Mobile dropout complaints up 22.6 per cent even as total telco complaints fall
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman recorded a 6.5 per cent fall in complaints over the year, but mobile dropout complaints rose 22.6 per cent. ACCAN says the fall reflects consumers giving up rather than better service.
Mobile dropout complaints climbed 22.6 per cent over the year, even as the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) logged a 6.5 per cent decline in overall complaints. Mobile was still the service people complained about most, at 46.2 per cent of all complaints. The largest single category, at more than 33,000, was complaints that telcos had not acted on customers' problems.
The numbers come after a year marked by major network outages and Triple Zero failures. According to Roy Morgan, telecommunications is now the least trusted sector of the Australian economy, and Optus is the least trusted brand.
ACCAN chief executive Carol Bennett said the lower complaint count should offer telcos little comfort. Bennett said "Fewer complaints should not be mistaken for better service." She said that when consumers have lost confidence in their telco and see little chance of a fair outcome, "many simply stop complaining," she said.
Research by the Consumer Policy Research Centre, commissioned by the TIO, found that 55 per cent of Australians hit at least one telco service problem in a year. Of that group, 46 per cent made no complaint, and 40 per cent of those who stayed quiet said they thought complaining would not help. Awareness of the TIO stood at just 9 per cent of Australians.
ACCAN backs the TIO's calls for urgent reform to strengthen consumer protections and rebuild trust.