Vaya used to have a big problem with customer service, but this could be a thing of the past according to a new TIO report.
The Brisbane-based tiny telco today claims that the number of complaints made by Vaya customers to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) have dropped by a huge 90 percent for the most recent quarter, April to June. Last year there were 39.5 complaints per 10,000 Vaya customers, this year there were just 4.4.
This despite the industry average remaining steady, with 6.4 complaints per 10,000 subscribers. An average figure pulled up by Telstra and Optus with 6.8 and 7.7 complaints-per-10,000 respectively.
By our calculations, this takes Vaya from being the worst performer, using this measure, to being among the best in the market. The WhistleOut team recently attempted to apply a similar methodology across the different players in this industry, and while the actual numbers are confidential, we did find that Vaya had the most complaints per 10,000 subscribers — by a pretty wide margin.
So, what happened? What could inspire such a dramatic change in Vaya’s approach to customer service?
Amaysim happened
When Amaysim acquired the Vaya business at the beginning of the year we predicted that customer service would be the first big task for the Amaysim team to tackle. Vaya has been extremely successful in acquiring customers, thanks to industry-leading prices, but it has been terrible at keeping these people happy.
On the other hand, Amaysim has been a participant in the Complaints in Context report since the beginning, and has consistently been the best performer — never rating worse than 1.8 complaints-per-10,000. Amaysim buying Vaya was, in our eyes, the best buying the worst.
No time was wasted. A number of unnecessary fees were removed almost as soon as Amaysim took the reigns. SIM delivery became free, admin fees for plan changes were halved and Vaya’s contentious $20 customer deposit was scrapped entirely.
The rest of the work has happened behind closed doors, but the effects are plain to see. Vaya is no longer cheap and nasty (though it is definitely still cheap, in the best sense of the word).
Some context
These numbers come from the TIO’s Complaints in Context index, a report that simplifies the interactions the TIO has with unhappy telco customers into a bird's-eye view of the industry. It has distributed the report each quarter dating back to the middle of 2014 and it is remarkable to see which of the big telco names works hard on improving customer service, and which don’t.
Complaints in Context doesn’t break down the complaint types or explain how successfully the issues were resolved, but it is a great baseline for how the major players in the industry perform. The TIO releases the more detail data breakdowns as well if you’re curious about specific types of complaints and resolutions.
Unfortunately it relies on the telcos voluntarily agreeing to make sensitive data public, and so far there are only five telcos that agree to be graphed. Hopefully the TIO can persuade a few more of the big telco names to play ball.
Because while complaints are a hard thing for businesses to discuss, the report often shines a light on good news stories. Another big winner in the Complaints report is Vodafone, which has decreased its complaints rating from 8.4 at the start of last year to 3.6 in the latest release
Joseph Hanlon
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