Complaints against phone companies on the rise

Complaints against the major telcos are on the rise – soaring a massive 75 percent in the past year despite government threats to regulate the industry.

Complaints against the major telcos are on the rise – soaring a massive 75 percent in the past year despite government threats to regulate the industry.

According to reports in today’s Australian, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman has
dealt with a massive 232,869 issues in the year to March — a 75 per cent jump on the previous period.

The number of official complaints, which could also involve multiple issues, is slated to rise 42 per cent to 145,000 in the 2007-08 financial year.

The Ombudsman, Deirdre O’Donnell, yesterday revealed the volume of complaints had resulted in the organisation almost doubling staff numbers from 90 to 170 and increasing the budget to $19 million.

O’Donnel said a common complaint from telco customers was that they were constantly getting the run around. “This is not good enough. It’s not a good way to treat your customers. These are addressable issues.”

Source: The Australian