Vodafone cuts complaints

Complaints dropped from 18 per 10,000 services in October-December 2013 to 10.5 a year on

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In the final quarter of 2014 Vodafone Australia managed to reduce the number of complaints per service it received while adding customers to its network.

Complaints per 10,000 Vodafone Australia services in operation (SIO) dropped from 18 in October-December 2013 to 10.5 as at December 2014, according to a new TIO report.

<i>Telecommunications Complaints in Context</i> compared complaints received about amaysim, iiNet, Optus, Telstra and Vodafone from July 2013 to December 2014.

The figures come amid some other promising signs for Vodafone, with the telco adding customers in the second half of 2014 after several periods of loss.

Vodafone added 91,000 customers in the six months to the end of December, ending the period with 5.3 million customers.

Part owner Hutchison Telecommunications Australia revealed that Vodafone's customer count in 2014 was still down from 2013. The total loss reported by Vodafone Hutchison Australia, combining the losses of Vodafone and Hutchison, was $603.6 million in 2014.

Vodafone did experience a spike in complaints during January-March 2014 to 19.3 per 10,000 SIO, TIO figures show, but complaints against the telco dropped for the last three quarters to 10.5.

"It’s encouraging to see a further significant decline in the rate of complaints," a spokesperson for the telco said.

“Vodafone is committed to providing the best possible experience for its customers, and has introduced a range of products and services aimed at achieving this. Our customers are our number one priority.”

Complaints about Telstra remained steady in the TIO report. The telco received 6.4 complaints per 10,000 SIO in the period October-December 2013 and 6.4 again in October- December 2014.

Complaints about iiNet rose from 4.9 in October-December 2013 to 5.6 last year. Complaints about amaysim remained almost unchanged on 1.5 compared to 1.6 during the same period in 2013. Meanwhile, Optus recorded a slight rise in complaints - from 5.2 in October-December 2013 to 5.4 last year.

The result across participating telcos was 6.6 complaints per 10,000 SIO. This compared with 7.6 in October-December 2013.

“These results reflect the decrease in TIO complaints, which were at an eight year low in October-December 2014. It is significant that this reduction comes at a time when the participating telcos have reported an increase in customers,” read the report.