Quick exit

Mobile Coverage

The complaint
Mobile coverage upgrades promised were not being delivered.
The outcome
Early termination fees for affected customers were waived.

The issue

Man working at a computer, wearing a head set. At the end of 2017, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Systemic Investigations team was alerted to a potential issue by customers of Teal Telco*. 

The investigation

Analysis of Teal Telco’s complaints revealed a significant number of consumers were told their mobile coverage issues would be resolved by upgrade works, however customers never saw any improvement on their service. 

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman was concerned Teal Telco agents were providing inaccurate or misleading information about works to improve coverage. The Systemic Investigation team raised these issues directly with Teal Telco and began addressing the concerns. This included auditing Teal Telco’s coverage checker tool used by front line agents, undertaking quality assurance and improvements to front line agents’ procedures. 

The outcome

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman and Teal Telco also looked at reducing the number of mobile complaints Teal Telco received more generally. The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman provided complainant feedback on early termination fees for fixed term contracts when moving to premises. This focused on where Teal Telco no longer provided adequate mobile coverage. In response to this feedback, Teal Telco removed early termination fees in these circumstances, and allowed its Debt Collection team to offer more flexible payment arrangements for outstanding charges.

*Names have been changed to protect privacy

Billing and payments
Customer service
Setting up a service
Mobile phone

How we've helped other customers

Carlo was placed into further hardship after falling victim to a scam

Complaint
Carlo, a full-time student with limited income, was scammed into buying three mobile phones, leaving him with a $3,200 debt. He contacted BranchTel for help as he couldn’t afford to pay off the debt, causing him significant distress and hardship.
Outcome
During conciliation, BranchTel initially offered Carlo a payment plan of $180 per month, which he couldn’t afford. After raising concerns about this, BranchTel agreed to waive all of Carlo’s debt due to his severe financial hardship.
Mobile phone

Tamin Tutoring was charged an unfairly high early cancellation fee

Complaint
Tamin Tutoring signed up for an NBN service and equipment bundle with BlockTel but experienced frequent faults with slow and dropped video calls and inconsistent phone calls. When they tried to cancel due to these issues, BlockTel demanded over $7,000 for early termination.
Outcome
Tamin Tutoring didn’t want to pay this cancellation fee because the service never worked properly. After complaining to our office, the parties agreed that Tamin Tutoring could exit its contract and only pay 40 per cent of the cost of the cancellation fees.
Home phone
Internet
Mobile phone

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The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, culture and community.
We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and extend our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples from all nations of this land.