Customer service is a core focus for Vodafone New Zealand. It is a key indicator when we assess the performance of our business, standing with equal importance alongside our financial results.
Customer service has traditionally been a strength for Vodafone. However the rapid growth in the complexity and size of our business in some cases outpaced the development of robust processes to ensure we could effectively respond to customer requests. This negatively impacted our reputation for providing excellent service. We have implemented a number of significant programmes designed to improve our customer experience and will continue to focus on this area.
In order to ensure we maintain focus on improvements we launched Programme Proud in April 2009. This is a cross functional project team focused on improving our service quality through fixing and enhancing our service processes. We believe that passionate people, plus great processes, equals great customer service.
In 2008 we introduced a $1 service charge for calls to our contact centre for our prepay customers. This charge was introduced to encourage our customers to use self-serve alternatives for simple transactions, for example to check account balance.
The service fee was successful in reducing the number of calls into the call centre, which meant that our employees could spend more time dealing with more complex issues over the phone, and that call answering times reduced dramatically. However, we have listened to our customers' feedback on the fee and we recognise that it is not every customer's preference to use self-service alternatives in all circumstances.
In July 2010 we conducted a week long trial to test the impact of removing the $1 service fee on a portion of our prepay customers. Due to the success of the trial, from the 15th September we have implemented a pilot for all prepay customers, with the intention of permanently removing the $1 service fee.
A key focus for our business market has been to provide a specialist Customer Service team based in New Zealand. Since the end of the 2010 financial year we have launched both a Corporate Help Desk to Help Desk service and 888 for small and medium business customers, representings a big step forward in meeting the needs of this market.
Bill shock occurs when customers receive a larger than expected bill from their telecommunications provider. This is because they are either unaware of the price of the services they have used, or are not aware of the quantity of services they used in the billing period.
The adoption of mobile data, and particularly data roaming overseas, has driven awareness of the issue. Other causes include calling when roaming overseas and early termination charges when customers wish to cancel contracts.
Vodafone is aiming to lead the response to this industry-wide issue. Our approach is to communicate clearly with customers on what they are spending, and provide clarity on usage and offer cost certainty through product innovation.
The Telecommunications Disputes Resolution (TDR) service is a free and independent service available to consumers to resolve complaints with their telecommunications provider. Customers can escalate complaints to the TDR if they feel their complaint has not been handled appropriately, or if they have not received a response within six weeks. A TDR resolution can award compensation up to $12,000.
This is an industry-wide scheme created by the Telecommunications Carriers' Forum (TCF). At present the scheme has ten (at September 2010) members who fund the TDR, including Vodafone and the other main telecommunications companies.
A number of smaller telecommunications operators have pulled out of the TDR in the past year. Some of these companies cited high cost and process complexity as a factor. The TCF is conducting a review of the TDR to ensure its suitability as a scheme for all industry operators.
TXT bullying is a serious issue. Vodafone have approached this on an industry-wide basis. We work with NetSafe, the Police and other mobile operators to maintain a standard approach to individual complaints across all organisations, and an agreed process for handing over complaints when the message originated on a different mobile network.
Last year the number of calls we received reporting nuisance or malicious calls and TXTs increased slightly. The number of actions from complaints also increased.
In July 2009, we set up an alternative reporting channel for TXT bully complaints. Customers can now TXT the word 'Bully' to 4001 to report an incidence of bullying. The primary reason for setting up this alternative channel was to ensure our customers did not fail to report problems if they were concerned about the $1 service charge for pre-pay customers to call the call centre. Although all calls about TXT bullying, harassment or nuisance calls have this service charge refunded, customers must have a minimum balance of $1 in order to make a call.
| Complaint type | 2010 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|
| Nuisance | 6247 | 5920 |
| Malicious | 327 | 202 |
| Wrong number | 52 | 192 |
| Total | 6626 | 6314 |
| Actions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Warning | 3277 | 2694 |
| Forward to other telco | 280 | 374 |
| Temporary service bar | 215 | 165 |
| TXT removed | 148 | 134 |
| Account deactivated | 10 | 8 |
| Total | 3930 | 3375 |
In June 2009 Vodafone announced a partnership with Parents Inc. Parents Inc is a charitable organisation whose vision is to positively impact every family. They aim to achieve this by equipping parents and children with the best-quality skills and resources.
Their partnership with Vodafone is focused on educating parents and young people to enable them to get the best from technology. This includes the development of an online education space and seminars for parents and using TXT messaging to help encourage parents and provide information. A school module as part of Parent Inc's Attitude programme has also been rolled out to high schools, providing students with advice.
With the convergence of mobile and internet technology, the range of content available over the internet is now easily accessible through a mobile phone. This includes the full range of content format, including audio and video files. Third-party content providers are able to sell their services to our customers using Vodafone's network. Direct payment for these services is taken from the customer's Vodafone account.
Some of these services include content unsuitable for younger customers. In order to protect young people from adult-only content we introduced the ContentGuard filter. ContentGuard must be deactivated via an age-verification process before any restricted content may be accessed. It was Vodafone's policy that no adult content was sold via the Vodafone Live! service prior to the introduction of the content filter.
A complimentary content filter which will cover content across the mobile internet, coving all websites, is also planned. This filter will be activated on request, and can only be deactivated by following an age-verification process. The launch of this filter was planned for the previous financial year, but has been delayed due to compatibility issues with our network.
In our fixed-line business we agreed to participate in the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) illegal content filtering scheme. The filter works on a blacklist principle, blocking any sites which have been identified as hosting illegal content.
As a responsible business we support legislation to promote safe driving. Using a mobile while driving is a significant distraction and increases the risk of accident and injury. In 2008 we strengthened our public position on mobiles and driving safety, and called for a law change banning the use of handheld mobiles while driving. This call was covered across national media, and was influential in the previous Government's announcement of their intention to consider a ban.
The ban on the use of handheld mobile phones while driving came into force on 1 November 2009. Vodafone publicly supported the ban, and implemented a communication plan to educate our customers. The primary communication was a TXT message to all customers, advising them of the law change, encouraging them to do the right thing by turning their phone off or pulling over to use it, and providing a link to more information.
From 2007 Vodafone and Telecom New Zealand cooperated with the Government in a successful pilot of mobile phone blocking in prisons. Mobile phone blocking prevents prisoners committing further offences while behind bars. There is potential for prisoners to use cell phones to organise further crime, harass witnesses and others in the community and arrange escapes. Mobile phone blocking complements existing monitoring systems on prison pay phones.
The technology has been rolled out extensively across prison sites around the country and the project was completed in February 2009.
Premium TXT services can include paid TXT competitions, subscriptions to TXT updates and paid access to content via TXT message. These services are operated by other companies through our mobile network. In the past premium TXT competitions have prompted complaints to the Commerce Commission, due to questions over the adequacy of disclosure of terms and conditions, which can include automatic subscription to premium TXT services.
In order to ensure these services are sold responsibly the Telecommunication Carriers' Forum (TCF) established an industry code of practice to set standards for telecommunication service providers, content service providers and content providers. The Mobile Premium Messaging Services Code was launched by the TCF in February 2008, with Vodafone one of 19 signatories.
