Between January and March 2021, residential consumers and small businesses made 30,393 complaints about phone and internet services.

This is a decrease of 0.3 per cent compared to the previous quarter, and 6.1 per cent compared to the same quarter last year. The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman’s Quarter 3 (Q3) 2020-21 Complaints Report published today (Wednesday 2 June 2021) shows mobile continues to be the most complained about service type, accounting for 35 per cent of all complaints. This is the highest proportion in the last five quarters.

Problems with inadequate fault testing has emerged as an issue for all consumer types. This is when a provider fails to troubleshoot a problem with a consumer, or the consumer is not satisfied with the provider’s fault testing. 

A highlight for this period shows a continuation of a downward trend in the number of complaints about consumers being unable to contact their provider. This problem decreased by 38 per cent compared to the previous quarter. 

The overall proportion of small business complaints remains steady, with a slight decrease from 17 per cent of total complaints in the previous quarter to 16 per cent in Q3. 

Other insights include the appearance of Foxtel in the top ten providers this quarter, replacing M2 Commander.

While overall complaint volumes have decreased over the last two quarters, complaints returning as unresolved from the telcos has been higher than previously observed. This quarter shows over 20 per cent of referrals in Q2 returning as unresolved.

Commenting on the Q3 results, Ombudsman Judi Jones said, “Complaints reflect the consumer experience of their phone and internet services and interactions with their telco. While the decline in overall complaints is a positive sign, the increase in complaints coming back to us unresolved is concerning. We will continue monitoring this trend and working with the telcos on the problems as they emerge.”