Vodafone lead with telco complaints at 18 month low

Australia’s Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) has released new complaint figures pointing to encouraging news for customer service provided by the major telcos.

Taking from its latest Complaints in Context report, the TIO says the average number of complaints is now 6.5 per 10,000 phone subscribers for the April to June quarter of 2015. This figure is the lowest in the past 18 months, with 8.3 being the highest, recorded between January and March of 2014.

The TIO comes to this average by comparing the number of complaints per 10,000 subscribers from six participating telcos; Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, Amaysim and Pivotel. All telcos are invited to participate.

Most of the participating telcos recorded lower figures than the previous quarter, with the exception of Optus.

Vodafone comes out looking best of all, with the great improvement across the 18 month period on record, down from 19.3 complaints per 10,000 subscribers, to just 6.3.

It important to note that these are complaints made to the TIO itself. Typically phone customers will only contact the TIO after they have tried to resolve a problem with the telco first. Therefore Vodafone’s successful downturn in complaints may not indicate a decrease in customer service requests, but that it has greatly improved the way it handles them.

Friends on phone image via Shutterstock

Joseph Hanlon

Editorial Director | X | LinkedIn

Joe Hanlon has been immersed in mobile phones, plans and the internet for over a decade, having written for publications like CNET, Techradar, Gizmodo and Lifehacker. He steers the editorial ship and makes sure that we are always serving up the most useful guides and recommendations. If you ever bump into Joe on the street, don't be afraid to ask for a phone recommendation. It's embarrassing how much he enjoys talking about this stuff. He also loves listening to podcasts, so feel free to email Joe with recommendations.

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