Australian telcos have been put on blast by the telecommunication industry ombudsman for misleading behaviour, unsuitable payment options, and irresponsible sales to vulnerable citizens.
The damning report said telcos’ misbehaviour comprised a whopping 32.7 per cent of complaints it received between July 2020 and June 2021.
Failure of a telco to take action, or delayed action, forced 27,386 complaints. Disputes over service and equipment fees saw 22,189 complaints. Poor mobile coverage attracted 6,791 complaints.
Gear failure, misleading conduct, higher bills than agreed upon, poor or no mobile coverage despite assurances to the contrary, charges for items customers were led to believe were part of the plan, and providers being uncontactable each drew thousands of complaints.
“Complaint numbers about misleading conduct by a telco and unsuitable payment options were higher for mobile services than for internet, landline and multiple services combined”, said ombudsman Cynthia Gebert.
One complaint regarded a customer who didn’t receive emergency notifications during a bushfire, while another provider sold a mobile plan to an elderly woman on a flood plain, despite knowing full well its coverage didn’t extend to that area.
“This is concerning because when something goes wrong with a mobile service, the impacts can be really disruptive to people’s lives,” said Gebert.
The report singles out one shocking instance where CurbTel sold a pensioner over $15,000 worth of mobiles and accessories.
“While telcos have made improvements in recent years, the investigations by my office show there is still work to be done on responsible selling of mobile services, communicating effectively about service reliability, removing barriers to accessing support from a human being when trying to contact a telco, and ensuring that automatic payment methods are not negatively impacting consumers,” Gebert’s report reads.
“Our investigations show that providers do not always keep adequate records about in-store sales discussions with consumers,” the report said.
“This can lead to mis-selling, since in a busy store environment, it may be difficult for some consumers, including those with vulnerabilities, to read and understand a Critical Information Summary.”
