Telecommunications disputes service wins plaudits
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Posted Mon 24 May 2010 @ 8:22 a.m. by Ernie Newman
The heartiest of congratulations to the Telecommunications Disputes Resolution Service, on its success last week in the Vero "Excellence in Business Support" Awards.
TDRS won the category "Business under $5M turnover One to Many Offering."
I need to declare an interest - I am a Council member of TDRS. Admittedly I've only held that role a few months, but I feel a sense of paternalism, having been heavily involved in the concept and initial work on the Telecommunications Carriers Forum Customer Complaints Code which led to the establishment of this voluntary institution. I believe the Service has not only provided a valuable safety valve for residential and SME users, but also led to the industry - and especially the larger service providers - cleaning up their complaints handling processes.
The greatest strength of the service is the quality of its dispute handling process. Its adjudicators are highly competent professionals whose work earns a high level of customer satisfaction, even when complaints are unsuccessful. Customers are not always right!
Its weakness is the reluctance of smaller carriers to commit to participation. Sure, there are legitimate complaints about the fairness of the Scheme funding to smaller players, but these issues are taking far too long to resolve.
In contrast to the sleek and simple TDRS in New Zealand, Australia's legislatively-based Telecommunications Ombudsman reputedly has 120 staff. I hope New Zealand doesn't end up going that way - disputes services are important in a modern democracy but they add little economic value in themselves.
"Cheap, cheerful but highly effective" is my summary of TDRS. Those in the industry who are holding out should take this opportunity to think again. TDRS, and your customers, deserve your support. By all means seek change but please, from within!
Meanwhile congratulations from TUANZ to the crew at TDRS - well done!
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