Conroy: Service levels still not good enough

James Riley
Monday, 24 August 2009 12:25

IT Industry - Market

Spiralling complaints about the service levels of Australia’s largest phone and internet companies has levelled off in the past six months – but not enough to convince Government to withdraw a threat of regulatory intervention.

And consumer groups remain unconvinced the industry is doing enough to address the frustrations of Australian users.

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman released its Connect.Resolve report into the telco industry’s customer service performance, showing the number of complaints increased 1.8 per cent compared with a 47 per cent rise in 2007-08.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy welcomed the TIO numbers, acknowledging that the sharp rise in the number of complaints had been arrested. But he warned Government would impose a regulatory regime to improve customer service if industry was not able to bring down the number of complaints from consumers.

"I remain concerned that the number of consumer complaints being registered is simply too high and industry is not doing enough," Senator Conroy said.

"We will continue to work with industry to address this issue, but as I have previously warned, regulatory options will be considered if consumer interests are not adequately protected," he said.

Earlier this year the Minister wrote to the Communications Alliance, the TIO, the Australian Media and Communications Authority and other key industry groups outlining expectations on service levels.

"I made it clear that industry should take immediate action to reduce the volume of complaints received by the TIO," Senator Conroy said. He welcomed the Communications Alliance decision to convene a 'customer service summit' this week to address to issue.

Ombudsman Deirdre O’Donnell said the stabilisation demonstrated that the collaborative approach of the Connect.Resolve process was working – but said the industry still had improvements to make.

"The proportion of complaints about customer service-related matters has remained unacceptably high and, in the TIO’s view, the industry still has much work to do in this area," O’Donnell said.

The Rudd Government-funded Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) clearly thinks it is time for Government to step in, claiming Customer Service Charters had not been effective in reducing the volume of complaints against providers.

"Even if customer complaints have finally begun to level off, as results of the TIO’s Connect.Resolve program indicate, complaint volumes are still astronomical," ACCAN chief executive officer Allan Asher said.

"ACCAN research clearly shows that customer service charters can’t replace stronger regulatory instruments, like Codes, that can actually be enforced," Mr Asher said.

"The industry is on notice that ACCAN will strongly oppose attempts to champion Customer Service Charters instead of Code compliance programs. Service charters should not act as an alternative to other effective regulatory tools."

The Connect.Resolve campaign was created to encourage the 10 largest telecommunications companies to refocus on customer service efforts and to improve customer service practices.