ISPs the new bad guys on Ombudsman's list
The Office of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) released figures yesterday on the number of complaints about telecommunications providers -- with some undesired results for ISPs.
The TIO's report showed that complaint issues against ISPs have increased by 108.9 percent year-on-year for financial year 2007, with most complaints related to issues such as billing, access faults and customer service.
Deidre O'Donnell, the authority's new Ombudsman, stated that there was a direct link between the spike in complaints against ISPs and the 16.9 percent increase in complaints overall.
"Customers who had issues with their Internet service now make up almost a third of our complaint load," Donnell said in a statement released yesterday, adding that "customer service was a particular issue for Internet service consumers".
"Spikes like this are often caused by new product rollouts or a provider offering some kind of new service," said Anne Hurley, CEO of telco industry body Communications Alliance. "They're mostly explicable through these types of things."
The report also recorded a 30.9 percent increase in complaint issues against telecommunications providers over the last year.
The complaint issues category records complaints received by the Ombudsman by customers with more than one problem to report about their provider's service.
"We generally receive about 1.6 issues per complaint," said a TIO spokesperson, "but that's just worked out to an average, some customers may have up to six or seven with one provider."
Multiple service providers accounted for the highest number of complaints, with Telstra responsible for 38,279 complaints.
While Telstra and Optus accounted for a significant proportion of complaints, discount provider Dodo had over 19,000 complaints registered against it, a higher figure than any other mid-level provider.
The report also noted the problems arising from the recent trend amongst large service providers to offer "bundled" packages; service providers offer several types of service on one contract, usually with a discount. The report said: "Problems arise when customers are confused by the bill and it can be difficult to determine if the discount has been provided."
"These types of offers allowing customers to bundle their services just reflect that it's a complex industry," said Communications Alliance's Hurley.
"Complaints about billing and payments, including direct debits and capped and bundled phone plans, were a source of concern for all consumers," Ombudsman O'Donnell said.
While complaints have risen steadily overall, a number of initiatives put in place this year by the TIO and ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) have resulted in significant decreases in complaints in areas such as customer privacy and billing issues with mobile premium content.
In the landline service category, complaints relating to privacy issues have dropped by 47 percent year on year. The Ombudsman said: "This was probably due to the introduction, in May 2007, of the federal government's Do Not Call Register, which allows people to opt out of receiving certain telemarketing calls."
"The most important outcome is that these issues are dealt with by the provider," said Communications Alliance's Hurley.
"There is positive trend towards a large number of complaints being settled by the provider," she said, "up to 93 percent of complaints were resolved by the provider without having to consult the TIO."
The Communications Alliance is organising two roundtable meetings with industry members this month to discuss the findings of the TIO and ACMA annual reports.