Oonagh ReidyConsumers – in particular Vodafone’s- are not happy campers. Complaints to the Telecoms ombudsman has soared 9% in the last six months alone.
This “marks a new low for Australian customers,” consumer body ACCAN said today, and is “just the tip of the iceberg.”
The watchdog received 671 calls a day, on average, in the last six months, noting 20% increase in complaints about mobile services. Complaints about Vodafone’s customer service doubled.
This is no surprise considering Vodafone’s service has come under major fire from consumers complaining about service disruption since late last year.
Vodafone recently wrote to customers apologising for the recent service disruptions that has plagued their operation in recent months.
The interruptions to service which sparked a serious consumer backlash against the telco affected mobile service, including call failures, slow data speeds and poor reception.
“We want our customers to be happy with the network, service and value they receive from us,” said Nigel Dews, VHA CEO.
“We’ve been working hard to improve our network and service but still have work to do.”
The have called on the ACMA to introduce a “complaint-handling standard to bring this industry into line.”
record number of complaints, the latest in a line of historically high
figures, is further evidence that the industry cannot be allowed to
continue to regulate itself.”
Consumers should not have to resort to the ombudsman to get customer service, say the consumer body.
Corbin also said Vodafone’s recent $73.4 million profit comes “as a slap in the face to all the Vodafone customers.”
In October 2009, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy described rising complaints figures as an “absolute shocker” and promised to “crack down” on companies in the sector.