30 November 2005
Mixed results for customer satisfaction about telephone fault repairs, transfers and connections
While customer satisfaction with their telephone fault repair service has remained relatively constant, satisfaction with telephone transfer or connection of service was lower in 2005.
The findings are contained in the report Consumer Satisfaction Survey 2005: Fault restoration and connection of service released today by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
Seventy-six per cent of customers were satisfied with their telephone transfer or connection of service, significantly lower than the 82 per cent reported in 2004. Fifteen per cent were dissatisfied, slightly up from 14 per cent in 2004.
Sixty-six per cent of customers were satisfied with their telephone fault repair service, slightly lower than the 69 per cent reported in 2004; and 27 per cent were dissatisfied, up from 24 per cent in 2004. The changes are not significant for fault repair and may be due to sampling error.
The 2005 telephone survey asked fixed-line telephone customers about their satisfaction with the service they received either for fault repair or connection of service. The survey population comprised residential and small business customers living in urban, rural and remote areas of Australia.
The survey asked customers to rate their overall level of satisfaction with their fault repair or connection of service; to give their main reasons for being satisfied or dissatisfied; and, if they had received an on-site visit from a company technician, to rate their level of satisfaction with the person’s punctuality.
For both fault repair and connection of service small business customers were less satisfied and more dissatisfied than residential customers, and survey findings were generally consistent across the urban, rural and remote customer groups.
The report of the 2005 consumer satisfaction survey is available on the ACMA website.
Media contact: Donald Robertson, ACMA Media Manager, (02) 9334 7980.
Backgrounder
The Australian Communications and Media Authority carries out regular consumer satisfaction surveys as a part of its monitoring and reporting of the performance of the telecommunications industry required under section 105 of the Telecommunications Act 1997.
The 2005 survey was ACMA’s eighth annual consumer satisfaction survey, consisting of two modules focusing on satisfaction with fault repair and connection of service for customers of fixed line telephone services.
The surveys were carried out by Roy Morgan Research and included customers from all states and territories who had a fault repair or connection of service in the three-month period February–April 2005.
A five-point rating scale (very dissatisfied … very satisfied) was used by survey respondents. They were asked to rate their overall level of satisfaction with their fault repair or connection of service; to give their main reasons for satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the service they received; and, if they had an on-site visit from a company technician, to rate their level of satisfaction with the person’s punctuality.
The survey results have been disaggregated between market segments to highlight any differences in satisfaction between residential and small business customers, and between urban, rural and remote customers. Where practicable, results are shown for the 2003-2005 years.
The results of the 2005 survey are similar to the previous two years. There were slight deteriorations in the overall satisfaction and dissatisfaction levels in 2005 for both faults and connections compared with 2004, reversing the slight improvements evident in the 2004 results compared with 2003. Conversely, satisfaction levels were higher, and dissatisfaction levels were lower, with the technician’s punctuality in 2005 compared with 2004.
As in previous surveys, the general level of satisfaction was lower and the level of dissatisfaction was higher for small business customers relative to residential customers for both fault repair and connection of service. Satisfaction and dissatisfaction levels were generally consistent across the urban, rural and remote customer groups. There was strong consistency over 2003–05 in the reasons given by customers for their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the services they received.
Fault repair survey
The proportion of customers satisfied with their fault repair overall in 2005 was 66 per cent, down from 69 per cent in 2004. More residential customers (67 per cent) were satisfied with the service they received than small business customers (59 per cent).
The proportion of customers dissatisfied with their fault repair overall in 2005 was 27 per cent, up from 24 per cent in 2004. Fewer residential customers (26 per cent) were dissatisfied with the service they received than small business customers (34 per cent).
The 66 per cent of survey respondents who were satisfied with the service they received gave much the same reasons for their satisfaction in 2005 as in previous years. Sixty per cent mentioned ‘the fault having been fixed or good quality of repair’; and 42 per cent mentioned ‘the short time taken to repair the fault’.
Among the 27 per cent of customers who were dissatisfied with their fault repair service, 48 per cent mentioned ‘the long time to repair the fault’ as a reason for their dissatisfaction; 33 per cent mentioned ‘the fault not fixed or poor quality of repair;’ and 23 per cent mentioned ‘the long time waiting for an appointment’. These reasons were similar to previous years.
Among the 59 per cent of respondents who received an on-site visit from a technician or another company representative, 79 per cent were satisfied with the person’s punctuality in 2005, a significant increase from 71 per cent in 2004. Conversely, 15 per cent of customers were dissatisfied with the person’s punctuality in 2005, a significant decrease from 21 per cent in 2004.
Connection of service survey
The proportion of customers satisfied with their telephone transfer or connection of service overall in 2005 was 76 per cent, down from 82 per cent in 2004. More residential customers (79 per cent) were satisfied with the service they received than small business customers (66 per cent).
The proportion of customers dissatisfied with their fault repair overall in 2005 was 15 per cent, up from 14 per cent in 2004. Fewer residential customers (14 per cent) were dissatisfied with the service they received than small business customers (20 per cent).
The 76 per cent of survey respondents who were satisfied with the service they received gave much the same reasons for their satisfaction in 2005 as in previous years. Sixty-two per cent mentioned ‘no problems—it works’; and 30 per cent mentioned ‘the short time to connect/transfer the phone’.
Among the 15 per cent of customers who were dissatisfied with their telephone transfer or connection of service, 51 per cent mentioned ‘the connection/transfer being performed incorrectly, being faulty or not as requested as a reason for their dissatisfaction’; 36 per cent mentioned ‘the long time to connect/transfer the phone’; and 18 per cent mentioned ‘the poor provision of information regarding the connection/transfer.’ These reasons were similar to previous years.
Among the 55 per cent of respondents who received an on-site visit from a technician or another company representative, 75 per cent were satisfied with the person’s punctuality in 2005, slightly up from 72 per cent in 2004. Conversely, 20 per cent of customers were dissatisfied with the person’s punctuality in 2005, slightly down from 21 per cent in 2004.
