This was published 5 years ago
Optus customers hit back over World Cup fiasco with 35pc surge in complaints
Singtel Optus had a 35 per cent surge in complaints from customers in the last financial year, with 40,665 issues raised with the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.
The period measured included Optus' problems in June when Australian soccer fans were angered by issues streaming the World Cup through the telco's app.
Telstra, which had 82,528 complaints, saw a 7.7 per cent increase in complaints over the same period, data released on Wednesday by the TIO shows. TPG Telecom and Vodafone Hutchison Australia both had improving results, as did smaller providers Southern Phone, M2 Commander, iiNet, and Dodo.
Optus had a 35 per cent surge in customer complaints.
Smaller National Broadband Network (NBN) provider MyRepublic had a 101.6 per cent increase in complaints, with 1816 in total. MyRepublic launched in late-2016, with the complaints growth largely due to the telco having more customers now than at launch.
It's unclear how many Optus complaints related directly to Optus Sport, and issues with the first games of the FIFA World Cup in June.
An Optus spokeswoman said the telco remains “committed to reducing complaint volumes and providing positive experiences to our customers” and had invested in customer-focused initiatives, including the adoption of digital customer service channels such as Live Chat.
The spokeswoman said dial-in wait times had reduced to their lowest in five years and said there had been significant reductions in complaints in the quarter ended September 2018 that would be reflected in the next report.
Overall, the TIO report found Australians are now less likely to complain about the NBN and other telco services than they were six months ago, with the data revealing a dramatic drop off in overall telecommunications complaints in the three months to June 30.
While complaints about telecommunications companies surged 6.2 per cent to more than 167,000 in the 2017/18 report compared to the same time the year before, the latest quarter saw complaints fall 17.8 per cent.
At the end of 2017, NBN Co paused the roll out of homes connected by pay-TV cables on customer service grounds after sub-par experiences by homes that had joined the network. At the same time the competition regulator has also put pressure on telcos to advertise achievable speeds on the network during times of congestion.
In 2017/18, 14,589 complaints were about connecting to the NBN, while 27,008 related to service quality on the network. These complaints decreased during the first six months of 2018.
The ombudsman Judi Jones said there wasn't a single reason for the overall improvement, but said a "concerted effort" from government, industry, consumer groups, regulators and the ombudsman to improve customer experience was behind the change.
"The reduction in complaints in the latter part of the year was against the seasonal trend, which suggests it is more than a blip. However, things will only improve if everyone continues to focus on the customer experience – the nearly 168,000 complaints we have received this year shows there is still work to be done," she said.
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield said in a statement he was “pleased” to see positive results, noting that 5 per cent of complaints were sent from the ombudsman to the NBN Co to resolve.