Two Optus customers have accused the embattled telco of trapping them in a complaint “merry-go-round”, as more people demand compensation over lengthy service outages and other serious issues.
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) told the ABC its data showed Optus and other telcos were “not meeting the needs of people with complaints that take more time and nuance to resolve”, with researchers saying the sector rated poorly compared to banking and energy industries.
Judith McLaughlin wasted almost two months pleading with Optus to fix her mobile phone coverage that left her unable to make or receive calls at her Gold Coast home.
“[It was] a nightmare and it was unrelenting,”
she said.
Optus has been under intense scrutiny after a network outage in September left hundreds of people unable to call Triple Zero.
Originally, the company said four people died, however South Australian police later said the death of a baby boy in Adelaide was unlikely to have been impacted by the outage, as did Western Australian police about the death of a 49-year-old Perth man.
Offshore call centre workers repeatedly ignored warnings from customers that they could not call emergency services, leading to sweeping internal changes and ongoing investigations.
More Optus network Triple Zero failures
The ABC can reveal that last October, Optus approached and spoke with potential candidates about a new executive position it was creating called a customer advocate.
Its main rival, Telstra, has a chief customer advocate, and the position has been common across the banking industry since 2018 when banks were under intense pressure over its treatment of customers.
Advocates can address systemic issues impacting customers and resolve long-term complaints without them being tied to sales or commercial targets.
Optus confirmed publicly it was “in the process of appointing a customer advocate” after it was sued by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for shocking sales tactics, including selling products to vulnerable customers even though some didn’t have coverage where they lived.
Optus later abandoned the plan for a customer advocate, telling the ABC it decided to create multiple customer advocacy roles instead.
‘I ended up crying’
Ms McLaughlin has been a loyal Optus customer for two decades.
She was shocked in late July when she suddenly had no mobile reception at her home in Nerang, on the northern Gold Coast.
“I couldn’t make any calls. I couldn’t receive any calls at home,” she said.
Text messages would arrive hours late or only when she went out. Wifi-calling was not always working either.
Ms McLaughlin missed out on casual teaching shifts, had to get her daughter to book a doctor’s appointment for her and was unable to call a friend who was in hospital.
Judith McLaughlin says she was eventually refunded $110. (ABC News: Glen Armstrong)
After the 64-year-old complained, it started a repetitive cycle where she told her story over and over again while the company failed to fix the problem.
Her phone was tested at the local Optus shop, which showed it was working properly.
She made lengthy calls to call centres from a relative’s house and later purchased a Telstra sim card so she could call from home.
“All they could do was sympathise,” she said.
As the weeks dragged on, a call centre operator agreed to request checks of the Optus network.
Judith McLaughlin’s phone was found to be operating properly at a local store. (AAP: Bianca De Marchi)
But getting answers would take another month, which caused Ms McLaughlin’s frustration to boil over.
“I lost my cool. The operator ended up crying. I ended up crying because I’d made some poor person over in the Philippines cry,” she said.
Ms McLaughlin said she was told temporary maintenance on local mobile towers was to blame.
The Optus website showed no reported mobile network issues in the Nerang area at the time. (ABC News)
In late August, she received an email from Optus that said she required technical support.
Ms McLaughlin said after almost two months, she was told over the phone she should find another provider because a nearby mobile tower had been “permanently decommissioned”.
In a follow up email, Optus recommended she look for a new provider.
She was refunded $110.
“I was furious,”
she said.
“I contemplated making a complaint to the ombudsman but I was so sick of it all,” she said.
She questioned whether Optus misled her and other customers because the mobile coverage map on its website said: “We haven’t had any reported mobile network issues in this area”.
Carol Bennett has questioned why the problematic phones were not identified earlier. (ABC News: Billy Cooper)
Carol Bennett, the CEO of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), has called on the consumer watchdog to investigate.
The ACCC said consumers needed clarity about coverage, and it had taken legal action against providers for selling mobile services to customers who could not use them.
After the ABC contacted Optus, a brief note was added to its mobile map which said: “We’ll be carrying out some maintenance on our phone towers in this area on the 17 November”.
Optus declined to be interviewed and said it regretted “any inconvenience” it caused.
In a statement, it said its mobile tower located about 600 metres away was working well and “no towers have been decommissioned in this area in 2025”.
Optus said it recently announced 300 new positions in Australian call centres.
Compensation cases spike
Complaints about Optus have increased 5.7 per cent, according to the latest quarterly stats from the TIO.
While complaints across the sector have only increased slightly, there has been a 16.7 per cent spike in people demanding compensation for stress and inconvenience after they experienced lengthy service outages or other serious problems.
The Consumer Policy Research Centre’s Chandni Gupta said the telco sector rated poorly compared to the banking or energy sectors.
“When things fail with the telco’s service, there are very few consequences for the telco, but very real ones for customers,” Ms Gupta said.
Chandni Gupta’s research found telcos rated poorly even compared to the banking and energy sector. (ABC News: Nico White)
Ms Gupta recently authored a report commissioned by the telco ombudsman that involved surveying more than 2,000 customers.
The report found problems with coverage and service were common but people often did nothing, fearing it would be a waste of time.
“They suffered in silence,” she said
Those who did bother were often frustrated by lengthy and repetitive processes, and few escalated it to the ombudsman service.
Luke Coleman says the research does not reflect “the reality on the ground”. (ABC News)
But Luke Coleman, from industry peak body the Australian Telecommunications Alliance, questioned the research.
“That research does not reflect the reality on the ground,” Mr Coleman said.
“Complaints about telcos are at 20-year lows.”
The telco sector has been under pressure to improve standards after more than 20 consumer groups rejected its consumer protection code, as did industry regulator the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
The ACMA gave the sector until the end of November to beef up the code, saying it fell short in key areas:
- Responsible selling
- Credit assessments
- Disconnection
- Mobile coverage information
The industry has now resubmitted a revised version to the regulator.
‘There is no customer service’
Alec Cortez has also been an Optus customer for more than two decades.
In September this year, he noticed calls to his Samsung Galaxy phone were going straight to his message bank.
A screenshot showing Alec Cortez answering a call remotely. (Supplied)
“I wasn’t able to receive calls. I could make calls, I could receive and make messages. So it wasn’t a network coverage issue,” he said.
Not long after, Mr Cortez experienced a medical emergency and called Triple Zero. He asked them to send an ambulance but they said they would get a doctor or nurse to call him back.
However, when the hospital phoned, the calls went through to his message bank.
The next day, the Moreton Bay resident spent several hours on the phone with Optus staff.
“I was extremely stressed,”
he said.
A screenshot of a message sent to Alex Cortez saying Optus tried to call him. (Supplied)
He said he spoke to multiple staff members who offered to do some troubleshooting and call him back.
“They would call me back and they would simply close the case after three attempts, leaving a message on my phone saying I didn’t answer the phone,” Mr Cortez said.
He then called Optus and was told by a senior technical adviser he would need to visit a store.
Multiple staff tried to fix it for a couple of hours, including trying his SIM card in another mobile phone but the same issue happened.
Alec Cortez has been an Optus customer for more than two decades. (Supplied)
In early October he agreed Optus could delete his account and reset it.
Mr Cortez described his customer service experience with the telco as incompetent, confused and lacking.
“The onus is on the client or the customer to do everything,”
he said.
Optus apologised for the delay he experienced and said the problem was fixed when it cancelled and then re-established his service.
The telco said his problem was caused by his device settings which were diverting them to linked devices, which Mr Cortez said was incorrect.
Optus said it was reviewing the handling of his case.
The ABC understands Optus had internal recruiters contact potential candidates for the customer advocate role in October and November last year.
The position was sold to potential candidates as an executive role with teeth that had the backing of parent company Singtel, one source said, but Optus later changed its mind.
Ms Bennett said she believed Optus made the wrong decision.
“The minimum Optus could do is put in place a consumer advocate … to restore public faith and trust,” she said.
Optus said it had more than one advocacy role including a business unit headed by chief operating officer Katherine Dyer and a position that reported to her, responsible for complex and vulnerable customers.
Tougher penalties for telcos
Consumer groups believe the telco sector should be forced to pay tougher penalties when disputes drag on.
In the banking, finance and insurance sectors, companies are hit with hefty financial penalties when long-running complaints go to the ombudsman, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).
In contrast, the amount telcos pay to the TIO is secret.
“Case fees and the sliding scale it uses are not public information,” the TIO said.
This is how much a major bank or insurer pays to AFCA:
- $2,548.04 for standard and complex complaints
- $10,593.11 for an ombudsman decision
- Between $9,725.50 and $35,490.39 for systemic issues impacting multiple consumers
Ms Bennett said having stiff financial penalties created an incentive to sort things out earlier.
“You have appropriate fines that are levelled at the providers when they don’t deliver.”
Luke Coleman says the customer has “the ultimate power” to walk away from their telco. (ABC News)
But Mr Coleman said the industry was already accountable to the TIO, its consumer protection code and consumer law.
“Customers have the ultimate power, the ability to walk away from their telco,” he said.
The Albanese government currently has legislation before parliament that would increase penalties for telcos when they breach industry rules and allow the ACMA to take immediate action over any breaches.
Ms McLaughlin has no regrets about leaving Optus.
She said the telco had work to do to ensure those in charge were aware of what was happening.
“The people that are controlling things [inside Optus] are protected from customers,” she said.
“People will vote with their feet.”