Media Release

25 October 2001
Ombudsman Releases Annual Report Card on Telecommunications Industry

In its 2000/01 Annual Report, the TIO points to poor customer service, unreliable Internet access and mobile phone contracts as increasingly common causes of consumer complaint. As in previous years, billing disputes accounted for the largest proportion of complaints (29.8% of telephone service complaints and 39.4% of Internet service complaints).

For the first time, the TIO's Annual Report includes details of complaints against individual TIO members.

Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, Mr John Pinnock, said there were a number of factors that had contributed to the improvements:

"It seems that fewer mass service disruptions around the country during the year resulted in proportionally fewer complaints about faults," said Mr Pinnock. "Telstra's upgrade of the Customer Access Network has contributed to shorter waiting times for phone connections; and the Customer Service Guarantee, which penalises companies for delays in connections and fault repair, appears to be having a positive effect."

Internet billing
There was also improvement in the proportion of complaints from Internet users about billing problems. These dropped from 49% of all Internet-related complaints in 1999/00 to 39.4% in 2000/01. Mr Pinnock said this appeared to be due in large part to improved transparency in the billing systems of Internet service providers; however, there was still widespread misunderstanding of how Internet time and download volumes are accrued and calculated.

Customer service
The largest increase in complaints occurred in complaints about poor customer service. These rose from 6.9% to 15.8% of all telephone-related complaints, and from 6.6% to 14.8% of all Internet-related complaints.

"People are particularly frustrated by long call waiting times, discourteous or unhelpful staff, lack of technical support, and failure to escalate complaints," said Mr Pinnock. "Encouragingly, we did see some improvement in complaints about poor customer service in the last quarter of the year; hopefully this will be a continuing trend."

Internet access
An increased proportion of Internet users complained about Internet access problems, including problems with speed, drop-outs and outages. Access complaints accounted for 32% of all Internet-related complaints in 2000/01, compared to 26.3% the year before.

Mr Pinnock said that a contributing factor to the increase was rising consumer expectations of Internet services. "Customers are expecting more from their Internet service, especially those customers paying a premium for access marketed as 'high speed.' Users seem particularly frustrated by marketing promises of access speeds that are rarely achieved."

Mobile phone contracts
Of the 6,715 complaints raised about mobile phones, 59.7% related to mobile phone contracts, compared to 54.4% in the previous year. Complaints specifically about misleading advice regarding contracts accounted for 32% of mobile service complaints, compared to 25.4% in the previous year.

Mr Pinnock commented: "The conduct of dealer and agent representatives of mobile phone providers continues as a black mark on the industry. The TIO's experience is that there is significant consumer resentment about some of the dubious tactics employed by salespeople to sign up mobile phone customers."

- ENDS -

Complaint statistics and case studies are attached to this release.
Download the TIO's 2000/01 Annual Report in PDF format.

Read the abridged version of the 2000/01 Annual Report online now.

Media Enquiries:
TIO Public Affairs Officer
Tel: 03 8600 8700

Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Complaint Statistics

As one complaint can raise more than one issue, the 72,264 complaints lodged with the TIO during 2000/01 resulted in 80,710 issues raised. These statistics report on issues raised.

Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Case Studies

STD point of presence
A woman received a phone bill for over $500 for calls to her ISP over one month. The woman reported that she had been having problems connecting to the Internet and that when she called her ISP's technical help desk, she was advised to set the repeat dial option on her modem to 100 times. The woman's modem had therefore been repeatedly trying to access the Internet and was accruing phone call charges for each unsuccessful attempt. The problem was compounded because the woman had inadvertently chosen the wrong dial-up number when first setting up her Internet account, and was dialling an STD number every time her modem made a call to her ISP. Following TIO investigation, the ISP accepted partial responsibility for the charges and offered to pay half of the bill.

Claim for Customer Service Guarantee
A small business was in dispute with its telephone service provider over compensation it believed it was owed due to delays in the connection of seven telephone lines. During an investigation, the lengths of delay, the use of new and interim lines, and the validity of the Customer Service Guarantee in relation to the case were examined. In light of its investigation, the TIO recommended that the complainant be paid compensation for the delay in the connection of six of the seven lines, amounting to a total of $4,320.

Unauthorised transfer
A woman claimed that her elderly parents had been visited by a door-to-door sales representative from a telephone provider implying that he was associated with another well-known telephone company. The complainant claimed her parents were confused and believed they needed to sign the paperwork presented to them in order to stay with their existing company. The complainant's mother signed the form not realising she was transferring the service to another provider. Following a request to the service provider for information, the company investigated the matter and found there was a strong possibility that the sales representative may have made misleading claims. The company agreed to reverse the transfer and waive all the charges.

Incorrect directory listing
A small business complained that its phone number had been incorrectly listed in the White PagesTM directory and that it had not been able to sort out the problem directly with the phone company. The TIO assisted the business to claim compensation for remedial advertising so that the local community would still be able to contact it. The company compensated the business for the full amount of its claim.

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

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