TIO Annual Report 2006/07

Payphones

The TIO received 34 complaints about payphones. The TIO can take complaints only about faults and charging; it cannot investigate complaints about the location or removal of payphones. Where customers have complained to Telstra about the location of a payphone and remain dissatisfied, they may direct their complaint to the Australian Communications and Media Authority
(www.acma.gov.au).

Phonecards

Complaints about phonecards rose from 371 last year to 559 this year. The addition of substantially more keywords to the complaint category means that the TIO can capture these complaints in more detail.

The main sub-category of complaint – 188 complaints – was about disputed charges. Most commonly customers said they did not receive the amount of talk time they were promised at the point of sale. More concerning were complaints where a person was advised to call the central access number only to find that they had received a substantial bill as they had either:

• dialled an STD number or
• were charged substantial call costs as they had used a mobile phone.

Another significant area of complaint was the customer’s failure to be able to contact the phonecard company. This resulted in 75 complaints. Customers were also concerned about faulty, invalid or expired cards, which resulted in 56 complaints to the TIO.

Phonecard companies are usually small operations that can be hard for customers and the TIO to contact due to the limited information that is supplied with the cards. Phonecards can now been purchased over the internet as well as at newsagencies and other retailers.

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