Complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) have dropped by 29 per cent to a six-year low, according to the Communications Alliance.
Complaints regarding mobile service faults decreased by 48 per cent, mobile coverage issues are down 55 per cent, and international roaming complaints fell by 35 per cent.
Additionally, 90 per cent of complaints are resolved without the TIO’s involvement. The highest category of TIO complaint investigation (known as Level 4) has plummeted 99.7 per cent over the past four years.
The watchdog claims the outcome is the result of the industry delivering on its promise of an improved experience for customers.
Comms Alliance chief executive officer (CEO), John Stanton, said customer experienced has bettered on the back of investments in new networks, the long-term effect of the introduction of the revised Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code in 2012, and top-down commitment from telecommunications providers.
“The results are consistent with the Comms Alliance quarterly national polling which shows steady improvements in telco customer satisfaction during the past 18 months,” Stanton said.
“Industry is not resting on its laurels – far from it – and is determined to drive complaint levels even lower again during the current year.”
But it is not all smooth sailing for the telcos, with complaints about excess data charges having increased.
“The TIO has not been able to give us much context around these complaints and the result seems surprising because consumers receive three usage notifications – at 50, 85 and 100 per cent of their data usage allowance – to give them a good opportunity to avoid incurring excess data charges.”
Stanton said further investing is required to assess the matter.
