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Satisfaction with complaint handling

Chapter 5

Overall satisfaction

5.1 Overall, during the last 2 years a consistent level of satisfaction has been maintained, with around 7 in 10 consumers satisfied with the overall handling of their complaint/enquiry. This figure rises amongst consumers whose complaint/enquiry was dealt with in-house – currently standing at 83%.

5.2 Satisfaction has risen across most groups of consumers between April ’01 and October ’03, as shown in figure 5a. Most notable are rises in satisfaction amongst businesses rising steadily from 60% in April ’02 to its current level of 77% and written contacts (60% to 70%). However, these have not had a great impact on overall satisfaction levels given their lower proportion of the overall level of contacts – 15% from businesses and a quarter received in writing.

5.3 Satisfaction with the overall handling has been consistently higher amongst those phoning Oftel than those writing (including email), 76% and 70% respectively. As noted in previous reports this lower level of satisfaction may be linked to the longer timeframes for dealing with written queries/complaints and may not be directly linked to the level of service received.

Figure 5a: % satisfied with overall handling of complaint/enquiry
Base: All consumers contacting Oftel, May ’03 – Oct ’03 (Base: 513, ‘don’t knows’ have been excluded)

Apr '03 - Sep '03

Oct '02 - Mar '03

Apr '02 - Sep '02

Oct '01 - Mar '02

Type of customer

All consumers		74%
		70%

Residential consumers		74%
		72%

Residential consumers		77%
		60%

Apr '03 - Sep '03

Oct '02 - Mar '03

Apr '02 - Sep '02

Oct '01 - Mar '02

Type of contact

Enquiry*		88%
		82%

Complaint		71%
		68%

 

Apr '03 - Sep '03

Oct '02 - Mar '03

Apr '02 - Sep '02

Oct '01 - Mar '02

Method of contact

Phone		76%
		74%

Written		70%
		60%

*Base size less than 100 so apply caution

5.4 Of the quarter (26%) of consumers who felt that their complaint/enquiry was not dealt with satisfactorily, half (51%) had been referred to another source and therefore, overall satisfaction may have been affected by the onward handling of their complaint/enquiry. Consumers who were not satisfied with their complaint handling gave various reasons for this, these are outlined in figure 5b.

Figure 5b: Main reasons for dissatisfaction with complaint handling
Base: All dissatisfied with Oftel’s handling of the complaint/ enquiry, May ’03 – Oct ’03 (Base: 131)

Reasons given for dissatisfaction	%
Weren’t able to resolve my complaint	20%
Have no teeth to act/ disappointed they can do nothing	17%
Never got back to me	15%
Did nothing except pass on the message to phone company	14%
Criticism of staff dealing with complaint	13%
Said they weren’t able to help	11%
Not kept sufficiently informed	9%
Wasn’t satisfied with outcome	3%
Other	12%
Don’t know	7%

5.5 Around a third of reasons for dissatisfaction were within Oftel’s control – such as ‘never getting back to the consumer’, ‘criticism of staff’, ‘not kept informed’. This equates to just under 1 in 10 contacts (9%). However, over half of these consumers were not dealt with solely by Oftel and therefore may have been referring to the onward handling.

5.6 Results from previous surveys identified a group of consumers who were under the impression Oftel was still dealing with their complaint/enquiry, when in fact all respondents’ cases have been closed. In this wave around 1 in 10 contacts Oftel defined as ‘dealt with in-house’ were still expecting further action. These consumers were asked what they were expecting Oftel to do. The results are summarised in the table below and suggest that most of these consumers were actually aware that the situation was out of Oftel’s control, or that another company was exploring their complaint/enquiry. However, a small proportion was concerned that Oftel had not responded. Following the survey Oftel was able to respond to these consumers personally to clarify the situation of their complaint/enquiry.

Figure 5c: Actions consumers are expecting Oftel to take
Base: Closed cases who are expecting Oftel to take further action, May ’03-Oct ’03 (Base: *54)

Actions still expecting Oftel to take	Actual number of responses
Nothing, they are powerless	14
Resolve the situation/get a result	12
Reply/respond to my email	11
Nothing the phone company/other organisation is dealing	6
Other	7
Don’t know	6

Totals more than 54 as some consumers mentioned more than one aspect

Satisfaction with various aspects of process

5.7 As stated above three-quarters of consumers were satisfied with the service they received from Oftel, rising to 83% amongst those Oftel was able to deal with in-house. The following examines satisfaction with various aspects of the service.

Contacting Oftel

5.8 Throughout the survey we have seen consistently high levels of satisfaction with contacting Oftel, as shown in figure 5d – during the final period 9 out of 10 (91%) consumers were satisfied with the ease of getting hold of someone. This is consistent with high proportions of consumers who made one call to reach the complaints team (80%), and the 4 in 5 who spoke to an advisor immediately without being held in a queue.

Advisors

5.9 The following section explores satisfaction with advisors – whether they were ‘polite and paid attention’ and ‘interested and keen to assist’, and as such focuses on consumers who contacted Oftel by phone.

5.10 This wave confirms previous findings, suggesting that one of Oftel’s strengths is that telephone advisors are polite and pay attention to callers, 95% of phone contacts were satisfied with this aspect of their complaint/enquiry. 85% of consumers contacting Oftel by phone were satisfied that the advisor was interested and keen to assist.

Process

5.11 During the early phases of this research it was noted that some consumers were dissatisfied with the explanation of what action was being taken, and even less satisfied with being kept informed of progress. In light of these findings Oftel implemented various changes to procedure with an aim to improving consumers’ awareness of the status of their complaint/enquiry.

5.12 These changes appear to have had an impact on satisfaction with these areas, as shown in figure 5d. Currently almost 3 in 5 (58%) of those claiming to require further advice/action are satisfied with being kept informed of progress – an increase of 13 percentage points since April ’02, while satisfaction with the explanation of action to be taken also rose from 71% to 79% during the same period.

5.13 Other aspects of the process such as length of time taken to deal and Oftel keeping its promises, appear to have risen although these are within the error margins of the survey and therefore may not be real increases. However, satisfaction with both of these aspects has remained at relatively high levels.

Figure 5d: % satisfied with aspects of complaint handling process
Base: All consumers contacting Oftel, May ‘03 ’ – Oct ’03 (Base: 513, ‘don’t knows’ have been excluded)

Apr '03 - Sep '03

Oct '02 - Mar '03

Apr '02 - Sep '02

Oct '01 - Mar '02

Contacting Oftel

Ease of getting hold of someone		91%
		89%

 

Apr '03 - Sep '03

Oct '02 - Mar '03

Apr '02 - Sep '02

Oct '01 - Mar '02

Advisors
(Based on telephone contacts)

Polite and paid attention		95%
		94%

Interested and keen to assist		85%
		83%

 

Apr '03 - Sep '03

Oct '02 - Mar '03

Apr '02 - Sep '02

Oct '01 - Mar '02

Process

Dealt with complaint/ enquiry in resonable time		85%
		80%

Kept their promises		76%
		72%

Explained what action they would take		79%
		71%

Kept me informed on progress		58%
		45%

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