Consumer complaints to telcos about the services remain at a high level, despite the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) reporting a decrease in complaints, according to a survey conducted for the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN)
The TIO in May reported that while complains in Q1 were up 9.1 percent on Q4 , the previous quarter, they dropped by 12.2 per cent compared to Q1 last year.
But ACCAN says the situation is far worse than these figures suggest, with a survey it commissioned showing 46pc of telco consumers reporting having a problem with their phone or ISP in the last year. That would equate to about 8.5 million Australians, the survey suggested.
ACCAN says its results show consumer “complaint fatigue”, with many consumers not thinking making a complaint was worth the effort.
Most common reason given for not elevating a complaint to the TIO was that the respondent didn’t think there was any point (51pc), while 33pc said it was too difficult – and 15pc said they hadn’t even heard of the TIO.
