Ref:   41/00
Date: 2 June 2000

Having their complaint ignored, or having no action taken by the telephone company concerned was the biggest complaint consumers made to Oftel over the six month period from October 1999 to March 2000.

Difficulty in contacting their telephone company was the second most common complaint. Together, these two complaints accounted for over 6,000 of the total 49,500 complaints made by residential and business customers to Oftel over the last six months to March.

The details are set out in the latest information on consumer complaints made to Oftel, which was published today.

Welcoming the publication, David Edmonds, Director General Telecommunications said today:

"Details of Oftel’s consumer complaints provide useful information to consumers on how well companies handle complaints, and the sorts of problems that customers are experiencing.

"Naming these companies and the sort of problems their customers have experienced is a strong incentive for telecoms companies to address quickly the cause of the complaint made against them.

"Statistics on complaints received at Oftel are monitored on a regular basis. This enables Oftel to act promptly where a large number of complaints are received about a specific company or product, raising relevant issues with the company involved."

David Edmonds said that consumers clearly want more information on the level of performance of companies.

"Oftel’s research shows that consumers believe customer service is just as important a consideration as price. They need to know how well companies treat their customers when deciding which telecoms company best meets their requirements.

"That is why I believe companies must provide clear and accessible information on prices and performance for consumers. The residential fixed line price comparison guide at www.phonebills.org.uk is one example, as is the mobile networks publication of details on the regional performance of their networks.

"With encouragement from Oftel, the industry has also improved the quality of its Comparable Performance Indicators – the information it publishes on their performance – including the handling of complaints.

"Using a combination of this information will help the consumer to be better informed when deciding which telecoms company to choose."

Notes to Editors

1. Consumer Complaints made to Oftel is available from Oftel’s website at http://www.oftel.gov.uk. Copies are also available to the media from Oftel’s Press Office on 020 7634 8991 and to the public from Oftel’s Research and Intelligence Unit on 020 7634 8700.

2. This is the second publication of Oftel’s complaints data in this format. The first publication included the Top 5 companies most complained about. On this occasion the fifth most complained about company has been excluded due to it having less than 10,000 customers. In future, only companies with more than 10,000 customers will be included in this section of the publication.

3. Oftel’s Consumer Representation Section gives advice to consumers on how to resolve any problems they might have with their telecoms company. Oftel explains the options available to them, and as appropriate, will often take up their case up with the company concerned. The regional Advisory Committees on Telecoms undertake this function on behalf of the Director General in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Oftel also holds regular meetings with companies to discuss consumers’ complaints and the action the company is taking to deal with problems. A large number of complaints about a company could mean there is a serious problem which could lead to regulatory action by Oftel.

4. The information published today should not be seen as a survey on the performance of companies’ customer complaints services. Information on this is published every six months by the industry in their Comparable Performance Indicators. The latest edition is available at www.cpi.org.uk.

5. The four companies most complained about ( complaints data weighted by telecoms company’s customer base) for the period 1 October 1999 to 31 March 2000 were LocalTel, NextCall, Cellular Operations including First Line and CWC.

6. A complaint is defined as a consumer's expression of dissatisfaction

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