‘Anxious, frustrated and confused’ Optus customers turn to Telecommunications Ombudsman

The Optus data breach pushed complaints about privacy into the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman’s top five complaint categories last quarter, despite the hack happening just a week before the end of the reporting period.

Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Cynthia Gebert says Optus customers are “anxious and frustrated, and confused”.

Ms Gebert thinks Optus complaints have peaked, but says there’s still a steady stream of people contacting her office.

“There are lots of stories from customers who have experienced significant impacts and they’re continuing to experience some frustration in trying to get their complaints resolved,” she told Neil Mitchell.

The Ombudsman’s July quarter report shows a decrease in phone and internet complaints compared to the previous quarter, but a 25.4 per cent increase in misleading conduct by a telco.

“The quick win for the industry is do what you say you’re going to do in the timeframe you agreed to do it. That’s a straightforward issue that customers shouldn’t need to come to us for,” she said.

Press PLAY below to hear the types of complaints the Telecommunications Ombudsman is receiving the most

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