Snapshot of the year’s major complaints
Mobiles
In a year when mobile phone use soared to unprecedented levels across the country, complaints about mobile phone services have for the first time overtaken landlines as the leading source of complaints received by the TIO.Complaints figures detailed in the TIO Annual Report for 2008/09 show that we received 178 019 complaint issues about mobile phone services this year. Reflecting the increasing penetration and breadth of mobile services in the market, this volume of complaints amounts to an increase of 107.1% on last year’s figures.
Mobile Premium Services
With the energetic up take of smart phones, the TIO has continued to receive complaints about mobile premium services. These services attract a premium fee (for such products as ring tones, games, competitions, sports scores and the like) which is often not clearly understood.
While complaints about mobile premium services increased slightly over the course of the year in comparison to last year (from 13 899 to 15 653), they did fall significantly in the last quarter of the 08/09 year.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has registered a new industry code for premium services, which came into effect on 1 July 2009. Registration gives it legal force, so compliance with it by service providers is not optional. We discussed the new code in some detail in our Winter 2009 edition of TIO TALKS. For more info, see www.19sms.com.au.
Billing and Payments
The Annual Report also shows that Billing and Payment issues were the most common cause of complaint to the TIO. With this category including disputes about usage and administrative charges, as well as disputes concerning incorrect or unauthorised direct debits, the volume of complaints about billing and payments rose by 115%. Given the economic downturn and increased financial pressures on households and small businesses, this increase means the TIO is focusing on working with industry to improve their customer-related communications and processes.Complaints vs Complaints Issues
In various reports to consumers, industry and regulators, the TIO uses two different terms: ‘complaints’ and ‘complaint issues’. It is helpful to understand the distinction.
A complaint is an expression of grievance or dissatisfaction that falls within our powers (or ‘jurisdiction’) to investigate, and which the relevant service provider has had an opportunity to resolve, before the customer takes it up with us. However, each complaint may involve several different complaint issues. For example, a customer who complains about their landline bill may also be complaining about a fault with their landline, or a credit management issue.
So, this one ‘complaint’ may involve a number of different ‘complaint issues’. Over time we have noted an increase in the average number of issues per complaint. Recently, customer service has been a common secondary issue.Complaints by postcode
The maps in TIO Talks (PDF 3.38 MB/1pg) show the number of complaints the TIO received from July to September 2009, based on the consumer’s location.
These maps show that Victoria has the largest number of postcodes with more than 140 complaints. The postcodes including Cranbourne, Werribee and Hoppers Crossing have some of the highest complaint numbers in the region.
In New South Wales, the highest complaint numbers were for postcodes including Liverpool, Central Mangrove and Tacoma. Queenslandhad the postcode with the highest complaint numbers in the country. The postcode with Toowoomba reached 300 complaints, followed by Cairns, with 227 complaints. South Australia and Western Australia had somewhat lower complaint numbers, with the highest number of complaints in postcodes including Salisbury and Mandurah, respectively.Quarterly complaint statistics
The statistics report on members with 25 or more complaints logged against them in the June 2009 quarter.
As not all TIO members have agreed to provide details of their customer numbers, the complaint statistics provided here are non-standardised. It is therefore important for readers to be aware that a high number of complaints to the TIO about a member may reflect a larger customer base. It should also be remembered that TIO members provide a mixture of telephone, internet, mobile and mobile premium services, and that the number and nature of complaints will reflect this.Complaints against members by issue
Complaints against members - by issue and MPSI complaints against members - by issue.
These two tables show the number of complaints against members according to the issue about which the customer lodged a complaint.Complaints against members by level
Complaints against members - by level and MPSI complaints against member - by level.
These two tables show the number of complaints according to the level at which the complaint was resolved.