Doug had experienced ongoing service issues with his provider. His wireless broadband connection was intermittent, which Doug assumed was due to poor network coverage, and when he tried to raise the problems the issue was exacerbated by poor customer service and difficulty in reaching the providers technical team.

After months of unanswered questions Doug decided to change providers, refusing to pay for the months where he received little to no connection and the early termination fees. The provider disputed Doug’s reasoning for non-payment and continued to invoice Doug, and subsequently forwarded them to a Debt collection agency for collection.

Doug contacted TDR and lodged his complaint. The complaint progressed quickly through the TDR process since it had been more than 12 months since Doug had raised the connection issues with his provider. This technically ruled the matter out of TDR’s jurisdiction[i] however his provider saw the benefit of TDR’s involvement to help resolve the complaint and a Resolution Practitioner was assigned to assist.

The Resolution Practitioner facilitated discussion between Doug and his old provider. The provider acknowledged that Doug had experienced multiple connection and customer service issues, while Doug confirmed that he had additional outstanding historic bills which the provider was entitled to payment for. Both parties acknowledged failings on their parts and were able, with the assistance of the Resolution Practitioner, to reach a mutually beneficial mediated agreement.

 

[i] Section 17.10.4. of the Customer Complaints Code requires a complaint to be made to the TDR service within 12 months of the Customer’s initial discovery of the matter being complained about.