Mobile, Broadband And Home Phone Complaints And Enquiries Information From Telecommunications Dispute Resolution (TDR)

Mobile, broadband and home phone complaints and enquiries information from Telecommunications Dispute Resolution (TDR) for 1 July 2020 – 30 June 2021

Telecommunications services are entrenched in all that we do, so when people have an issue with their mobile, home phone or internet it has a big impact on their lives. The TDR team take pride in the work we do – helping New Zealanders to resolve complaints with their telecommunications providers. It’s important work and the availability of a free and independent service makes a big difference.

This year TDR received 1940 enquiries, 30.7% less than the previous year. Many providers recognised the challenges facing their customers during the pandemic. They removed data caps, stopped referring debt to collections during lockdown, and they allowed more time to pay outstanding invoices. These changes made a big impact for their customers and resulted in less complaints to TDR. That being said, billing continues its reign as the top cause of complaints. The main issue we’ve seen this year is disputed charges on customer invoices. Customer service comes in second, with complaints about scheme members failing to action customer requests or keeping customers informed at the top of the list in this category. We have also seen a 658% increase in complaints about service interruption. These mainly related to congestion causing speed and connections to drop, likely due to the increased demand for services as more people work, study and stream from home.

If you would like to find out more about TDR and the complaints we saw, you can download the 2021 TDR Annual Report here.

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