key areas to review include:

• Are cancellation processes clear, simple and easy for customers to complete?
• Are all mandatory fees shown upfront during the sales and checkout process?
• Are customers actively choosing optional products and services, rather than being opted in automatically?
• Do commission and bonus schemes create incentives that could drive behaviour which Is inconsistent with consume law requirements?
• Are contact centre teams being monitored to make sure customers are treated fairly?
• If customer services are outsourced, is there enough oversight of those providers?

A changing approach to enforcement

Taken together, the Virgin Media, StubHub, Marks Electrical and AA/BSM decisions suggest that consumer enforcement is entering a new phase. Regulators are paying less attention to what’s written on paper and far more attention to what customers actually experience.

For businesses, compliance is no longer just about having the right legal wording in contracts. It also means making sure day-to-day processes, technology, customer service teams and incentive structures all work in a way that supports fair treatment of consumers.

Businesses that review these areas now are likely to be in a much stronger position than those that wait until a regulator comes knocking.