Redress for complaints 4.17 There are around 800,000 complaints and queries to telecoms companies, Oftel and consumer bodies each year. This volume is rising due to more customer friendly complaints procedures, more systematic recording by telecoms companies, and more requests from customers for information and advice about the growing range of services available. 4.19 BT and Kingston have formally agreed their complaint handling procedures with Oftel, but other suppliers are also putting procedures in place and have chosen to seek informal comment from Oftel on these. Some suppliers open them to wider consumer comment. All PTOs now recognise that an effective and respected procedure for handling general complaints is a must in the marketplace and, indeed, is a valuable source of information.
Commercial necessity demands it.
Since of the 800,000 cases less than 40,000 actual complaints and queries are referred to Oftel, it is likely that a high proportion of those who don't complain to Oftel feel that they get fair treatment or satisfactory responses from suppliers. While this indicates some scope to do better, it also indicates that consumers already have confidence in Oftel as an appeal route. Complaints to Oftel are also analysed and fed into regulatory policy development. These services raise sensitive issues about the rights of consumers to withhold their CLI, which are now being addressed by the EC Telecoms Data Protection Directive. Potentially, it is also a valuable commercial contact list, both for those within and those outside the industry.