Aerial Direct: most-reported complaints
Automated analysis of 472 public Trustpilot reviews published 2026-01-05 to 2026-09-11. TrustScore 4.8 from 19,722 total reviews — see the Trustpilot page. Quick answer: is Aerial Direct legit? Issues below reflect what reviewers reported, not findings of wrongdoing.
Reviewers most often report issues with customer support, specifically citing unhelpful agents (34% of complaints) and unreachable representatives (28%). Other frequently mentioned concerns include poor core service (18%) and billing errors (13%). The trend for unhelpful support is falling, while reports of unreachable support are rising. Complaints regarding core service and billing errors remain flat.
How to reach Aerial Direct
These are the contact details Aerial Direct publishes on its Trustpilot profile, as of our last check on 2026-09-23 — phone 01329 558 558, email [email protected], address 1 Barnes Wallis Road, Portsmouth, PO15 5UA, GB.
The company claimed its Trustpilot profile on 2015-05-12, uses Trustpilot’s paid features, and last replied to a negative review on 2026-08-05. Trustpilot ranks it 20 of 96 in Telecommunications Service Provider. We last checked this profile on 2026-09-23 and found 19 new reviews. These are facts Trustpilot publishes about the profile, as of our last harvest.
Companies House: AERIAL DIRECT LIMITED (no. 08043921), active, incorporated 2012 (14.3 years); next accounts due 2027-06-30, last accounts filed 2026-05-17, 2 registered charges. 2 current officers (3 on record historically); 2 filings in the last 12 months (61 filings on record). official record — public register facts, not an indicator of wrongdoing; officer changes are routine in many company structures. Live Companies House status as of 2026-09-23.
Live service status: statuskit.com.
Forum footprint: 14 MoneySavingExpert forum discussions mention this company (browse). Roughly 0 of the top, relevance-sorted search results were posted in the last 90 days — an approximate figure by construction, not a true recency count. Recent thread titles: “Aerial Direct”, “Aerial Direct mis-selling”, “Connecting loft aerial direct to tv...”.
Elsewhere: 4.4★ on Google (1,900 reviews)
TrustScore over time
4.8 → 4.8 across 14 census measurements since 2026-08-11. Our own record, independent of Trustpilot’s display.
Reply behaviour over time
Solid: % of negative reviews replied to. Dashed: typical days to reply. Both as reported on this company’s Trustpilot profile, recorded whenever our census re-checked it and a figure had changed — the gaps between points are not equal: 2026-08-11 (98%, 24.7d) · 2026-08-14 (97%, 24.7d) · 2026-08-18 (96%, 24.7d) · 2026-08-21 (94%, 24.4d) · 2026-08-24 (94%, 24.4d) · 2026-08-27 (93%, 24.4d) · 2026-09-01 (92%, 27.5d) · 2026-09-04 (91%, 27.5d) · 2026-09-07 (90%, 27.5d) · 2026-09-11 (89%, 27.5d) · 2026-09-14 (89%, 27.5d) · 2026-09-17 (89%, 27.5d) · 2026-09-20 (89%, 27.5d) · 2026-09-23 (89%, 27.5d).
Severity: 39% of this company’s 61 graded complaints were classified as severe (money lost, an essential service cut off, or a problem unresolved for months). See the harm index.
1★ share of negative reviews over time
Share of 1–3★ Trustpilot reviews that were 1★
In July 2024, 74% of 19 one-to-three-star reviews were 1★; in June 2026, 75% of 12.
Counted from July 2024 onward — the period for which our capture of 1★, 2★ and 3★ reviews is complete for all three. Months with fewer than 10 such reviews are omitted.
Reviewers here waited a median of 0.9 days between the experience and publishing their negative review (347 reviews record both dates).
What their policy promises
refund window: 14 days
“Consumer Contracts Regulations do not apply to business-to-business contracts, therefore a 14-day cooling off period does not apply for O2 Business agreements.”
refund window: 90 days
“The customer may give 30 days notice to cancel this agreement if AD do not supply the agreed equipment or a suitable replacement within 90 days.”
refund window: 90 days
“Where an exclusive tastecard membership is offered as a promotion, Customers will receive email confirmation on how to claim and will have 90 days from receiving their confirmation email on how to claim their tastecard m”
refund window: 24 months
“The tastecard membership will be valid for an exclusive twenty-four (24) months from activation date.”
Quoted verbatim from the company’s own published policy (source page); complaint counts are census classifications. As of 2026-09-12.
Policy-page monitoring
We monitor this company’s published policy page for changes. No changes have been detected since we started watching on 2026-09-14.
Automated change detection on the company’s own published policy page — a record of when the page changed, not a judgement on what changed.
Measured reply time: across 466 negative reviews that received a public reply, the median wait was 6.9 days — the company profile reports an average of 27 days. The two are measured differently: ours counts only replies we captured to negative reviews.
Reply quality: of 466 company replies to negative reviews analysed, 25% engaged with the specific problem and 68% were generic templates.
16% of its 446 recent 5★ reviews came from accounts that had written only that one review when we captured it (the median across companies is about 39%). A high share is a reason to look closer, not evidence of fake reviews.
Sector benchmark: support unhelpful makes up 34% of this company’s complaints vs a 38% median across 97 ranked companies in its sector.
Review velocity: 2,159 of this company’s 19,722 Trustpilot reviews (11%) were written in the last 12 months.
What are the most common complaints about Aerial Direct?
Support unhelpful
21 reports · 34% of complaintsfalling“we was still charged”
The company replied on 2026-02-07: “Hi Maria, We’d really like the opportunity to help resolve this for you. Please contact our Customer Care team on 01329 558558, where we can securely verify your account details and work towards a…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“Rang to get only the PUK number and was transferred 5 times to different department”
The company replied on 2026-02-07: “Hi Kat, We’re sorry to hear you feel this way and that your experience has been frustrating. In respect of your PAC request, under Ofcom regulations PAC codes are generated directly by the network…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“asked for a refund 4 weeks later still no refund”
The company replied on 2026-07-06: “Thank you for taking the time to leave your review. We're sorry to read about your experience and appreciate how frustrating this must have been. Billing, Direct Debits and refunds are administered…”
Our classifier read this reply as a deflection.
Support unreachable
17 reports · 28% of complaintsrising since 2026-07“Unable to message or ring 8002 to pay and change bank details”
“you changed my o2 package without my knowledge and I received a bill for £500 to pay”
The company replied on 2026-07-06: “Thank you for taking the time to leave your review. We're sorry to read about your experience and the frustration this situation has caused. We understand that your concerns have been raised with O2…”
Our classifier read this reply as a deflection.
“You can rarely get through on their 'phone lines and have to wait for a call back.”
The company replied on 2026-06-02: “Hi Avril, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We're sorry to read that you've been dissatisfied with both the service you've received and the time taken to resolve the issue…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to escalate.
Poor core service
11 reports · 18% of complaintssteady“we was still charged”
The company replied on 2026-02-07: “Hi Maria, We’d really like the opportunity to help resolve this for you. Please contact our Customer Care team on 01329 558558, where we can securely verify your account details and work towards a…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“since swapping I'm constantly cut off being totally ripped off paying £36 a month for sim only”
“you changed my o2 package without my knowledge and I received a bill for £500 to pay”
The company replied on 2026-07-06: “Thank you for taking the time to leave your review. We're sorry to read about your experience and the frustration this situation has caused. We understand that your concerns have been raised with O2…”
Our classifier read this reply as a deflection.
Billing errors
8 reports · 13% of complaintssteady“we was still charged”
The company replied on 2026-02-07: “Hi Maria, We’d really like the opportunity to help resolve this for you. Please contact our Customer Care team on 01329 558558, where we can securely verify your account details and work towards a…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“you changed my o2 package without my knowledge and I received a bill for £500 to pay”
The company replied on 2026-07-06: “Thank you for taking the time to leave your review. We're sorry to read about your experience and the frustration this situation has caused. We understand that your concerns have been raised with O2…”
Our classifier read this reply as a deflection.
“asked for a refund 4 weeks later still no refund”
The company replied on 2026-07-06: “Thank you for taking the time to leave your review. We're sorry to read about your experience and appreciate how frustrating this must have been. Billing, Direct Debits and refunds are administered…”
Our classifier read this reply as a deflection.
Contract term changes
7 reports · 12% of complaintssteady“she was unidated by phone calls from Aerial, she actually thought she was speaking to an O2 salesperson”
The company replied on 2026-02-07: “Hi Nicola, We’re very concerned to read this and genuinely want to help. Please contact our Customer Care team on 01329 558558, quoting this review, so we can securely verify the account details and…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to escalate.
2 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“I was initially bamboozled into what transpired to be an 02 "business" contract”
The company replied on 2026-02-07: “Hi Les, We’d really like the opportunity to help resolve this for you. Please contact our Customer Care team on 01329 558558, where we can securely verify your account details and work towards a…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“must pay a ridiculous price until 2027 unfair and no regard for it's customers.”
The company replied on 2026-07-06: “Thank you for taking the time to leave your review. We're sorry to hear that you're unhappy with your current agreement. We appreciate your concerns regarding your monthly charges and understand your…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
Misleading pricing
7 reports · 12% of complaintsfalling“she was unidated by phone calls from Aerial, she actually thought she was speaking to an O2 salesperson”
The company replied on 2026-02-07: “Hi Nicola, We’re very concerned to read this and genuinely want to help. Please contact our Customer Care team on 01329 558558, quoting this review, so we can securely verify the account details and…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to escalate.
2 readers marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“I was initially bamboozled into what transpired to be an 02 "business" contract”
The company replied on 2026-02-07: “Hi Les, We’d really like the opportunity to help resolve this for you. Please contact our Customer Care team on 01329 558558, where we can securely verify your account details and work towards a…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“Was led to believe they were O2. They did not explain that they weren’t”
The company replied on 2026-02-07: “Hi Owillz, We’d really like the opportunity to help resolve this for you. Please contact our Customer Care team on 01329 558558, where we can securely verify your account details and work towards a…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
Compare Aerial Direct with…
Method: reviews are classified into a fixed complaint taxonomy by an automated reader; every category shown is backed by at least two verbatim quotes from distinct reviews. Trends are computed from dated review counts only. Negative reviews are deliberately over-sampled for evidence depth; headline percentages use an unbiased recent sample only. Report updated 2026-09-11.