Telco complaints decreasing, report shows

A new Communications Alliance report shows that the volume of complaints about telco service providers has been dropping.

Complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) as a proportion of services in operation (SIO) for service providers who participate in the report decreased to 6.2 complaints per 10,000 services for the period July–September 2018. The full report, including participant ratios, can be found here.

This is the third consecutive quarter in which the ratio had decreased, and is the lowest ratio since July–September 2016.

“This demonstrates that the improvement in complaint handling and customer service which re-emerged in February this year has been sustained and continues to deliver better outcomes for consumers,” said Communications Alliance CEO John Stanton.

“While the TIO annual report provides valuable insight, we welcome this up-to-date data reflecting the hard work put in by service providers along with co-regulatory actions by Minister Mitch Fifield, the ACCC and the ACMA.

“Industry sees these positive results as encouraging, and has committed to continue improving customer experience.”

Stanton also said that an upcoming revised Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code will expand the existing Complaints in Context report to include the top 10 recipients of TIO complaints, in addition to any providers who choose to voluntarily participate.

“This will give consumers a credible and comparative quarterly snapshot of how well their provider is managing customer service — the first time that such a comprehensive barometer has been available to Australian telecommunications customers.”

Complaints in Context is a quarterly report published by Communications Alliance with complaints data provided by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman. This quarter’s and previous reports can be found here.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/ArtemSam

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