Telco customers say they’re getting trapped in circular complaint processes

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Consumer advocates say customers of big telco's are being trapped in complaint merry-go-rounds that fail to fix their phone and internet problems quickly. They're calling for tough penalties if companies mistreat their customers, but the industry is pushing back.

Transcript

00:00Judith McLaughlin suddenly lost reception at her home in July, leaving her unable to

00:08make or receive mobile calls on the Optus network.

00:12It kick-started a lengthy complaints process.

00:15Oh, nightmares, definitely.

00:17It was just a merry-go-round.

00:19Optus told her temporary maintenance on northern Gold Coast towers was to blame, but its mobile

00:25coverage map said everything was fine.

00:28It's ridiculous, I mean, we've got no reception here and I've made numerous reports.

00:33Her problems persisted and after almost two months, Optus advised her to change providers.

00:39I contemplated making a complaint to the Ombudsman, but I was so sick of it all.

00:45Recent research found many telco customers that complained were frustrated by repetitive

00:50processes, but lots of people didn't bother, believing it would be a waste of time.

00:56Almost half of Australians who had a telco issue didn't go ahead and make a complaint.

01:01They suffered in silence.

01:03The latest Ombudsman statistics show complaints about Optus have jumped 5.7 per cent.

01:09There's also been a spike of almost 17 per cent in people demanding compensation after lengthy

01:16outages or other serious problems.

01:19Chandni Gupta believes change is needed.

01:22What we really need to see is minimum standards that hold telcos accountable for the service

01:29and how they treat their customers.

01:31But that call is rejected by the industry, which says complaints to the Ombudsman are at

01:3620 year lows.

01:37Customers have the ultimate power in this equation, and that is the ability to walk away from their telco.

01:43Optus declined to be interviewed.

01:45The company apologised for the inconvenience Judith McLaughlin experienced, and said it hadn't

01:51decommissioned any mobile towers near her this year.

01:54See you later.

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