April 18, 2018
Complaints by Queenslanders about the quality of telecommunications services have risen almost 40 per cent, according to the latest report by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.
The report, covering the last six months of 2017, shows Australian families and small businesses made a total of 84,914 complaints to the TIO.
Complaints about landline, mobile and internet services were up 28.7 per cent compared with the same period in 2016.
“Complaints about services delivered over the National Broadband Network continued to increase compared to the same six-month period in 2016,” Ombudsman Judi Jones said.
She said consumers were also facing all the same problems identified in previous reports, ie. bills and customer service, faulty equipment, and poor service quality.
Residential Complaints
- 9447 complaints (11.1 per cent) were recorded about landline phone services
- 24,923 complaints (29.4 per cent) were recorded about mobile phone services
- 23,785 complaints (28 per cent) were recorded about internet services
- 26,112 complaints (30.8 per cent) were recorded about multiple services
- 647 complaints (0.8 per cent) were recorded about damage or access to property
Charges and fees, unsatisfactory response from the provider (provider response), and poor service quality were the most common issues
Small Business Complaints
Complaints from Small Businesses accounted for 11.7 per cent of total complaints for the period
- 2178 complaints (21.9 per cent) were recorded about landline phone services
- 2074 complaints (20.9 per cent) were recorded about mobile phone services
- 1716 complaints (17.3 per cent) were recorded about internet services
- 3937 complaints (39.6 per cent) were recorded about multiple services
- 42 complaints (0.4 per cent) were recorded about damage or access to property
The main issues affecting small businesses were charges and fees, unsatisfactory response from the provider, and no service.
All States and Territories experienced a growth in complaints but Queensland was the highest – up 39.3 per cent – followed by Western Australia with 36.5 per cent.
Complaints about services delivered over the NBN rose 203.9 per cent to 22,827; 14,055 complaints were recorded about service quality and 8757 complaints were recorded about delays in establishing a connection.
