Telco satisfaction is up, but private users have more cause for gripes than businesses

Complaints against telcos are down across the country, but problems with residential services far outweigh issues affecting the small business sector.

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) has today (2 October) released its annual complaints data and annual report, showing it received 56,718 complaints from the Australian community in the 2023-24 financial year.

Residential consumers accounted for 88.3 per cent of these complaints, while small businesses made up the remaining 11.7 per cent.

A total of 730 complaints were received from the ACT, a 22.4 per cent decrease from the previous financial year.

Complaint numbers were down for all states and territories in 2023-24, with New South Wales and Victoria receiving the highest volumes of complaints, but Brisbane City Council recording the most with complaints from any local government area with 2243 for the year.

Although overall the total number of complaints across the nation decreased by 14.6 per cent compared to the previous financial year, the nature of the complaints indicates ongoing consumer frustration with telcos.

Ombudsman Cynthia Gebert said while it was pleasing to see overall complaints declining, the data shows consumers remain frustrated by the same issues of poor customer service, delays in fixing problems, and service and equipment fees.

“Telecommunication services are essential. We rely on them for our health and wellbeing, access to government services, employment, and community connections,” she said.

“It’s critical that consumers receive timely assistance when issues arise.

“Telcos must ensure they meet consumers’ needs, offering flexibility and understanding, especially for those who are vulnerable or struggling.”

In 2023-24, the main issue facing consumers was no or delayed action by a provider – 35,748 complaints (63 per cent of total complaints).

Other high rating issues reported included service and equipment fees, at 19,178 complaints (33.8 per cent), and no phone or internet service, 6730 complaints (11.9 per cent).

Complaints about inadequate fault testing, whereby a customer reports a fault that is not adequately addressed, increased by 36 per cent.

Mobile services were the most complained about (43.5 per cent), followed by internet services (39.4 per cent). Common issues for both mobile and internet users included ‘no or delayed action by provider’ and ‘service and equipment fees’.

In an indication of the decline in the use of landline phones, however, complaints about landline services remained low, making up just 6.4 per cent of all complaints for the year.

The TIO received 1373 complaints related to financial hardship, a 20.4 per cent decrease from the previous year.

Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone were the top three telcos for overall complaints, though all three experienced a decline in complaints from the previous year.

Uniti Retail entered the top 10 providers by complaints, with a 159 per cent increase from the previous year. Internode left the top ten.

In his annual report message, TIO chair Michael Lavarch said the establishment of the Ombudsman’s office and, with it, independent external dispute resolution was, “without question”, the most significant development and improvement in Australian civil law in the last 50 years.

“The first aspiration is testing and improving the TIO’s approach to fairness and accessibility,” he said.

“While the TIO has always been strong on procedural fairness in our complaint handling, this is not the only dimension to making fair decisions.

“Substantive fairness is about reaching the right decision given all the circumstances. Equally, the TIO needs to be accessible to all consumers, and its systems need to be able to accommodate the varied ways consumers wish to engage with a service provider.

“The second aspiration is to be a valued and valuable service to our members and stakeholders. This entails efficiency and cost-effectiveness in complaint handling as a baseline, but also adding value to the business of our providers in terms of data and insight.”

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman provides a free and independent dispute resolution service for residential consumers and small businesses who have an unresolved complaint about their phone or internet service.

In a state-by-state breakdown of complaints made against telcos in 2023-24, NSW made 16,567 complaints (down 15.5 per cent); Victoria had 15,315 down 18 per cent); Queensland 10,267 (down 17.6 per cent); WA 4638 (down 13 per cent); Tasmania 839 (down 24.5 per cent); NT 266 (down 20.1 per cent); South Australia 4007 (down 23.2 per cent); and the ACT 730 complaints (down 22.4 per cent).