It may come as no surprise to you that Australians have ranked telco and credit and personal finance providers as the worst at customer service. Shocking.
The two sectors were found to be joint wooden spoon winners in a 2020 Sector Scorecard developed by the Consumer Policy Research Centre and Roy Morgan. The scorecard measured experiences had by consumers between May and December last year.
The Australian services providers that were rated spanned mortgage, private rental, residential energy, telecommunications, credit and personal finance, and insurance.
All up, 6,968 Aussies responded to the survey, which sought insight into their COVID-19 experiences.
When it comes to supporting consumers during the pandemic, mortgage providers scored the best. The telco and credit and personal finance sectors came in as worst performers overall, with scores around 4.6 out of 10. This isn’t a pass mark, guys.
Telecommunications providers were ranked last for user experience and accessibility, with a 2.8 out of 10. It’s worth noting this is the lowest recorded category score on the scorecard.
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Telcos were also ranked last for supportive provider practices (at 4.1) and second last for helpful advice and customer service (at 3.8).
Credit and personal finance (which includes buy now, pay later) ranked last for negative provider practices (4 out of 10) and second-worst for fairness and transparency (4.6), while for user experience and accessibility, respondents gave the sector 4.7 out of 10.
“Weak and piecemeal hardship protections, poor customer service culture and the challenge of largely offshore customer service staff, all contributed to leaving telco consumers lacking the support they deserve from an essential utility sector,” Consumer Policy Research Centre CEO Lauren Solomon said.
“The self-regulatory era of yesteryear for this sector needs to end. Telco products and services are now the gateway to almost every other facet of our lives. There is a higher degree of responsibility to the community.”
Disappointing and ironic, given their core business is communications.