Telcos should compensate complainers, says watchdog

By Ben Grubb on Oct 26, 2009 10:13 AM
Filed under Telco/ISP

ACCAN calls on Conroy to ‘threaten’ industry with further reform.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) wants telcos to pay consumers $50 if their complaint of poor customer service is proven valid.

"We think it's only fair that a $50 compensation payment should apply to consumers affected by poor customer service," said CEO of the action network Allan Asher.

Asher said the payment would be an incentive for telcos to "get it right in the first instance" and said it would recognise "the real costs of giving customers the run around".

His comments came after the release of the latest Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman annual report Friday, which showed no sign of a decrease in the number of telecommunications complaints in the past year.

Complaints rose by 54 percent. And for the first time, more people complained about their mobile phone service than their landlines.

Asher noted “dramatic increases” in complaints with billing, customer service and credit management. He said "about half of the complaints made were about telecommunications companies failing to do what they already promised to do".

This demonstrated the sector “cannot regulate itself”, he said.

“These aren’t complex issues, they are simple and should be easy to fix," Asher said. "The only conclusion that can be drawn is that telecommunications companies just do not care about consumers".

ACCAN calls on Conroy

Asher noted threats in March by the Communications Minister Stephen Conroy that "he was prepared to implement regulatory measures to improve customer service and consumer protections if the industry did not rise to the challenge”.

“We now call on him [Conroy] to act decisively,” Asher said.

On Network Ten's Meet The Press on Sunday, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy branded the figures in the Ombudsman's report “an absolute shocker”.

He said that the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2009 - introduced into Parliament on September 15 - would attempt to address the increase in telco complaints.

"What we need is to put pressure directly on to the telecommunications companies. This is not just one company. All of the companies in the sector are guilty of treating their customers cavalierly," the Communications Minister said.

Telcos should compensate complainers, says watchdog

5 comments in this discussion

"The TIO Scheme is funded by the industry, through fees charged by the TIO. The TIO uses a portion of these fees to advertise thier services, and members are required to advise end users of the TIO ..."

By Perdix

Tags

watchdog, isp, accan, conroy, acma, telco, complaints, dbcde, paul bongiorno

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Comments: 5

Bouyant Oct 26, 2009 11:05 AM	So, can the ISP Industry expect the same "protection" with a similar compensation package for having to "defend" frivolous, mischievous complaints, and complaints found by the TIO to not be justified (at the end of their lengthy investigative processes)? Consumers who "are forced to" take their complaint to the TIO are already "compensated"! The TIO encourages the use of its services (at no cost to the consumer) to "put pressure on" the ISP to simply roll-over and hand over wads of cash because it is easier than fighting the issue - whether the complaint is justified or not. And you want more?
Digger11 Oct 26, 2009 1:24 PM	In many Level 1 complaints , the TIO does not even do discovery to find out if the complaint is valid. It is then often futile for the servive provider to "battle" TIO complaints as the TIO instantly ups the charges to level 2 (and then quickly to level 3) still on a "no fault" basis. If a complaint to the TIO is proven wrong then the consumer should have to pay - why the service provider pays the TIO even when they are 100% correct is certainly a bizarre practice.
anonymous Oct 26, 2009 6:27 PM	Industry people complaining about the cost, etc, of the TIO? If service providers did a half decent job in customer communication and dispute resolution, we might not see the massive annual increase in complaint numbers. It seems that some SPs may reckon it is cheaper to cut corners internally on these issues and then pay the nominal TIO fees in those cases where the customer knows about the TIO (many customers do not). Since every member of the TIO board is appointed by industry, it can hardly be maintained that there is a bias against industry interests. The numbers, and rate of increase, are now so bad that there may be a case for government action.
Bouyant Oct 27, 2009 1:33 PM	Not EVERY member of the Board and/or Council is appointed by the Industry. The ISP sector is under-represented and is forced to try to live under a regime of processes and policies that are irrelevant to their technology and products. Fine, cane the voice providers - they may deserve it. But just remember, those complaint numbers are inflated by the many ISP complaints coached by the TIO because that is how it makes its living. Do you expect them to turn away a "complaint" and the statistic and fee that goes with it, even if lodging the dispute may not actually achieve anything for the consumer? The TIO needs to be more open and honest with people who call them. They need to tell them, up front, they are a private company that earns a commission on disputes lodged. They also need to direct people elsewhere if they say they want to complain about a wholesale provider, instead of automatically directing them to the retail supplier. ACCAN is now the consumer advocate - the TIO needs to get out of the consumer advocate arena and get back to what it was designed to do... mediate disputes And finally, the TIO needs to be accountable to some form of independent oversight instead of policing themselves.
Perdix Oct 27, 2009 4:09 PM	The TIO Scheme is funded by the industry, through fees charged by the TIO. The TIO uses a portion of these fees to advertise thier services, and members are required to advise end users of the TIO as a means of resolution. This generates more complaints, more fees are charges etc. The stats provided are the number of complaints, valid or otherwise, and there is no measure of the number of complaints vs number of transactions. Whilst I see the TIO as a necessary evil,the volume of complaints presented as raw data is largely meaningless, and is simply used as a rod to beat the whole industry over the head. There needs to be a comprehensive review as to how these numbers are presented and what they actually mean. As Bouyant said, the TIO needs to get out of the advocacy game and put more effort into mediation ( which is not the policy of 'he with deepest perceived pockets pays. Having said all of that, the industry is not without some blame.