11. Annual Report Overview
The TIO handled 87,593 complaints during the 2006 financial year, an 11.0% increase on 2005. A complaint
is an expression of grievance or dissatisfaction that falls within the jurisdiction of the TIO and which the relevant member* has had the opportunity to resolve.
The TIO breaks complaints down into complaint issues. Each complaint may consist of one or more issues. For example, during the course of a phone call to the TIO a person may complain about landline billing and a fault with their mobile handset.
Customer service, contracts, and premium rate SMS messages were some of the leading causes of complaint this year.
Complaints about premium rate SMS messages rose by 231% taking the mobile phone billing category, of which SMS complaints are a sub-category, to the most complained about issue during 2006.
Contract complaint issues more than doubled in the landline and internet categories and declined slightly in mobile services.
Many people said that the information provided when they signed a contract was not backed up when the products and services were delivered.
Top ten complaint issues 2006
Category |
Number |
% of Total |
Billing (mobile) |
15,210 |
11.9% |
Customer service (mobile) |
13,740 |
10.8% |
Billing (landline) |
13,725 |
10.8% |
Customer service (landline) |
13,106 |
10.3% |
Contracts (mobile) |
8,456 |
6.6% |
Faults (mobile) |
7,416 |
5.8% |
Customer service (internet) |
7,059 |
5.5% |
Credit control (mobile) |
5,434 |
4.3% |
Billing (internet) |
5,385 |
4.2% |
Credit control (landline) |
5,221 |
4.1% |
* All telephone and internet service providers are required by law to join the TIO scheme.
A more comprehensive copy of the TIO’s 2006 Annual Report may be obtained by clicking here or by phoning 03 8600 8701.
