TIO Annual Report 2003/04

Case Studies

Intermittent Faults

The complaint:

A complainant in rural Queensland said her line had been regularly dropping out since mid-2003. The problem became worse when it rained.

TIO Response:

When the Member responded to the TIO's formal investigation it provided fault reports that indicated that the complainant had first reported the fault in late 2003. However, from late November 2003 to February 2004 the complainant had made numerous complaints about repeated dropouts and having no dial tone. This only ceased once the Member carried out major works on its network. The service provider claimed that each fault reported was caused by a different problem with the network, and the faults were therefore unrelated, for the purposes of the Customer Service Guarantee (CSG). The Member claimed that it had rectified most of the faults within the required timeframes. The Member agreed to pay an amount under the CSG for one period of delay, but denied liability for the four-month period.

The Outcome:

While the TIO was not convinced that the faults were separate in nature, it declined further investigation of this complaint because the calling-pattern analysis of the period before and after the fault showed no major difference in call numbers and durations. It would therefore be extremely difficult to argue that the service had been rendered wholly or partly unworkable for the purpose of CSG rebates. Additionally, the Member had provided other credits in response to the complaints, and the TIO therefore believed that the outcome was reasonable.

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