TIO complaints figures: the good, the bad and the ugly

Stuart Corner
Sunday, 05 December 2010 11:46

IT Policy - Regulation

Industry bodies have been quick to comment on the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman's report highlighting a five percent reduction in complaints overall and a 70 percent reduction in complaints about mobile services, but have largely ignored an 86 percent increase in issues relating to financial over-commitment regarding mobile services.

Consumer body, ACCAN, on the other hand, pronounced the results "dreadful" and referenced its own recently released study to claim that the 168,000 complaints registered by the TIO represented only the tip of the iceberg. "[Our] recent Galaxy research [found that] just seven percent of people who are dissatisfied with their telco's response to a complaint go to the Ombudsman for help, with around a third unaware that the TIO exists," ACCAN said.

The group cited the 70.5 percent drop in complaints about mobile premium services as "evidence that the decisive regulatory action taken by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) 12 months ago has worked," and said similar action was now need to deal with bill shock and credit management issues.

On that point, ACCAN and Communications Alliance were in rare agreement. Communications Alliance issued a statement saying: "The massive reduction in complaints'¦concerning mobile premium services shows that industry codes can be effective in improving customer service and complaint handling in the telecommunications industry, Communications Alliance said today."

CEO John Stanton, said: "This encouraging result shows that well-constructed self-regulatory industry codes can and do work."

ACCAN said attention must now be turned to bill shock and credit management. "Right now the fastest-growing problem area is bill shock from smart phones, in particular excess data and global roaming charges," said ACCAN CEO, Theresa Corbin. "Regulation has to keep pace with technological developments. Consumers need the ACMA to act now to curb bill shock and credit management issues before they end up spiralling out of control in the same way mobile premium services did five years ago."

Comms Alliance made no specific reference to the rise in complaints around these issues, saying only that the industry recognised that complaints were still to high and: "The complaint volumes in part reflect the growth of overall services in the Australian market and the relative complexity of some of the newer offerings."

According to Stanton, "The industry is committed to continuing to improve its performance and ensure that Australian consumers can enjoy world-class products and services from their providers."

Optus also issued a statement commenting on the TIO's report, but did not even acknowledge the growth in complaints around bill shock and credit management. However it did claim that "Optus' investment in its mobile network is providing real results for customers with a 47 percent reduction in mobile broadband complaints over the last two years," but did not specify whether complaints about charges were included in this decrease.

Michael Smith, managing director Optus Consumer said: "These TIO results are the result of an extensive program by Optus to improve customer experience over the last two years. During the TIO annual report period (1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010), Optus recorded a six percent decline in total complaint volumes.

"This decrease is pleasing given that it was achieved during a time of significant growth for Optus, with our customer base increasing by around 10 percent during this period.

"Optus' commitment to addressing key concerns for our customers resulted in a radical overhaul of our complaint handling practices in July 2009. Optus has partnered with the TIO throughout this period to drive meaningful improvements."

Chris Althaus, CEO of the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) said the industry took on board Cohen's comments about bill shock and customers receiving unexpected high bills associated with downloading data and the use of new services offered by smartphones, but suggested that the problem could be solved simply by educating consumers and raising awareness of the tools presently available to control costs.

Althaus said the mobile telecommunications industry remained committed to educating consumers about web browsing, email, video, chat, social networking and the rapid adoption of data services.

"Consumer awareness of mobile service usage is also very important given the rapidly growing demand for mobile data services, such as mobile broadband," he said.

"It is in no one's interest to have customers in debt as a result of unexpectedly high bills - so industry is actively promoting consumer awareness in this regard," Althaus said.

"Mobile operators offer a number of self-help tools to assist consumers keep track of their usage and spending on a range of services. These are free online accounts allowing them to monitor their usage on a daily basis.

Consumers should check with their service provider to see if they offer a service to contact them if their expenditure is particularly high compared to previous bills. They can also request the barring of some services at the network level.

"Consumers can also ask if they offer an SMS notification service that lets them know when they have reached 80 percent or 100 percent of their cap. Some providers offer free text services that consumers can use to monitor their usage."

(If this service is available surely it should be offered on an opt-out basis rather than opt-in).