Number of complaints about telcos down 29% in first quarter

The number of issues raised by consumers about telecommunications groups fell by 29 per cent in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the same period last year, the latest report from the industry’s watchdog shows.

The Consumer Line Statistics Report, published by the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), details consumer contacts in relation to services.

ComReg’s consumer care team recorded about 12,400 contacts and 4,600 issues during the quarter. The number of contacts was down by 300 on the previous quarter, while the number of issues recorded was the same.

However, year-on-year there was a 29 per cent reduction in the total number of issues recorded.

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Issues related to electronic communications services (ECS) decreased by 38 per cent, while premium rate services (PRS) issues rose by 3 per cent.

Over the period 72 per cent of all issues recorded were in relation to ECS, while issues related to PRS and “not for ComReg/other” accounted for 12 per cent and 16 per cent of all other issues respectively.

ComReg recorded 295 mobile service provider issues for Eir, with 278 for Three and 286 were recorded for Vodafone.

The median resolution time for such complaints was eight working days, which was the same as the corresponding quarter in 2021.

The average number of complaints per 100,000 subscribers was 2.2, compared with an average of 2.1 complaints the year before.

ComReg recorded 756 fixed service provider issues for Eir, more than double the 376 for Sky. Meanwhile, 220 issues were recorded for Virgin Media, while there were 421 issues for Vodafone.

Resolution time

The median resolution time for fixed-service provider complaints was nine working days, compared to six in the previous quarter.

The average number of complaints per 100,000 subscribers was 21.6, compared to an average of 25.7 complaints in the previous three months.

Eir chief executive Oliver Loomes said the group was “absolutely committed to providing a level of care our customers can rely on”.

“Since the third quarter of 2020 complaints from mobile customers have fallen by 91 per cent, while complaints from fixed-line customers have fallen by 89 per cent,” he said, adding that this demonstrated its “utter focus” on improving the quality of its customer services.

“We continue to expand our customer-care operations. Most recently we opened a new Waterford care hub, with an additional 40 jobs there, and we continue to recruit across our care hubs in Sligo, Cork and Limerick.