9 May 2008—TDR First Quarterly Report press release
The full text of the press release, and Q & A paper issued by Telecommunication Dispute Resolution (TDR), announcing the first quarterly report from the TDR service. A copy of the release and Q & A paper can be download below.
TDR First Quarter Report
New Zealand’s first independent telecommunication dispute resolution service is delivering on its promise of answering calls promptly and resolving disputes quickly, its quarterly results show.
Telecommunication Dispute Resolution (TDR) has today released the information about its first four months of operation, which shows that since its launch at the end of November 2007, TDR has met or exceeded its performance targets, and that during the same time the number of cases opened by the organisation grew by more than 50 per cent month-on-month.
TDR’s total number of cases opened for the four months to the end of March was 275, with 174 (63%) cases dealt with between the supplier and the customer, 93 (34%) classified as non-relevant, and eight still in the dispute process. Non-relevant complaints mostly involved disputes that happened before the scheme began, and so could not be dealt with by TDR.
TDR is a free service, which can be used by any consumer whose telecommunications company is a member of the TDR scheme.
Consumers must have raised their complaint with their telecommunication company first, and given the company a chance to respond. If the consumer is not happy with the outcome or it has taken more than six weeks to resolve, TDR can get involved.
The service has been established by the Telecommunications Carriers’ Forum (TCF) – a collective of telecommunication companies – along with leading consumer advocates such as Consumers’ Institute, TUANZ and Citizens Advice Bureaux. The TCF established the TDR Council, made up of half industry and half consumer representatives, to provide the overall governance of the service. The chairman of the TDR Council is well-known consumer law expert Bill Bevan.
Mr Bevan said the quarterly results highlighted the success of the scheme, and the professionalism of the company implementing and managing it, Dispute Resolution Services Ltd (DRSL).
“The TDR scheme is a great example of an effective and efficient partnership between the industry and its customers. Funded by telecommunication companies, governed by consumer and industry representatives, managed and operated by a government-owned company, it provides independent, free dispute resolution services to telecommunication customers”, he said.
DRSL General Manager Neil McKellar said a positive working relationship had been established between TDR and the telecommunication industry, and that initial feedback from consumers had been extremely good.
He said there had been a steady increase in the volume of complaints, and that judging from the experience of similar dispute resolution agencies in New Zealand and overseas, that number was forecast to increase steadily over the remainder of the year and beyond.
“TDR looks forward to providing a first class dispute resolution service to telecommunications consumers and the industry into the future,” he said.
Of the complaints that had been received, almost half related to billing and credit. A further 29 per cent were to do with service and product delivery (failures and delays in connection, disconnection and functionality). Customer service complaints made up 11 per cent of complaints, five per cent related to network performance (speed and service interruptions) and faults accounted for three per cent of complaints. The remaining three per cent of complaints were listed as ‘Other’ – calls that did not fit the standard categories.
Mr McKellar said communication – or lack of it – played a central role in many of the complaints.
“Difficulties for customers contacting and getting responses from providers have been noted in a very large percentage of cases. Customers have frequently not had a clear understanding of the terms and conditions contained in their contracts and have complained that explanations they have received from providers have been incomplete and therefore misleading or inaccurate,” he said.
Mr McKellar said while there was not enough information yet to define systemic industry-wide issues, complaint handling and contractual terms and conditions were a factor in many of the complaints.
Mr McKellar also provided case studies of real complaints that had been handled by TDR, and listed some of the unsolicited positive feedback that had been received so far. These highlighted the speed and success of the resolution process.
A full copy of the quarterly report can be found on the TDR website www.tdr.org.nz.
Ends
Contacts:
For Telecommunication Dispute Resolution
Bill Bevan, Telecommunication Dispute Resolution Council Chair
Phone: Whitireia Community Law, 04 – 2376811
Email: commlaw@wnc.quik.co.nz
For the Telecommunication Carriers’ Forum (TCF)
Ralph Chivers, TCF CEO
021 576 424
For Dispute Resolution Services Ltd.
Neil McKellar, Dispute Resolution Services General Manager
Phone: 04 – 918 4919
Mobile: 0274 999 949
Fax: 04 – 918 4901
Email: neil.mckellar@drsl.co.nz
Scheme Members:
Airnet NZ Ltd
CallPlus
Communitel
Digital Island
Eziphone
Faxware International Limited t/a TNZ Group
Genesis
ihug
igrin Internet
Kordia
Orcon
Snap Internet
Telecom
TelstraClear
Vodafone
WorldxChange
Websites:
Telecommunication Dispute Resolution
www.tdr.org.nz
Telecommunication Carriers’ Forum
www.tcf.org.nz
Dispute Resolution Services Ltd.
www.drsl.co.nz
Background:
The TDR service was established by the Telecommunication Carriers’ Forum, and is based on a Customer Complaints Code that has been agreed to by the TCF members. Development of the Code began in May 2005, and it was formally endorsed by the TCF late 2006. The TCF then established a Council to govern the Scheme and appoint a company to implement the service.
The formal structure:
Questions and Answers:
Q. Have you had the volume of disputes you expected up to this point?
A. TDR is currently getting the volume of calls that it predicted. However, if the number of disputes coming in continues to grow at the same rate, the annual estimate will be exceeded.
Q. What type of dispute has been the most common?
A. Almost half of the disputes raised with TDR have related to billing issues, and mostly these have been disputed amounts that customers have been charged.
Service and product delivery have accounted for the next largest percentage of complaints received (29%). The majority of these complaints deal with failures and delays in connection, disconnection and functionality.
The remainder of the disputes related to customer service (11%) network performance (5%) and Faults (3%).
Q. What has been the most common outcome from the disputes?
A. Most of the disputes have been dealt with at ‘Level 1’, where a formal complaint has been made to TDR, but TDR has had to refer the complaint back to the supplier. This has generally been because resolution is still being attempted through the companies’ internal complaints process and deadlock has not been reached. Of the 275 complaints received, 174 have been dealt with in this way, and eight are still in process - five at Level 2 (facilitated negotiation) and one at Level 3 (conciliation).
Q. How much has it cost so far?
A. The service is free to consumers.
The Scheme Members have paid $98,000 to set up and run the scheme to date.
Q. Which company is getting the most complaints?
A. The Scheme has been used by customers from CallPlus, ihug, Orcon, Telecom, TelstraClear and Vodafone.
Releasing the total complaint numbers per Scheme Member could be misleading – the company with the most complaints may be most actively promoting TDR to its customers, and therefore could have the most robust customer service, not the worst.
For specific information about TDR complaints, please contact the company concerned.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How are customers being made aware of TDR?
TDR is being promoted through all of the Scheme Members to their customers. TDR information is also available through all Citizen Advice Bureaux, Community Law and Ministry of Social Development Heartland Centres. Telecommunication customers can go to any of these sources for more information, or get in touch with TDR.
How do customers lodge a complaint?
Customers must take their complaint up with their telecommunication provider first, before coming to TDR. Their telecommunication company must also be a member of the TDR Scheme.
Once a customer has reached the end of the company’s complaint system without reaching a resolution, or if the customer has not heard from the company in over six weeks, TDR can help. The process begins with the customer making the complaint to TDR in writing.
For more information about the TDR process, please see the TDR website at www.tdr.org.nz.