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Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman
connect.resolve

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Update report for 1 July - 31 December 2009
Information on original connect.resolve report
Information on campaign launch
Contact us

Release of update report on the Telecommunication Industry Ombudsman’s connect.resolve campaign

In 2009, the TIO embarked on a ground-breaking campaign aimed at encouraging the telecommunications industry to re-focus on customers and their experiences.

The six month connect.resolve campaign, which ran from January to June 2009, resulted in an overall stabilisation in complaint numbers, after almost 18 months of sustained growth.

After the campaign ended, the TIO emphasised its commitment to continue working with the industry to improve customer service and complaint handling practices.

As part of that commitment, we released an update report on complaint statistics from July to December 2009, the six months immediately after the connect.resolve campaign ended.

See 'Complaints to the TIO about Customer Service and Complaint Handling: Update report for the period 1 July - 31 December 2009' (PDF 5.15Mb,
23 pages)

Information on original connect.resolve report

On 24 August 2009 the TIO released the report on its connect.resolve campaign.

In the report, former TIO Ombudsman Deirdre O’Donnell says:

“The connect.resolve campaign was the TIO’s call to action to the telecommunications industry to refocus on customers and their experiences. All indications are that the industry had heard that call.

“The statistics from the 6 month campaign show an overall stabilisation in complaints to the TIO, after almost 18 months of sustained growth.

“…some our major companies have stepped up to the challenge, with Chief Executive Officers noting they have made improvements in their processes.

However, the proportion of complaints about customer service-related matters has remained unacceptably high, and the industry still has much work to do if consumers are to be convinced their voices are also being heard.”

See also:

 



Next steps

At the company level, several CEOs of the TIO’s largest member companies have publicly committed to continue to address customer service as a priority.

And the industry as a whole is committed to finding ways to improve its customer service through initiatives of Communications Alliance.

The TIO will continue to report on complaints about customer service and complaint handling, including in our quarterly TIO Talks newsletter, and we will work with our members to provide them with complaint data that helps them better understand what their customers are telling the TIO.



Campaign background

Over the past two to three years, increasing numbers of the consumers who call the TIO have been telling us about their frustration and concern at being given the run around by their service provider, or about feeling let down because actions promised were not followed through.

Customer complaints often involve basic matters. They can be about having to wait for a long time to speak with company representatives or getting transferred repeatedly between departments. Or they can be about providers not fulfilling straightforward requests, for example to change an address or cancel a service. Increasing complaints about such experiences from consumers indicate a real need for improvement in the fundamental areas of customer service and complaint handling.

These complaints were the catalyst for what became the TIO’s connect.resolve campaign, which ran between January and June 2009. The overall aim of the campaign, through highlighting such customer experiences, was to encourage the telecommunications industry to focus on improving its customer service and complaint handling systems, as a priority.

See also:




Contact us about the campaign

Please contact Mr John DuBois, the TIO's Communications Manager, with your questions about the connect.resolve campaign:

Telephone: 03 8600 8378 or 0417 559 287
Email: tio@tio.com.au

  
 

 

  
  Last updated: 24 August 2009  
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