Elsewhere in this issue of TIO Talks (Investigations Upate, page 4) we note the substantial number of complaints under a new category of customer service, Failure to Deal With Complaint, as well as the threefold increase in recorded breaches of the Complaint Handling Code.

These figures do not so much reflect new trends in customer service so much as a considered decision by the TIO to capture underlying problems in internal dispute resolution (IDR) within the telecommunications industry.

In the case of Failure to Deal With Complaint, the likelihood is that a failure to make good on an undertaking to a customer or to advise the customer of the outcome of a complaint, or even to return a customer’s call, will lead to a complaint to the TIO.

If the industry was serious about improving customer relations, these complaints would never have to be made. On the other hand, when customers do need to contact the TIO the industry often fails the test of its own self-regulatory mechanism, the Complaint Handling Code.

The code requires a provider to tell a customer with an unresolved complaint about their right of recourse to the TIO. It has long been the contention of consumer groups as well as the experience of the TIO that there is indisputable evidence of widespread industry non-compliance with this provision of the code. For instance, the TIO has consistently argued that members of the Scheme should include a message about the TIO and its telephone number on customers’ bills.

This is anathema to the industry, and TIO members regularly point to many other means by which they advise customers about the TIO, as well as their obligation under the Complaint Handling Code. The TIO’s own statistics, however, routinely show that this obligation is more honoured in the breach than in the observance, with no more than 15 per cent of complainants being told about the TIO by their provider – a figure confirmed by a recent survey.

The industry’s response to the TIO’s constant refrain on this point has largely been one of denial – a position aided by an inadequate industry compliance regime and a benign regulator. It is ironic than that the TIO has recently been criticised for failing the industry on these issues – a perfect example of shooting the messenger.

In the face of an unresponsive industry, the TIO decided in October last year to highlight the issue by asking complainants how their provider had dealt with their complaint and whether it had advised them of their right to call the TIO. The TIO is determined to continue this campaign until the industry demonstrates a willingness to address the problem.

John Pinnock
Ombudsman