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Speaker 1: But starting the hour with the telco complaints, and as

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Speaker 1: you know, we refer quite a few of you to

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Speaker 1: the telecommunications industry ombardsmen when there are issues you can't

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Speaker 1: resolve with your telco. And a report out by the

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Speaker 1: Ombudsman today shows quite a few complaints. Well, most are

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Speaker 1: resolved happily, but they're the easy ones. They're easy to fix.

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Speaker 1: The harder ones take longer. Probably no surprise, but I

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Speaker 1: suspect they're taking too long to fix. The Ombardsman of

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Speaker 1: the telecommunications industry is Cynthia Gaber and she joins me now,

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Speaker 1: good morning.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Matthew. How are you all right?

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Speaker 1: Thank you? So the latest report shows quite a fewer

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Speaker 1: third of complaints remain unresolved.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a great story that complaints are continuing to

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Speaker 2: trend down, but we want to discratch beneath the surface

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Speaker 2: and you know, make sure that people were getting their

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Speaker 2: complaints resolved when we referred to them back and to

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Speaker 2: hear that thirty percent of them aren't, I think presents

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Speaker 2: the industry with a great challenge. These are your customers,

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Speaker 2: these are your consumers, these the bill payers. Please make

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Speaker 2: sure you get their complaints resolved when they're spending the time,

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Speaker 2: energy and effort to raise them directly with you, or

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Speaker 2: even more so when they've been referred by the ombutsman.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, so you're not taking any precedence there are you

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Speaker 1: as the humberdsman. They're just it doesn't matter. It's too hard,

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Speaker 1: it's in the too heart basket.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's exceptionally disappointing that that percentage of customers are

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Speaker 2: still returning to our office. You know, I'm hoping this

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Speaker 2: isn't a long term trend because our focus is on

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Speaker 2: restoring trust and confidence between the telco and their consumer.

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Speaker 2: We want to get these problems fixed. So by shining

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Speaker 2: a light on it, we've put the challenge out there

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Speaker 2: the industry to do your job properly. You know. I

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Speaker 2: think one of the things we've chatted about before, Matthew,

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Speaker 2: is how many consumers are coming to us with complaints

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Speaker 2: around no or delayed action from their telco. I think

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Speaker 2: in this particular quarter it was in the wrong of

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Speaker 2: about eight thousand of the thirteen thousand complaints. We're just

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Speaker 2: so straightforward customer service issues. So, you know, these are

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Speaker 2: things that telcos should not be letting to get any

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Speaker 2: were near the ombudsman service. They should be resolved. As

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Speaker 2: you said before, when you're referring people there the first time,

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Speaker 2: when you're saying to your listeners, call your telcos, they

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Speaker 2: should be able to rely on that getting sort of

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Speaker 2: when they make that first call.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, So are there any penalties that apply if

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Speaker 1: they don't fix it a certain period of time whatever.

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Speaker 2: There's no penalties from our organization. We don't have any

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Speaker 2: of those sorts of punitive powers. But you know what

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Speaker 2: we will do if there is breaches of the law

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Speaker 2: or codes and things like that, we will refer that

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Speaker 2: to either these Strange Communications and Media Authority or that

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Speaker 2: a triple fees are the Strain Competition and Consumer Commission

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Speaker 2: if there have been those breaches, and they have the

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Speaker 2: power to pursue organizations for some significant penalties.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so there is something down the line anyway if

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Speaker 1: they're not not acting. What sort of issues? What is

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Speaker 1: in the two hard basket what doesn't get resolved?

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Speaker 2: Frustratingly, it is customer service and you know, to me

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Speaker 2: that isn't all that complex. But there's other issues which

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Speaker 2: you know, things like a failure to cancel a service.

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Speaker 2: The customers asked that their agreement be ended and it

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Speaker 2: hasn't happened. I you know, that jumped for US by

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Speaker 2: seven percent. Not huge volume, but still frustrating for consumers.

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Speaker 2: But I think one of the ones that you know,

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Speaker 2: most people can relate to is when they've got patchy

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Speaker 2: or intermittent service or when it drops that entirely. And

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Speaker 2: I think particularly as we're coming into the heightened natural

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Speaker 2: disaster season. You know, I was in Adelaide yesterday and

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Speaker 2: it's already starting to look a bit dry over there.

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Speaker 2: You know, there is significant risk if people can't rely

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Speaker 2: on their phone and internet in emergency services, in sorry

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Speaker 2: emergency circumstances. So you know, we do need to make

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Speaker 2: sure that people don't have patchy service, that they can

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Speaker 2: actually rely on their phone and internet, particularly when we

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Speaker 2: are in those sorts of emergency environments.

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Speaker 1: Okay, delayed action would be some thing they can suppose.

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Speaker 1: That's when the promise isn't kept.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that basic, you know, I call it basic

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Speaker 2: customer service. My mum said, if you're going to do

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Speaker 2: if you're promise you going to do something, do it.

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Speaker 2: It feels like that that's something that some of the

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Speaker 2: telcos still need to do some work on if you

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Speaker 2: set a time family, so you're going.

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Speaker 1: To do it, just follows through it, get your mama.

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Speaker 2: That would not be great for any of these I

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Speaker 2: don't think I do not think that was that at all.

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Speaker 2: But you know, no in delayed action, he's our number

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Speaker 2: one complain driver and that really should be nowhere near

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Speaker 2: an oppertsmanship that you should just follow through if you

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Speaker 2: can make your commitments your customer follow through.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, I mean that's it's just basic, as you say,

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Speaker 1: or as your mum would say. So all right, still

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Speaker 1: you'd want to hear from people, anyone in this situation

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Speaker 1: right now, get in touch with your.

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Speaker 2: Office absolutely absolutely. We're free and we're independent, and we

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Speaker 2: have three coel number which is one eight hundred zero

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Speaker 2: six two zero five eight. All people can complain online

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Speaker 2: at TiO dot com dot au. So after you've given

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Speaker 2: you tell co a chance to get it sorted if

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Speaker 2: they haven't called us or email us or submitted online,

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Speaker 2: and we will work with you and your telco to

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Speaker 2: get it sorted. Don't you know there's so many people

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Speaker 2: who think it's all too hard, it won't get anywhere.

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Speaker 2: We will work with you to make sure it does.

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Speaker 1: Get fixed, all right. Have you found that people with

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Speaker 1: a different language background are treated I don't want to

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Speaker 1: say worse, but differently perhaps are their complaints the longest

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Speaker 1: or the most often in the too hard basket?

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Speaker 2: We do see more consumers presenting to us who have

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Speaker 2: different demographics, different backgrounds. One of the things that I

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Speaker 2: suppose surprised me with the jump we saw for consumers

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Speaker 2: with First Nations background. They jumped fifteen percent in this quarter.

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Speaker 2: Same sort of issues though, no or delayed action service

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Speaker 2: and equipment speed drop, So not necessarily different issues, but

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Speaker 2: you know, variability in how it's impacting different cohorts across

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Speaker 2: the country.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, so that's the same story then, as

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Speaker 1: you say, across the board. But unreal that so many

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Speaker 1: are still unresolved and this will be a focus moving

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Speaker 1: forward I imagine for your office, Cynthia.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, we don't want customers to drop out of the system.

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Speaker 2: As I said, you know, we're about trying to build

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Speaker 2: trust and confidence in the telco environment and shine the

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Speaker 2: light and when things aren't working, so we will be

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Speaker 2: continuing to remind customers of their right to come back

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Speaker 2: to us if they can't get their complaint resolved, and

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Speaker 2: we'll be continuing to report on it to highlight to

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Speaker 2: the industry that half resolving or partially resolving a complaint

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Speaker 2: isn't good enough. You actually need to do it fully

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Speaker 2: otherwise people will be coming back to my office to

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Speaker 2: get it resolved through our process.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, Cynthia, really appreciate your time today and

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Speaker 1: throughout the year. Have a great, great Christmas break and

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Speaker 1: best for twenty five.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Matthew, look forward to speaking to you again

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Speaker 1: All right, Cynthia Gabert Telecommunications Industry on Bardsman the Office,

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Speaker 1: t I O dot com dot Au, t I O

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Speaker 1: dot com dot Au or eighteen hundred zero six two

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Speaker 1: zero five eight eighteen hundred zero six two zero five

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Speaker 1: eight