Issue 3

December 2000

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Contents

Introduction

Complaints information published

How Oftel deals with consumer complaints

Complaints to telecoms companies

Reporting period covered

Other information available to consumers

Further publication of complaints data

Contacting Oftel

TABLE A: Top 10 complaints for the period 1 April 2000 to 30 September 2000

TABLE B: Top five companies most complained about

Information to Note

Introduction

Oftel’s goal is for consumers to have the best possible deal in terms of quality, choice and value for money. When deciding which telecoms company best meets their requirements, consumers need to be able to compare the performance of alternative companies. This will help them make informed decisions about the choices available to them.

As part of this process, every six months Oftel publishes details on the complaints made by the public to Oftel about individual telecoms companies. The problems that are occurring, which companies are involved, and the action they are taking to deal with them is useful information for consumers wanting to compare the performance of telecoms companies. Consumers and consumer bodies welcome Oftel's publication of this information.

Oftel believes that publishing this information also provides an important incentive to telecoms companies to address quickly the cause of the complaints made against them.

This publication should not  be seen as a survey on the performance of companies’ customer complaints services. Information on this is regularly published by the industry in their Comparable Performance Indicators.

Complaints information published

The information published relates to the number and type of complaints Oftel has received from consumers about telecoms companies. A complaint is defined as a consumer's expression of dissatisfaction.

Table A - lists the top ten complaints that consumers have raised and the main telecoms companies complained about. Companies are ranked by the number of complaints received.

Table B - lists the top five companies that consumers have complained to Oftel about. The table is ranked by the number of complaints received divided by the company’s customer base.

Full details of the criteria for inclusion in these tables is set out below.

How Oftel deals with consumer complaints

Oftel always takes complaints about telecoms companies seriously. We advise consumers about the options available to them to resolve any dispute, and will often take up their complaint with the company concerned. Oftel also holds regular meetings with companies to discuss consumers’ complaints and the action the company is taking to deal with service problems. A large number of complaints about a company could mean there is a serious problem that requires regulatory action by Oftel.

Consumers rightly expect their telecoms company to have an efficient and effective customer complaints procedure, so that their complaint is dealt with swiftly and effectively. In many cases, Oftel received less than one complaint for each 10,000 customers of the company concerned. Nearly all the companies have set out what action they have already taken or intend to take to deal with the complaints listed.

Complaints to telecoms companies

The information published does not cover the complaints made directly to telecoms companies. Individual companies receive complaints directly from their customers, but if they deal with them to the customer’s satisfaction, people are unlikely to also complain to Oftel. Most consumers complain to Oftel only when they are unhappy with the response they have received from their telecoms company, and are seeking advice or assistance from Oftel.

Companies with less than 10,000 customers

Oftel received no responses concerning its decision to exclude companies with less than 10,000 customers and this is now included in the criteria for inclusion in the publication.

Reporting period covered

The information on complaints received by Oftel covers the period 1 April 2000 to 30 September  2000. Oftel’s complaint handling system records the number of consumers contacting Oftel and the number of issues raised by consumers. 52,000 consumers made complaints on a wide range of issues to Oftel or the regional Advisory Committees on Telecommunications during this period.

Oftel also received 14,000 enquiries about a wide range of telecoms issues. In addition there were 280 consumer complaints about how Oftel handled their complaint or about Oftel’s policy on particular telecoms issues.

Oftel received 1,500 complaints about Internet Service Providers (ISPs).  In addition, as can be seen from the tables, a number of telecoms companies offer Internet Access packages in partnership with ISPs. Given the difficulty of obtaining accurate customer base information for ISPs at this time, Oftel will not be including ISPs in the tables.

Other information available to consumers

Information on the number of complaints made to Oftel is only one aspect of a telecoms company’s performance. Additional information on the performance of telecoms companies is available from a number of other sources. These include:

• quality of service Comparable Performance Indicators (CPIs) (www.cpi.org.uk),
• telephone bill comparisons, for example at www.phonebills.org.uk, and
• individual company literature which will detail services and tariff packages.

Used together, these can help consumers decide which company best suits their requirements.

In addition, local authority trading standards departments and environmental health offices, and other local advisory agencies, submit quarterly returns on a voluntary basis to the Office of Fair Trading which publishes consumer complaint figures on its web site at www.oft.gov.uk/html/rsearch/stats However, these figures do not name individual companies.

Further publication of complaints data

The next publication, covering the period 1 October 2000 to 31 March 2001 is due for publication in May 2001.

Contacting Oftel

Oftel has a dedicated section on its website to help deal with consumer enquiries. A consumer helpline service is also available.

If a consumer has a complaint about a telecoms company, Oftel recommend they contact their telecoms company and try and resolve the problem. If they have been through all the company’s complaints procedures and the complaint has still not been resolved, consumers can contact Oftel in the following ways:

Consumers resident in England

• Use the complaint/enquiry form on our website
• Telephone Oftel on local rate number 0845 7145000

Consumers resident in Scotland

Contact the Scottish Advisory Committee on Telecommunications (SACOT)

• E-mail sacot@acts.org.uk
• Telephone SACOT on local rate number 0845 7145000

Consumers resident in Wales

The Welsh Advisory Committee on Telecommunications (WACT)

• E-mail wact@acts.org.uk
• Telephone WACT on local rate number 0845 7145000

Consumers resident in Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland Advisory Committee on Telecommunications (NIACT)

• E-mail niact@acts.org.uk
• Telephone NIACT on local rate number 0845 7145000

Calls to the helpline may be monitored for training purposes.
Consumers are advised to check with their phone companies for local rate tariff details.

TABLE A: Top 10 complaints for the period 1 April 2000 to 30 September 2000

Notes:

Note 1: October 1999-March 2000 position in brackets
Note 2: MSP - Mobile Service Provider

Footnote: BT Cellnet's commnet: BT Cellnet continues to invest heavily in its customer service.   Resources are focussed to address key issues in order to improve the level of service to our customers.

TABLE B: Top five companies most complained about (complaints data is weighted by the telecoms company’s customer base) for the period 1 April 2000 to 30 September 2000

Notes:

Note 1:  October 1999-March 2000 position in brackets

Information to Note