Many people don't raise complaints with their telco, and for those who do, the process is lengthy and frustrating.
This research paper outlines survey findings commissioned by the TIO and undertaken by the CPRC to understand who experiences challenges with telco services in Australia and what the complaints experience is like for them.
The CPRC’s research reports:
Judi detailed how, due to the shutdown of overseas call centres, many telcos struggled to respond to their customers in the early stages of the pandemic, and this was the source of many financial issues for consumers. In this period, the TIO saw a 1500% year-on-year increase in consumers unable to contact their telco about an internet issue.
Friday 28 February 2020
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman welcomes the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) new measures requiring mobile providers to implement stronger identity verification processes before a mobile phone number can be transferred.
Australian telecommunication companies have agreements with various overseas networks to provide Australian customers with the ability to use their mobiles while overseas; these are called roaming agreements.
When you are roaming on another network, a mobile company from the country you are visiting will bill your usual mobile company for the calls using their network and these charges are passed on to you.
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) Limited welcomes the re-appointment of Professor the Hon. Michael Lavarch AO as Board Chair of its Board of Directors. He will commence his new three-year term from 15 July 2022.
The direction to better protect consumers in financial hardship is a significant step toward appropriate consumer safeguards in the telco sector.
While this is an important first step, the TIO encourages the government to continue to improve consumer protections through stronger regulation and consider the establishment of a registration scheme for telcos.
Rural resident Carmella* relies on her landline service for all her communication needs. However, frequent landline outages left her feeling isolated, and made it difficult to fix the fault.
Without a reliable landline, Carmella was worried she would have no service at all if an emergency happened, as there was no mobile reception on her property.
Update Wednesday 11/12/24
The TIO is now consulting on new guidance for members on clause 6.2 “Signposting”.
Receiving poor customer service can be stressful and time consuming. When your provider is not listening or communicating well, it can be challenging to understand what you need to do and get the right support.
The most common complaints we see about customer service issues involve:
When handling complaints involving customer service issues, we may ask you or your provider for extra information. This could include:
Read the submission (PDF, 361KB)
The proposed TCP Code improves on the current code, but it falls short of meeting community expectations for an essential services sector. Significant changes are required to ensure a strong consumer protection framework that will benefit both consumers and the telco industry.