Telco questions TIO complaint count

By Brett Winterford on Apr 21, 2010 3:51 PM
Filed under Telco/ISP

Were there that many complaints?

AAPT has questioned the methodology of a report that showed it experienced a sharp rise in customer complaints referred to the telecommunications industry ombudsman (TIO) in the six months closing 2009.

Released last week, the TIO's latest six monthly 'Connect Resolve' report [PDF] charts the progress of complaints made about telecommunications providers.

Statistics within it were used by the Australian Media and Communications Authority (ACMA) yesterday to justify an intervention in the telecommunications industry's complaint handling system.

ACMA chief Chris Chapman said the TIO was handling some "900 complaints" every working day.

The latest TIO report found that there has been an "overall stabilisation in complaint numbers" after 18 months of sustained growth.

"There was an overall drop of 7 percent in complaint numbers in the second half of last year, continuing the trend from the campaign," the TIO report said. "Seven of the top 10 companies whose complaint statistics we reported on have continued their downward trend."

Complaints about Dodo Internet fell 15 percent, for example, GoTalk by 45 percent, Optus by 14 percent, Primus by 24 percent, Soul by 55 percent and Virgin Mobile by 21 percent.

Complaints to Hutchison 3G went up slightly, but the TIO reported they have been steadily decreasing every month since, while Vodafone was fairly flat.

Even Telstra, which is responsible for over half of all complaints made to the TIO at a count of 58,597, improved by just over six percent compared to the prior twelve months.

But complaints about AAPT were up from 2,658 to 4,028 in just six months.

"Duplicated count?

While they would not comment publicly, iTnews has learned that AAPT approached the TIO to ask whether the TIO's methodology inflates the figures.

When a telco receives a customer complaint via the TIO, the service provider is required to contact the customer within 48 hours to address the issue and to discuss a potential resolution.

If for whatever reason the telco cannot meet this timeframe and the customer calls back in to the TIO, the issue is escalated.

The first two escalations are counted as separate 'complaints' in TIO statistics; subsequent escalations aren't counted towards the numbers surfaced in the TIO report.

A TIO spokesman confirmed this approach but refuted suggestions that the way complaints are handled resulted in bloated complaint numbers being reported.

"The way we present statistics has been consistent for 10 years," the spokesman said.

Of a dispute with AAPT over the figures, he said the TIO "routinely provides statistics to members to assist with analysis and is always open to concerns."

He said that most carriers are improving on an otherwise lacklustre record on customer service, but noted that some of the simplest things aren't being done right.

"Complaint handling and customer service issues are still a high proportion of total complaints to TIO, and these often come down to simple communication problems," he said.

17 comments in this discussion

"@Venture, perhaps in some cases the people in carriers' call centres are stressed because they are not properly trained, there is not a clear complaints handling policy, and (in some smaller ..."

By anonymous

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Comments: 17

Res Apr 22, 2010 8:53 AM	Oh dear god! The Idiot Office is a law unto themselves, I would agree it is inflated, also why is it the TIO accept complaints that are proven trivial, complaints logged on an ISP for failure to provide services when it is proven Telstra are at fault, the scheme is a sham, always has been a sham, and always will be a sham, lets not forget all the frivolous complaints about ISP's which are grudges because a user didnt get their own way. If the Govt is serious about reducing complaints, then, the TIO needs competent staff who know what they are doing, staff that will fairly investigate incidents, and, if proven the ISP is not at fault, the complainant gets billed $100 instead of the ISP, bet your "you-know-what" the complaints will drop by 90% in a month. Having dealt with the TIO, they simply couldnt care less about fair and impartial investigations, they only see the cash register ticking over and over and over and ov....
Thysce Apr 22, 2010 9:31 AM	Let alone the fact that it's cheaper for ISPs like Telstra to simply pay the $200whatever infringement fine than to rectify it...
Digger11 Apr 22, 2010 9:40 AM	Never heard of a TIO infringement fine ????? The TIO imposes penalties on carriers who do not respond within defined timeframes. The carrier still needs to solve the issue to the customers satisfaction, even if the complaint goes to level 4 which costs over $1,000, the carrier still needs to solve the complaint. I am guessing AAPT got slack with the management of their TIO team and had many escalation to level 2 and above. With over $100m invested in that "wonderful " Hyperbaric computer system, you would have thought they could do better than this.
ypcasey Apr 22, 2010 10:16 AM	I suggest if the Telcos want some real numbers that they add up the number of calls that were made where the caller terminated before getting a response
Knat Apr 22, 2010 10:47 AM	Couldn't agree with Res more. The fact that it costs the ISP/Telco hundreds for the TIO to even look at presented evidence, is a joke. Everything that the consumer says to the TIO is taken in 'good faith' and simply escalated if they are not happy with attempts to resolve the complaint, regardless of any compelling evidence provided by the Telco. The TIO freely advise their "swift resolution" to complaints on radio and TV. Surely this promotes many dodgy complaints with the current processes in place...
bld70 Apr 22, 2010 12:27 PM	From this consumer's point of view, the TIO works. In fact, I filed my first and only complaint to them in the latter half of 2009, so I'm part of these statistics. I spent more than a week trying to resolve a billing issue related to my mobile. I spoke with numerous non-native English speakers in the mobile carrier's support department. They'd a question, I'd answer, and then they'd ask another question indicating that they did not understand at all what I'd said in my last answer. It was a collossal waste of time and they ended up not resolving my problem. I contacted the TIO and within 24 hours an actual Aussie called me and worked with me for about a week until the (complex) problem was verified resolved... and gave me a few dollars of credit against my bill in compensation for the hours of wasted time as well. I'm confident that this ONLY happened because of the TIO. Doubtless some consumers likely abuse this service. However, some of the rest of us who do not find them too handy as-is, and don't want them to change things to make it more difficult or financially risky for us to report our complaints. For most of us, by the time we file the TIO complaint, we've already spent a lot of time trying to resolve the problem and don't need to be jumping through more hoops.
nate.cochrane Apr 22, 2010 1:20 PM	Those complaining about the TIO forget why it exists and why companies voluntarily sign up for it. The alternative was the big stick of the Federal Government and harsh regulation. Such light-tough regulation ombudsman schemes run in other infrastructure industries from banking to energy and water because that's what the industries clamoured for and are generally efficient from their point of view. Most complaints are never sent to the TIO and even then are resolved at the first or second instance. The TIO won't take complaints unless the customer and the provider have reached an impasse. Big telcos have long had a policy of telling the TIO a matter was resolved with the customer when it wasn't and the TIO does not follow that up with the complainant. It just closes the ticket. It is up to the customer to raise the ticket again or reattach it to the existing complaint. This often happens weeks or months later when the customer, wondering why the matter hasn't progressed, contacts the TIO again only to learn that the telco has said the complaint was resolved when it wasn't. The TIO is an office of last resort when all else fails. It exists to give customers confidence that they will get a hearing when the power imbalance is so greatly in the provider's favour. Without it, all providers, not just those signed up to the scheme, would have to deal with the hot breath of government on their collective neck, which is why, even though they feel uncomfortable at times, they prefer the ombudsman to the alternative.
anonymous Apr 22, 2010 3:30 PM	@nate's comments are quite right. At various times some service providers have figured it was cheaper for them to pay the TIO charges (for those endusers who know about the TIO) than to provide proper in-house complaint handling facilities. Then they whinge because the TIO is quite rightly charging them for sorting out the resulting disputes.
Mordd Apr 22, 2010 6:32 PM	For once I fully agree with Digger11, Res and Knat habe no idea what they are talking about and are simply plain wrong. The fact that some companies prefer to pay the fines that attempt to properly solve the disputes is not the TIO's fault nor is it the case because the TIO exists, fact is there would probably be more companies just paying the fines if we had federal government direct regulation instead of the industry ombudsman scheme.
sdavies68 Apr 22, 2010 6:34 PM	Having been on a few TIO complaint many years ago, I can say they are generally a waste of time. I had one complaint which was lodged by an overseas resident who was complaining about being called a "pussy" on a blog site. She took offence and demanded that I cancel this bloggers account. When I refused she complained to the TIO which I got the bill for. They are there to represent Australian consumers not overseas. The second complaint was about a guy who was simply just refusing to pay his bill. He made up a whole bunch of lies which the TIO believed on face value. The problem was he was always late on paying his bill. It was for internet access and a fixed price every month. There was no issue he was using the service, he simply could not afford to pay the account and complained when we cut him off for not paying his bill after two months. I might add, on both these occasions the people concerned had NEVER contacted my company to discuss a resolution first - so much for the "Office of last resort" The third was a resident who had complained to the TIO about the installation of a telecommunications cable in the street and how it had killed the street tree. Again no complaint to my company, just direct to the TIO. To add insult to injury the cable installed was not even our cable it belonged to another carrier. I have also been on the receiving end of the useless TIO when making a complaint. They closed the complaint before it was even resolved. Why? because Telstra told them it was resolved. They would not open a new complaint on the same matter. Finally, Nate Telcos dont "voluntarily" sign up for TIO membership. The conditions of their carrier license force them do become members. The cost of the complaints is really insignficant, its the time wasted in having to investigate and respond to the complaints. I agree with RES, that if the TIO is to work effectively for the "COMMUNITY" it should charge those people a small fee for making false and misleading complaints. It is infact breaking the law anyway when such false complaints are laid.
Mordd Apr 22, 2010 6:49 PM	More garbage from someone who is obviously simply making things up. The TIO wouldn't even investigate a complaint about a blog, if anything that would fall under the ACMA's authority not the TIO. As to the tree issue, thats just ludicrous that the TIO would be handling something like that, that would fall to local council/state/federal planning authorities etc.. The only maybe valid comment there is about the late bill payer, but sdavies68 has obviously never read the Telco Act nor probably even heard of universal service obligations or obligations under the act to help customer in financial crisis maintain services rather than just cutting them off. Instead of making up things about the TIO that don't even come close to reality maybe we could discuss what the TIO does actually do, if anyone here besides myself, Digger, Nate or Anom even know what that is.
Sean Apr 22, 2010 9:47 PM	Mordd, I hate to tell you but it's clear you yourself has no idea. Universal Service Obligations relate to a home phone. Not internet. If someone can't pay their service, it gets cut off. This is pretty basic stuff. If they cannot afford the service, they can be provided with a incoming and emergency only fixed service. A customer in financial crisis obviously have to keep the telco company in the loop or the standard credit management process will be followed. If the telco says thats fine, they keep it on. If they don't, incoming service only while bill is paid. And yes, customers do get turned away due to bad credit debts regardless of universal service obligations. I think maybe rather than point fingers at everyone else, maybe people should take responsibility for their own bill and service. If there's a problem, call the company. If every avenue has been followed to fix the problem, consider the TIO. And for the sake of getting a life, stop arguing online and go spend time with your family or something.
anonymous Apr 23, 2010 3:12 PM	@Sean, correcting wrong statements is not arguing. Credit management is covered by the relevant industry code and applies to both carriage and internet service providers. The USO deals with a different area. The TIO is a scheme of last resort for dealing with disputes between companies and customers, so they will not accept a complaint (or charge for it) if the complainant has not made reasonable efforts to resolve it with the service provider.
Mordd Apr 23, 2010 6:33 PM	Hate to say it Sean but you are wrong. Universal service obligations specify that a phone service must be provided, it does NOT specify the type of technology that must be used to deliver that service. Thus it could be met in various circumstances through either a landline phone, a mobile phone, a satellite phone, etc... You are right USO does not apply to an internet connection specifically, however the obligations regarding assisting customer in financial crisis DO relate to phone AND internet services, as basic internet access is considered a necessity these days. Try reading up on the changes to the Telco Act in the past few years, you will find it enlightening. As to the spending time with my family or something, the only reason I know as much as I do about the TIO is from spending so much time hanging out with my best mate who happens to work there. So your lame get a life comment is pretty funny actually, keep trying to win online arguments by denigrating someones personal life though, thats real mature that is.
iflowboy Apr 24, 2010 6:50 AM	After reading the diatribe, the snipes, the inuendo's, the fictional anecdotes and the blatant bull around USP, telecommunications act et al, I would like to ask you all 4 simple questions:- 1. Do any of you know of a perfect system? 2. Do any of you know of a perfect telco? 3. Do any of you know of a perfect customer? 4. Do any of you have a perfect solution? Hmmm - deft silence.......live with what we have and accept, for all the faults, it could be worse. Oh and TIO should stand for Take It Off-line so we can talk constructively about something.
Venture Apr 27, 2010 11:15 PM	A few of these comments above ring true. I also work at a ISP and see the dramas in working with the TIO. Complaints lodged with no prior investigation by the ISP, abusive dodgy customers crying poor, customers wanting massive massive compensation for issues on their own end. And the TIO laps it all up, the ISP's pay it and the staff get abused and stressed. Whats worse is the TIO dept have quite a few hired staff that have little knowledge in anything technically relevent to the complaints they handle.
anonymous Apr 28, 2010 10:45 AM	@Venture, perhaps in some cases the people in carriers' call centres are stressed because they are not properly trained, there is not a clear complaints handling policy, and (in some smaller operations) any customer request or complaint may be taken as a personal affront by the management. But you are quite right about a few customers just being on the make, and dealing with them should probably be a key part of reducing stress through an effective training program. Most customers want to do the right thing, and they expect their service provider to also do the right thing. It may be hard to see sometimes, but a good operator will not see a genuine complaint as a threat, but as an opportunity to enhance the brand.