The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman has released its latest bi-annual report, and - surprise surprise - Australians are still underwhelmed by their phone, mobile and internet providers.
In fact, the TIO's Six Monthly Update, which covers consumer contact registered between July 1, 2017 and 31 December, 2017, shows an overall increase in complaints by 28.7% when compared to July to December of 2016. So what's behind our increasing lack of confidence in Aussie telcos?
Continued industry changes mean more products on offer, higher expectations from customers, and an increasing reliance on broadband and mobile services. With big-scale projects like the NBN still underway, a rise in complaints isn't shocking, especially when you break down the TIO's findings.
What are we complaining about?
The latest TIO update shows that 84,914 total complaints were recorded in the last six months of 2017, with 88% (74,729) from residential customers. These complaints were divided into five categories, with percentages as follows:
Complaints about landline services: 11.1% (9,447 complaints)
Complaints about mobile phone services: 29.4% (24,923 complaints)
Complaints about internet services: 28% (23,785 complaints)
Complaints about multiple services: 30.8% (26,112 complaints)
Complaints about damage or access to property: 0.8% (647 complaints)
In terms of the actual issues that customers complained of, charges and fees were the number one pain point, with over 45% of complaints falling into this category. The total list of issues can be found below.
Charges and fees: 38,594 complaints
Unsatisfactory provider response: 36,563 complaints
Poor service quality: 18,936 complaints
New connection and/or changing providers: 13,844
No service: 12,831 complaints
Debt management: 9,257 complaints
New contracts: 7,003 complaints
In-contract issues: 5,628 complaints
Equipment: 2,957 complaints
Payments: 2,398 complaints
NBN complaints
One of the biggest increases in internet irritation is the still-new NBN, which was the cause of 22,827 complaints tallied in the TIO's report. Compared to the same July to December period in 2016, that's a complaint increase of 203.9%; however, as more and more Australians move to NBN plans for their broadband service, it's understandable that NBN-specific complaints would skyrocket.
In terms of NBN issues, unsatisfactory provider response was the most-referred problem, with 10,222 complaints lodged in the second half of 2017. Poor service quality was in second place (9,006 complaints), followed by new connection/changing provider issues (8,929 complaints), no service at all (6,778 complaints), and disputes over fees and charges (4,348 complaints).
On a state-by-state basis, complaints rose across the board, with Queensland in particular seeing a growth of 39.3% compared to the same period in 2016. New South Wales residents made the most complaints (26,914 over the six-month period, an increase of 27.9%), followed by Victoria (23,954, a 30.5% rise), Queensland (16,418) and Western Australia (7,381, an impressive 36.5% increase).
Which telcos are worst?
While this report is a general look at trends in customer complaints over the Ombudsman's last six-month recording period, it doesn't name and shame specific providers. If you're looking for stats on which telcos are most consistently in the TIO bad books, you can find details in the 2017 Annual Report, published in October of last year.
Spoiler alert: the more customers a company has, the more complaints those customers are likely to make to the TIO. So unsurprisingly, the top three most-complained-about telcos of the previous year are Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone - all of which saw customer complaints rise by between 30 and 43%.
If you're having dramas with your mobile, broadband or landline service, the Ombudsman can help resolve the dispute in cases where your telco's response has been unsatisfactory. But if you're ready to move on to a better deal, you can start browsing mobile plans here (and click here to find your best broadband option).
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