Telcos warned for not helping struggling customers
Customers are left in the dark about their financial assistance for their phones and internet bills, and a guard wants to officially warn four companies.
Optus, Origin, Skymesh and Swoop, published on Wednesday, to provide sufficient support for customers how to get help for financial problems from TelCOs.
Invoices, delayed notifications and financial difficulties notifications, should contain options for assistance and contact information for help with the rules in force since March 2024.
However, the Australian Communication and Media Authority found that the four companies could not include some necessary information in at least one way of communication with customers.
It was found that Optus did not add a communication to the notifications sent to customers to confirm that they were given to financial difficulties aid plans.
An Optus spokesman said that a routine control has detected four customers who receive communication without the necessary information.
The spokesman said Optus corrected his processes before the ACMA control took place.
Origin, E -mails and invoices contained the necessary information, but accepted that it does not contain texts for customers.
“We’ve updated our text messages since then and encourages customers who have financial difficulties to communicate with us, so that we can provide support.” He said.
Skymesh and Swoop’s staff could not train their staff in financial difficulties.
A spokesman said in a statement that no Swoop customer was financially affected by incomplete information or training, and that the problems were solved earlier this year.
Skymesh was contacted for a comment.
All Telcos updated their processes to follow the rules while the investigation continued, but if he violated the rules, he faced penalties up to $ 250,000 per crime.
In June, Optus agreed to pay a penalty of 100 million dollars, including selling goods and services to the consumer observer and vulnerable customers who could not meet them.
In the early July, Optus measured the proportion of customer complaints referring to 31 of 36 companies in the research conducted in the regulator.
