Telecommunications consumer complaints to the industry ombudsman have fallen to their lowest level in nine years during the most recent quarter according to figures released by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO).
The figures show that complaints in the July-September 2015 quarter were 14.8 per cent below the corresponding period last year and the lowest since the same period in 2006.
Communications Alliance chief executive, John Stanton, welcomed improvement in industry performance, which has seen complaint levels drop by more than 40 per cent in recent years.
“The latest results featured a 50 per cent drop in complaints about excess data charges underlining the success of improved spend management tools for customers and the industry’s drive to tailor mobile and data plans that avoid the risk of customers incurring such charges,” he said.
“The figures also point to a greatly improved experience for consumers who are migrating their services to the National Broadband Network (NBN). NBN-related complaints to the TIO rose by 4.6 per cent during the quarter, but the number of active premises connected to the NBN rose by 26 per cent during the same period.
“Clearly the efforts of service providers and NBN Co, combined with the Government’s Migration Assurance Policy and the migration guidelines put in place by Communications Alliance are combining to greatly reduce the incidence of issues when customers shift their services onto the NBN,“ Stanton added.
The TIO also reported that complaints about delays in connecting to the NBN dropped by more than 14 per cent during the quarter.
