Vodafone plans to improve its customer service after highest number of telco complaints

Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) recently announced its plans to improve its customer service and support after its poor performance in mobile phone services over the past year.

VHA plans to have 1500 sites in the new 850MHz network by mid-next year and will introduce a customer contact system that monitors Vodafone’s contact centre, Twitter, Facebook accounts and e-forum.

Vodafone’s performance in customer service 2010-2011

According to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman’s (TIO) 2011 Annual Report, new complaints about Vodafone mobile services almost tripled in 2010-2011.

“Vodafone mobile services almost tripled in 2010-11 to 32,744. They peaked in January 2011 with a total of 5,712 new complaints, coinciding with the provider’s much publicised network and customer service issues,” the report reads.

TIO found that Vodafone's network issues was one of the significant causes to the increase in complaints about mobile phones.

“[The] spike in complaints about mobile services was largely caused by two important factors: Vodafone’s network issues and the increased market share of smartphones,” the report reads.

Ombudsman Simon Cohen said in a statement that customers were not only frustrated by “mobile telephone problems, but also by deficient customer service and complaint handling.”

Will Vodafone manage to turn it around?

Despite the increase in complaints, VHA has 900 sites live in new the 850MHz network built for smartphones and data, and 2000 sites in the existing network have been replaced with new equipment.

Vodafone’s CEO, Nigel Dews, said in a statement the company is “bringing customers a network that delivers better indoor coverage, faster downloads and a stronger signal than before.”

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