Contents

1. From the Ombudsman’s desk: Complaints are a fact of life

2. Ombudsman receives Australia Day Honours

3. TIO to launch new Disability Action Plan

4. Effective complaint handling strategies - how good policy can achieve good results

5. Automatic Email Notification of Pending Level 2 Complaints to commence in February 2008

1. From the Ombudsman’s desk: Complaints are a fact of life

Ombudsman Schemes operate across a variety of industry and government sectors, and at the TIO we learn from similar schemes about common issues in complaint handling. While across all sectors there is growing complexity of complaints and growing consumer awareness of complaint avenues, all complaints have characteristics, which, once recognised, are important business intelligence.

The office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman has been handling complaints from the public for thirty years. Professor John McMillan, the current Commonwealth Ombudsman, recently presented ten lessons about complaint handling that emerged from thirty years of listening to what the public has to say about government*. These ten lessons, in my view, are extremely relevant to the telecommunications sector and I want to cover these in upcoming newsletters.

Complaints are a fact of life
Professor McMillan’s first lesson highlights that problems occur in every organisation and in every system, no matter how well designed or how efficient. Complaints are a fact of life and an organisation that says that it never receives complaints may be saying that it does not learn from its mistakes. Such a company may miss growth opportunities.

There are four key factors that mean that complaints are inevitable:

1. People in business make mistakes: this might be recording facts incorrectly, misplacing documents, miscalculating credits/adjustments, forgetting to update details.
2. The choice of products and services offered in today’s market is more prolific and complex than ever and every individual consumer reaction is impossible to predict.
3. Every service or product comes with a set of rules and for every rule there is a chance there will be a person that falls just outside that rule and wants to complain.
4. Despite all the new technologically enhanced ways to communicate, complaints are often about a breakdown in communication and a lack of understanding about what a business can offer or what it promises to its customer, rather than technical fixes.

If a company is willing to recognise that complaints are a part of business, having an appropriate complaint handling system in place will help to resolve individual complaints quickly and will also be a good source of information to help recognise and quickly resolve systemic problems.

* Thirty Years of Complaint Handling – What have we learnt?
Prof. John McMillan, Commonwealth Ombudsman

The TIO is a member of Australia and New Zealand Ombudsman Association www.anzoa.com.au
Deirdre O’Donnell also writes a regular column for Communicate, the Communications Alliance newsletter

2. Ombudsman receives Australia Day Honours

Congratulations to Deirdre O’Donnell who was awarded a Western Australian Public Service Medal for outstanding public service as the State Ombudsman for Western Australia.
The Chair of the Council of the TIO, Ms Virginia Hickey, said the award was due recognition of Ms O'Donnell's outstanding leadership skills.
"The TIO is fortunate to have a person of Deirdre's calibre as Ombudsman and on behalf of the Council I offer her our warmest congratulations."

3. TIO to launch new Disability Action Plan

On 28 February 2008, the TIO will launch its new Disability Action Plan.

The purpose of the TIO’s Second Disability Action Plan 2008 - 2010 is to ensure that the policies and practices of the office of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) treat people with disabilities equitably, and are inclusive of all its stakeholders including complainants, potential complainants, members, visitors, community organisations, government bodies and TIO staff. The Second Disability Action (DAP) builds on the TIO’s inaugural DAP (registered with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, April 2003).

By adopting this DAP we are seeking to ensure that all people have equal access to the TIO’s services and are not restricted by physical, communication or attitudinal barriers.

The Federal legislation governing disability access is the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA). The aim of the DDA is to maintain the human rights, dignity and equality of people with disabilities by giving them access to mainstream information and services.

From 28 February 2008 you will be able to access a copy of the DAP online. Alternatively, you can contact Byron Thompson for a copy of the DAP in a format to best suit your needs.
Contact: members@tio.com.au or see the website for other contact methods.

4. Effective complaint handling strategies - how good policy can achieve good results

Incentive-based payment arrangements have proven, in other industries, to be an effective way of collecting money from consumers who encounter difficulties paying unexpectedly high bills.

The Energy and Water Ombudsman of Victoria (EWOV) shares a case study that shows how a well-planned hardship and credit management policy can result in a win/win outcome to a complaint that may have seemed straightforward at first telling.

Mr W had received two higher than expected electricity bills — $1,854.00 for the period September 2005 to December 2005 and $1,163.15 for March 2006 to June 2006. His usual quarterly bills were between $200 and $400. He said that his electricity retailer told him the bills were based on actual meter reads and correctly reflected his usage.

Contacted by EWOV, the electricity retailer confirmed this. It also confirmed that neither a meter test nor an energy audit had been conducted.

EWOV’s review of Mr W’s bills showed that the bill for September 2005 to December 2005 was based on an actual meter read — but included a catch-up amount because his previous bill was based on an estimate. EWOV also found that, although Mr W’s usage increased in the March 2006 to June 2006 billing period, it fell again the following period.

EWOV obtained a meter test and arranged for an on-site energy audit. The meter was shown to be working correctly. The energy audit indicated that more electricity was being used at the property than would be expected with the current appliances and only one occupant. The heater was found to be faulty. The retailer acknowledged the energy audit, but pointed out that the electricity had been used and it was Mr W’s equipment that was faulty. Following the investigation, EWOV found that the retailer had charged the consumer correctly.

Mr W didn’t want to pay the bills off and, before contacting EWOV, he hadn’t been making payments.

Recognising the financial situation the high bills placed Mr W in, the retailer credited his account with $300. To help him pay the remainder off, the retailer offered him a 3:1 incentive plan. For every three monthly payments of $225 he made in the next 12 months, it would credit his account with a payment of $225. Providing he stuck to the payment arrangement, he’d receive a total credit of $900 (4 x $225). Mr W was satisfied with this arrangement.

Without this agreement, the debt may otherwise have entered a drawn-out debt collection process with no guarantees that any money would ultimately be paid. In this situation, the energy retailer’s incentive plan meant that it would be recouping a large proportion of the bill and avoiding debt recovery costs.

To find out where you can find more information about effective hardship and credit management policies, contact the Member Communications Department at members@tio.com.au.

5. Automatic Email Notification of Pending Level 2 Complaints to commence in February 2008

As you would be aware, the TIO’s Member Communications section has been working with Members notifying them weekly of complaints that have been reclassified from Level 1 to Pending Level 2.

Member response so far has been positive and the data provided has allowed Members to follow up with their customers and save tens of thousand dollars in TIO costs.

From 15 February 2008, in lieu of the weekly spreadsheet, you will receive an automatic email notification as soon as a complaint is classified at Pending Level 2. The email will be sent to the same email address as Level 1 automatic email notifications.

What difference will automatic email notification make?

• The basic difference is that Pending level 2 notifications will “trickle” in rather than arrive in a batch each week.

• Another difference is that you may have to organise a way to manage the data supplied as it will not necessarily arrive in the inbox Member Communications has been using so far to notify you of Pending Level 2. The notification will now go to the same email as Level 1 notification.

If you would like to confirm that you have email notification set up or if you have any queries, please contact Byron Thompson on 03 8600 8787.