WHO IS COMPLAINING:
– Phone and internet users: 167,831 complaints, up 6.2% on a year earlier
– Ombudsman says complaints appear to be tailing off
– 87.6% of complaints involved residential users
– 12.2% involved small businesses
WHAT THEY’RE COMPLAINING ABOUT:
– Mobile phone services: 30.6%
– Multiple services: 29.7%
– Internet services: 27.8%
– Landline phone services: 11.2%
TOP FIVE GRIPES:
– Slow or no action by service providers: 34.1%
– Disputed charges or equipment fees: 25.5%
– Delays connecting to or changing providers: 12.8%
– No service at all (including internet connections): 12.5%
– Intermittent service and drop outs: 10.1%
HOW DID YOUR PROVIDER FARE?
– Telstra spawned half of all complaints (82,528, up 7.7%)
– Optus Group, including Virgin, a quarter (40,665, up 35%)
– Vodafone 6% (9,752, down 8.7%)
OTHERS:
– iiNet: 4.6% (7,719, down 24.1%)
– TPG: 3.7% (6,248, down 10.7%)
– Dodo: 2% (3,120, down 5.7%)
– Primus: 1% (1,918, up 0.1%)
– MyRepublic: 1% (1,816, up 100 per cent to double a year earlier)
– M2 Commander: 1% (1,565, down 8%)
– Southern Phone: 1% (1,484, down 28%)
THE NBN:
– 41,597 complaints involved the NBN
– Most were about service quality: 27,008
– The rest were about connection problems: 14,589
– Complaints relating to NBN are not necessarily the network’s fault and can relate to other factors
– Government says NBN figures are a win, with complaints falling as user numbers rise
– Only 1% of 4 million NBN users lodged complaints
STATE OF THE STATES:
– NSW users accounted for 31.6% of complaints (up 5%)
– Victoria 28.4% (up 9%)
– Queensland 19.6% (up 13%)
– Western Australia 9% (up 11%)
– South Australia 7.5% (up 1%)
– Tasmania 1.8% (up 0.7%)
– ACT 1.5% (down 6%)
– Northern Territory 0.6% (down 0.1%)
Source: Telecommunication Industry Ombudsman’s 2017/18 Annual Report; Government statement.
