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Home | News | Media Statements | Releases - 1999 | Record telephone fault complaints to the TIO

Media Release

June 1 1999
Record telephone fault complaints to the TIO

Complaints about telephone faults to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) have risen to an all time high of almost 12% of cases according to the TIO’s quarterly newsletter, TIO Talks.

Telephone faults include static on the line, calls dropping out, no dial tone, crossed lines, and not being able to make or receive calls. They can be caused by storm damage, floods or heavy rain, accidents that affect telephone lines, animals or birds eating through or machinery cutting cabling and general wear and tear.

“Some states have experienced severe weather conditions in recent months. However, a comparison of quarterly figures over the past two years shows the proportion of complaints about faults has been rising steadily. This trend has continued into the March quarter and resulted in the highest proportion of complaints about faults ever recorded by the TIO,” said Ombudsman Mr John Pinnock.

Proportion of Complaints to the TIO About Telephone Faults
Quarter Ended	%	Quarter Ended	%	% Point Increase
March 1999	11.8	March 1998	9.8	2
December 1998	7.3	December 1997	6.6	7
September 1998	7.6	September 1997	4.8	2.8
June 1998	8.3	June 1997	4.0	4.3

More than 75% of fault complaints made this quarter were about delays in fault repair; the remainder related to recurring faults and missed appointments.

Mr Pinnock explained that the Customer Service Guarantee (CSG) provides a means for claiming compensation for delays in fault repair but phone companies can be exempt from the guarantee if a fault is the result of circumstances beyond the company’s control.

“Due to bad weather in a number of states in the last few months, carriers have claimed exemptions from making CSG payments to many customers who have experienced faults caused by weather damage” Mr Pinnock said.

Customers should report faults to their phone company, find out how long it will take to repair, and allow time for the company to make the repair.

If the fault continues the TIO advises consumers to contact the company again, as a technician may have attended to the fault and believed it to be fixed. After a failed repair attempt, a fault should receive priority attention.

The CSG states that a fault in a metropolitan area must be repaired by the end of the next full working day after it is reported, by the end of the second working day in rural areas and at the end of the third working day in remote areas.

If these time limits are not met, the customer is entitled to claim compensation which is payable at the rate of the monthly line rental for every working day of delay – after five days of delay it is payable at 40 dollars for every working day of delay. Compensation is also payable if a technician misses an appointment. Carriers are required to advise customers of their rights under the CSG.

The TIO can investigate complaints about faults if the customer and company have not been able to sort out the problem. The TIO will ask the company to provide an explanation for the fault and may request technical testing to be carried out. It will determine a repair date, negotiate interim service for the customer and ensure that compensation is paid if due.

The TIO is a free service. As the TIO is an office of last resort, customers must try to resolve complaints with their phone company or Internet Service Provider before contacting the TIO. Complaints can be lodged on freecall 1800 062 058 or at www.tio.com.au.

Backgrounder - TIO Talks 16
Tuesday 1 June 1999

State distribution of telephone fault complaints from 1 January 1999 to 31 March 1999
State	%
New South Wales	43.1
Western Australia	5.4
Victoria	25.6
South Australia	4.6
Queensland	12.6
ACT	1.7
Tasmania	5.5
Northern Territory	1.5

•The TIO logged a total of 15, 712 cases in the quarter ending 31 March, 1999, a 23.6% increase from the previous quarter.
•A total of 1,755 complaints to the TIO for the quarter were about telephone faults.
•More than 1,500 complaints about customer transfers were logged for the quarter, accounting for 10% of telephone service complaints - up from 9.3% last quarter and 8.5% the quarter before.
•Complaints about mobile phones rose this quarter from 8.2% to 10.4% of telephone service cases. Most complaints were about disputed contracts, others related to coverage, and equipment and network problems.
•Cases against Internet service providers made up 5.3% of TIO’s cases compared to 5% the previous quarter.
•Thirty-eight complaints about Internet privacy issues were logged, compared with 17 cases last quarter.

Major Telephone Service Issues	%	Major Telephone Service Issues	%
Billing	30.8	Billing	55.1
Connection/Service Provision	13.4	Access	17.2
Faults	11.8	Contracts	7.5
Mobiles	10.4	Provision of Service	5
Customer Transfer	10.2	Privacy	4.6
Credit Control	7.3
Privacy	2.8

Telephone Fault Case Studies

Case 1

A man living in a regional area arranged two weeks in advance to have a phone connected at his new metropolitan residential address. Prior to moving in he was informed by the phone company that the new line had been tested and no faults had been found. However, on calling his new number he received a constant engaged signal. After a number of calls to the company, a technician visited the man’s house and found wiring and cable problems. Three weeks after the man’s initial request to have the phone connected, the fault was fixed. In accordance with the Customer Service Guarantee (CSG), the company credited the man’s account one month’s line rental for every working day of delay after the fault was first reported.

Case 2

A woman in a metropolitan area reported that her phone was dead following an electrical storm. The fault, the result of a lightning strike, was repaired 10 days later. The woman requested compensation under the Customer Service Guarantee (CSG) which requires faults in metropolitan areas to be repaired by the end of the next working day after being reported. However, the phone carrier argued that, as the fault was due to circumstances beyond its control, it was exempt from paying compensation. The company wrote to the woman apologising for the inconvenience caused by the fault. The woman was one of a large number of people affected by the storms who were ineligible to claim CSG compensation.

Case 3

A small retailer experienced a fault on his phone which prevented him from using EFTPOS facilities. As the fault was repaired within the CSG time limit (by the end of the next working day after it had been reported), the shop owner was not entitled to compensation under the CSG. However, the shop owner claimed that his business had suffered over the 27 hours he was without EFTPOS facilities. The TIO advised the man to collect evidence of his loss of income and lodge a compensation claim with the phone company for loss of business.

Ends

An electronic copy of TIO Talks 17 is available on the TIO website, www.tio.com.au.

For further media information, please contact TIO Public Affairs on 03 8600 8738 or 0403 601 532.

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Media Release

June 1 1999 Record telephone fault complaints to the TIO

June 1 1999
Record telephone fault complaints to the TIO