Keep the receipt and the substantive response separate
An automated email can confirm delivery without addressing the issue. Save the date you contacted the on-demand provider, any acknowledgement and any later answer. Ofcom’s form asks what happened when the provider was contacted and provides space for correspondence. A clear timeline lets the reader see whether the problem is an unanswered complaint or dissatisfaction with the answer already given.
Read the two published waiting conditions
For the ordinary provider-first route, Ofcom’s instructions allow escalation when there is no acknowledgement within 10 working days, or an acknowledgement but no full response within 20 working days. They also allow escalation when the response is unsatisfactory. These are working-day conditions in the published process, not a promise that all matters will be resolved within twenty calendar days.
Check whether an exception applies
The form identifies situations where approaching Ofcom first is possible, including accessibility and specified potentially harmful material, and a service absent from the regulator’s provider list. It also directs advertising concerns to the ASA and warns that on-demand rules differ from broadcast rules. Choose the actual issue rather than copying a television complaint because both were watched on the same screen.
Prepare a concise account of the unresolved issue
Identify the service, programme title and streaming or download date, then explain the particular concern. Include the relevant provider correspondence and distinguish your observation from an assumed technical or editorial cause. Ofcom asks viewers to act promptly so it can request the programme. Retaining the programme link and episode details can make a later assessment possible even if the homepage promotion has changed.
Questions, answered
Does an automated receipt count as a full answer?
An acknowledgement and a substantive response are separate parts of the published process.
Are on-demand and broadcast programme rules identical?
Ofcom’s form explicitly says they differ.