Trade Commission begins to test how telephone companies treat customers

Telecommunications service providers are increasingly solicited to treat their customers.

The Commerce Commission has published a document describing how it will implement new legal provisions to improve the quality of retail service that customers of telecom operators receive.

The Commission wants to better understand the quality of service provided to customers, the priorities on which it should focus on sector monitoring and the appropriate tools to use in case of intervention.

"Retail telecommunications is a priority for the commission, particularly in the areas of billing, contract change, contract terms and marketing, and Parliament has now given us more tools to improve the quality of the service. retail service and protect consumers, "said Telecommunications Commissioner Stephen Gale.

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The new provisions require the Commission to monitor aspects of the quality of retail service, including performance, speed and availability issues, customer service, billing and installation issues, and provide consumers with information that help them in their choice of technologies and suppliers.

They also allow it to create retail service quality codes – if the codes imposed by the industry are inadequate – and require it to periodically review the telecom dispute resolution mechanism.

"We receive numerous consumer inquiries and complaints about telecommunications providers and have responded in recent years with fair trade warnings and prosecutions." The new provisions will help us encourage companies to respond. phone to compete more for the quality of retail service, not just for the price, "Gale said.

Telecommunications was the main source of complaints to the Trade Commission last year.

Jessica Wilson, head of consumer research in New Zealand, said the Commission's new control would allow consumers to better compare the service offered by suppliers.

She said the industry had a service problem.

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A study conducted by Consumer NZ found that 33 out of 33 respondents said they had received unnecessary service from their telephone company and that 61% of them had waited on the phone for a long time to talk to a customer service representative.

Mr. Wilson explained that the high number of complaints was related to the fact that the industry was still unable to solve the problems that arose.

In the meantime, the Dispute Resolution Service in the telecommunications sector, the service that processes claims where they can not be resolved between a supplier and its customer, has received more than 2000 claims during its investigation. last full year.

Complaints about sales tactics rose 220% over the previous year, reaching 131.

But Gavin Male, BroadbandCompare broadband comparison website, said the industry does not deserve its poor reputation.

"If you look at the number of complaints received, every household in the country has at least one or two accounts with these phone companies.This percentage is tiny.Although it is the most criticized sector, it is the sector that has the most customers. "