This Inquiry found the lack of an independent umpire is a significant gap in the consumer protection and regulatory framework. This gap leaves consumers and small businesses with no avenue to have their complaints about digital platforms independently resolved.
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The result for all participating providers, 6.5 complaints per 10,000 services in Operation (SIO), has decreased 9.7 per cent when compared to January-March 2015 (7.2) and 14.5 per cent when compared to April to June 2014 (7.6).
These results reflect the overall decrease in TIO new complaints, which reduced by 10.5 per cent during 2014-15. This is the lowest level of new complaints since 2007-08.
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) received 197,682 new complaints in 2010-11, an increase of almost 18 per cent on the previous year.
The 2011 TIO Annual Report, released online today, attributes the rise to mobile phone service faults and increased smart phones use.
“The record number of complaints made to the TIO is disappointing. Customers who have complained to us have been frustrated not only by mobile telephone problems, but also by deficient customer service and complaint handling,” Ombudsman Simon Cohen said.
Complaints as a proportion of telcos’ services in operation (SIO) dropped a further 15 per cent in the September quarter, according to the Telecommunications Complaints in Context report, released today.
The result for all participating providers, 5.5 complaints per 10,000 SIO, has decreased 15.4 per cent when compared to April-June 2015 (6.5) and 20.3 per cent when compared to July-September 2014 (6.9).
All industry participants’ complaints per 10,000 SIO decreased in the period. Telstra recorded its lowest result to date at 5.5.
Through our experience helping small business consumers resolve service complaints with their telco, we’ve come up with some tips for protecting your business when the unexpected occurs.
Before an outage happens, prepare a back-up plan
Most businesses rely on their phone and internet services but many don’t have a back-up plan to protect against financial loss.
Since July 2016, the proportion of complaints from small businesses to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman has steadily increased. At the end of the last financial year that proportion was 14.7 per cent with more than 19,000 complaints from small businesses about their phone and internet services. Many of these were complex, difficult to resolve and had a significant impact on small businesses.
The investigation into the causes of these complaints found:
The role of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman is to handle disputes. If you are in an emergency situation or require medical assistance, please call 000.
How we can help
If you have contacted your provider and are unhappy with the response, you can make a complaint with the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.
If you have not contacted your provider, or are unable to contact them, we can forward your complaint to your provider on your behalf.
The full report can be downloaded here: Loss of telephone numbers during migration to the NBN