ANACOM receives over 10 thousand complaints during the first quarter of 2009

During the first quarter of 2008, ANACOM received, in writing, 10,365 complaints, 119 requests for information, 27 petitions, seven suggestions, and communications of other types, in a total of 10,637 requests.

Compared to the same quarter of 2008, the 10,365 complaints received in 2008 stand for an increase of about 39%. Complaint book sheets, received under Decree-Law no. 156/2005 of 15 September, as modified by Decree-Law no. 371/2007 of 6 November, represented 77% of the total number of complaints received by ANACOM.

The majority of complaints referred to the electronic communications sector – in a total of 8,275 - both in the case of complaints addressed to ANACOM directly (2,008 complaints out of a total of 2,378), and in the case of complaint book sheets (6,267 out of a total of 7,987). Comparing with the same period of the previous year, the number of complaints received during the first quarter increased 42%.

The postal sector was the second one with more complaints, with 1,635 complaints, 7% more than a year before.

Within the electronic communications sector, considering total complaints per 1,000 customers, the television service over the public telephone network (xDSL/IP) was the service that motivated most complaints during the first quarter of 2009, with 1.12 complaints per one thousand customers, followed by the Internet access service, with one, and the telephone service at a fixed location, with 0.81 complaints per one thousand customers.

Within the electronic communications sector and with respect to complaint books, the most commonly cited issues in complaints were those related to equipment, technical attendance/assistance to the customer and billing; in terms of complaints addressed directly to ANACOM, the most commonly cited issues were related to contract issues and billing, immediately followed by complaints on technical support, malfunctions and service installation.

In the postal sector, the greatest number of complaints referred to the correspondence service. Regarding complaints addressed directly to the Regulator, the situations giving rise to the largest number of complaints were in connection with delays in delivery and loss of mail. Regarding complaints entered in complaint books sheets, representing around 97% of the total volume of complaints in this sector, the vast majority of the situations giving rise to complaint were in connection with customer service problems.

Regarding requests for information recorded during the quarter, 119, most referred to the electronic communications sector, with the remaining sectors taking on a residual character.

Regarding requests received by ANACOM’s public attendance services, 1,748 requests were registered, namely 1,520 complaints and 228 requests for information. Most complaints were received by phone and were in connection with the electronic communications sector. The telephone service at a fixed location gave rise to the highest number of complaints.