Fed: Telcos told to lift their game
21 Nov 2008 3:54 PMBy Katie Bradford
MELBOURNE, Nov 21 AAP - The federal government has put the telecommunications industry on notice, telling them to lift their game or face regulation.
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) launched a campaign on Friday to tackle the high number of complaints about poor customer service and complaint handling practices in the industry.
During the 200708 financial year, complaints to the TIO rose by almost 50,000 to 149,742, the largest increase in the past 10 years.
Customer service is now the top complaint issue, overtaking billing issues.
The connect.resolve (connect.resolve) campaign will see the TIO working together with service providers and the industry to address the complaints.
Speaking at the campaign launch, Federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said it was clear the sector had not been taking their commitment to resolving disputes seriously.
"We're going to be able to target the bad performing telcos and ISPs straight away and we're going to put pressure on them," Mr Conroy told reporters.
But he had a strong message for the industry - pull your socks up or face the consequences.
"Let me be clear about this, if the telco sector doesn't want to lift its game on self-regulation, I'm prepared to act.
"They have got to understand this is their last chance to respond to customers under the current framework.
"The challenge is there for them. Respond or there will be more regulation,and I'll be happy to do it."
He said the industry asked to be self-regulated, but was now jeopardising that status.
"We want to promote the companies that are doing a good job, but as an issue across the sector, it's not good enough to see this size of jump in complaints."
The campaign will run until June 2009 and encourage the industry to improveits customer service and complaint handling procedures.
Monthly reports will be gathered and companies performing badly will be "named and shamed", TIO Ombudsman Deirdre O'Donnell said.
"We really want to make sure that the telecommunications industry listens to their customers, connects with them, and resolves their complaints quickly and fairly," Ms O'Donnell told reporters.
"We're hoping that people will stop experiencing the runaround, that peoplewill get answers to calls, that people will be able to speak to the right people who will be able to address their issues, really basic customer service improvements."
Teresa Corbin, executive director of the Consumers' Telecommunications Network (CTN), welcomed the campaign.
"The situation has got so bad, consumers are so fed up, that at the moment they don't think there is any point in complaining," she said.
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