Ombudsman Services | July 2020
Covid-19 is an unprecedented event which has caused a wide range of challenges for Communications Providers. In this factsheet we set out our approach to complaints involving customer service provided to customers between March and June 2020.
We are aware that many suppliers will have been affected by Covid-19 and that their ability to offer effective customer service has been impaired. We understand and appreciate that in such circumstances, communications providers may have decided to prioritise urgent work and supporting their vulnerable customer base at this time. We accept that this may mean other work may have taken longer than normal to be completed.
Examples of urgent work include keeping customers connected, prioritising vulnerable customers, completing critical infrastructure work and cases involving active debt collection activity. We consider the period in which it was acceptable for communications providers to focus on urgent complaints only to be 23 March (start of lockdown) to 30 June 2020 (as per Ofcom’s guidance).
During the above period, even those customers who had a priority issue may have had to wait longer than usual to speak to someone/receive a response to a written query. A short delay would be acceptable and may not give rise to a time and trouble award. A longer delay may justify an award – particularly taking account that for urgent complaints, customers may need a fairly speedy response to prevent further detriment. We would also consider what messaging was provided to customers regarding timescales for response and any delays outside of these timescales.
For non-urgent complaints, customers may experience delays in having their complaints heard. Such complainants should, as a minimum have had their complaint acknowledged and their expectations managed. Customers should not be left in a situation where they do not know what is happening. When assessing if an award is warranted, we would consider the communications providers messaging to the customer regarding delayed response times, alternative contact channels and self-service options available. We would not make an award in a situation where a customer had a non-urgent complaint, had been informed that the communications provider was unable to respond to such an issue at that time and who ignored the messaging and decided to continue to register the complaint – even if they waited longer than usual for a response.
While there may be understandable delays in participating companies being able to address non-urgent complaints, we expect that when a supplier does address the complaint, if they establish a customer has experienced further detriment as a result of the delay, this should be addressed as part of the response to the customers complaint. For example, if the customer was billed incorrectly and paid the bill excluding the incorrect charges, any account adjustment should reflect the full period and any corrective action regarding payment history should be completed.
We will not make a time and trouble award to recognise a delay caused because the complainant’s issue arose after 23 March, was not a priority and therefore took longer to resolve – as long as the issue was resolved as soon as possible and the supplier managed expectations appropriately. We will take into consideration any information you have provided Ombudsman Services throughout this period regarding your operational challenges and how these evolved. If you have advised Ombudsman Services that you have experienced minimal impact and have been operating BAU during this period, we will also take this into consideration when assessing each case.
In terms of case acceptance, we will consider a customer has made sufficient efforts to make a complaint, even if they did not receive a response. If a participating company was not operating a normal complaint channel, clearly explained how the customer could make a complaint by an alternative channel and the customer ignored the advice, we may decide to discount the contact when assessing whether the complainant made reasonable efforts to escalate the complaint.