The Commerce Commission report showed that the consumer watchdog received 603 Fair Trading Act complaints about the telco industry in the 12 months ending June 30 2017.
At the top of the list were the big 3, but that is partly to be expected given that they have the most customers so on a percentage basis they may even be doing better than some of the smaller players. However, in absolute number, Vodafone was at the top of the list of most complained about telcos, with 186 complaints in the 12 months. Spark was close behind on 180 while 2degrees was the subject of 88 complaints.
Common issues raised with the Commerce Commission included customers complaining about being billed incorrectly and that the performance of their broadband connections didn't meet what was advertised – we address this particular issue on another article here.
Another high level of complaints stemmed from ETFs – or Early Termination Fees. These are often quite high on fixed-term contracts and here at Broadband compare we have taken to highlighting those up front to help with your decision-making.
Finally, another area the report highlighted was ‘Pricing Practices’ with 22% of the Fair Trade Act complaints relating to this area. Now these are pretty common marketing tools when it comes to broadband providers and many now offer discounts for a period on a longer term contract – e.g. 3 months free on a 12 month contract or 6 months half price on a 24 month contract etc. To help consumers with that we have added a ‘Sort by’ function where you can see the actual real price for the 12 months of a contract and 24 months. Hope it is useful!
As always… if you have questions on who is the best broadband provider for you or the most suitable plan for your needs… just get in touch
