30% of telco complaints remain unsolved

Dylan Crismale - Digital Content Editor

Last updated 13 November 2024

New data released by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) shows that nearly a third of complaints made by customers to the TIO came back unresolved.

There were 3,839 complaints that returned unresolved after referral to a telco during the July to September period this year.

The unresolved complaints were in relation to a range of issues including poor customer service, problems with bills or equipment, and service disruptions.

From July the TIO introduced a new follow-up process with customers – checking within 10 business days after complaints were referred to get a better picture on whether disputes were resolved.

Ombudsman Cynthia Gerbert said "This is the first quarter we have reported on this data in this way, and it is concerning that such a large volume of problems referred to telcos remain in dispute."

"We will continue watching this number to determine if it is a trend or an aberration. In the meantime, our focus will be on restoring trust and confidence between the telco and their customer, and getting problems fixed.”

The total number of complaints for the quarter was 13,541, which was a 0.2% decrease compared to the previous quarter (equal to 24 fewer complaints) but overall there was a 4.6% increase compared to the same period last year.

Here's a look at the top five complaints:

Top five complaints to TIO (July to September 2024)

Complaint type	# of complaints	# same time last year	# last quarter	Change quarter on quarter	Change year on year
No or delayed action by provider	8,063	9,475	8,276	-2.6%	-14.9%
Service and equipment fees	4,705	4,787	4,580	2.7%	-1.7%
No phone or internet service	1,443	1,282	1,572	-8.2%	12.6%
Intermittent service or dropouts	1,341	1,411	1,399	-4.1%	20.4%
Delay establishing a service	1,147	972	1,265	-9.3%	18%

Among the top five most reported complaints all but two saw a decrease compared to the same period last year. The complaint with the largest increase between this period and the last was failure to cancel a service which grew by 7% (equal to 74 more complaints). Non-financial loss - not privacy grew by 6.86%, service and equipment fees grew by 2.7% and slow data speed complaints grew by 0.7%.

Gerbert said “We saw a drop in overall complaints last financial year, which is a positive sign for both customers and telcos. It’s disappointing to see the numbers jump back up, reporting the same persistent problems”

Nationally, Tasmania recorded the largest increase in complaints, rising by 21.4% overall. The TIO partly attributed this to outages caused by weather in August and September which left 30,000 TasNetworks customers without power.

Taking a look at individual mobile and internet providers, seven out of the top ten saw an increase in the number of complaints received about them compared to the last quarter.

Medion (which owns ALDIMobile) and Superloop were new to the top ten.

Top 10 providers with the most complaints (July to September 2024)

Provider	# of complaints	# last quarter	Change quarter on quarter
Telstra Group	5,134	5,194	-1.2%
Optus Group	3,122	3,327	-6.2%
Vodafone Australia Limited	1,300	1,281	1.5%
TPG Group	502	498	0.8%
iiNet Ltd	441	407	8.4%
Southern Phone Company Ltd	360	263	36.9%
Dodo Services Pty Ltd	258	231	11.7%
Aussie Broadband Limited	231	225	2.7%
Superloop Broadband Pty Ltd	176	190	-7.4%
Medion Australia Limited	166	109	52.3%

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Dylan Crismale

Digital Content Editor

Dylan Crismale is a Digital Content Editor at WhistleOut, has been writing for almost a decade across a variety of Australian publications. He previously worked as a writer at Finder covering energy, internet and mobile plans. Dylan is passionate about finding the best deals to save people money and educating people about tech. When he's not sat at his desk Dylan loves working out, bingeing TV and hanging out with friends.

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