REPORTS SHOW RECENT IMPROVEMENTS IN TELCO CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

• Complaints to TIO as a proportion of services in operation decreased by nearly 20% in the most recent quarter
• Industry has proposed expanding the quarterly report in the revised Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code
• Additionally, most recent Customer Satisfaction Survey shows increase in very satisfied customers

Sydney, 25 July 2018 – Complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) as a proportion of services in operation (SIO) for participating service providers have improved by almost 20 per cent in the most recent quarter, April – June 2018.

The Complaints in Context index results released today show a fall from 9.3 complaints per 10,000 services in operation in the previous quarter to 7.5 in the April-June period.

This is a reduction of 19.4 per cent and the best result achieved since October – December 2016 – see attached graph.

Communications Alliance CEO, John Stanton, said “The past year and a half has been challenging for the Industry, leading to difficult moments for some customers, but this result – along with improved customer satisfaction results detailed below - shows that the commitment Industry has made to improving customer experience is beginning to make an impact.

“Every single participant in the Complaints in Context report achieved a decrease in their ratio of new complaints to services in operation, and I congratulate each of them on their successful efforts.

“Significantly, these results were achieved before the slew of new rules being imposed by the ACMA came into effect. The results are far more current than research released by ACCAN at the weekend, which related to customer experiences dating back as far as February 2017.

“The Complaints in Context report is a valuable and timely gauge of customer experience. It provides clear and comparable information to the public, provided by an independent source.”

Under Industry proposed changes to the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code the participation in the index will be expanded to include, at a minimum, the top 10 providers, measured by volumes of complaints received by the TIO.

Complaints in Context is a quarterly report published by Communications Alliance with complaints data provided by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman. The full report for April to June 2018 can be found on the Communications Alliance website.

Communications Alliance today also released some positive results of the latest Telecommunications Customer Satisfaction Survey. The survey, completed in June, shows an increase in customers who were very satisfied with their customer service, alongside a significant decrease in customers who made a complaint to their provider during the past 6 months.

The quarterly national survey, carried out for Communications Alliance by Roy Morgan Research, also shows improvements in in key satisfaction metrics, including the information provided at point of sale and ease of understanding bills.

“This survey reflects work providers have been undertaking to improve customer experience over the past year - prior to new ACMA rules coming into force - and we are pleased to see the effectiveness of industry-led improvements,” said Communications Alliance CEO John Stanton.

Satisfaction with complaint handling dipped slightly, to 56% of respondents being satisfied or neutral, compared to 58% in the previous survey. However, satisfaction with overall customer service improved, with 79% of respondents satisfied or neutral, compared to 76% in the previous survey.

Satisfaction with the ease of understanding bills and with the quality of information received at point-of-sale, both registered improvements. 

“We were also pleased to note the lowest percentage of customers to receive unexpectedly high bills since this survey began in 2013. This indicates that providers have made improvements across a variety of aspects of customer service.”

“Customer service is extremely important in the telco sphere, as in all industries. Recent strengthening of the Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code – now in circulation for public comment – will further improve the situation for telecommunications consumers, and Industry will continue working to improve the customer experience.”

The Complaints in Context report can be found here.

The complete results of the Roy Morgan Telecommunications Customer Satisfaction Survey can be found here.