In 2007, ANACOM received, in writing, 24,745 complaints, 575 requests for information, 79 petitions, 16 suggestions and 59 communications of other types, giving a total of 25,474 requests addressed to this authority by users of electronic communications and postal services, as well as by the general public. Compared to 2006, the overall volume of complaints increased by 43%, driven in the most part by an increase in the volume of complaints from complaint books, received pursuant to Decree-Law 156/2005 of 15 September.
With respect to the means chosen by interested parties, 68% of the total volume of complaints received by ANACOM was derived from complaint books, a figure which rises to over 95% for the postal sector.
In line with previous years, the large majority of complaints concerned situations connected to the electronic communications sector (74%) and to the postal sector (25%).
With regard to electronic communications the voice over Internet (VoIP) gave rise to the greatest number of complaints per 1000 customers - although it represents a small part of the volume of complaints received about this service (217 out of a total of 24,745) -, immediately followed by the Internet access service, the telephone service at a fixed location and the cable television distribution service. In respect of the telephone service at a fixed location, almost half of the complaints received arose from an exceptional situation of delay in the deactivation of pre-selection which occurred mostly during the second half of 2007.
With regard to the issues raised in the electronic communications sector, in complaint books prevalence was seen of issues related to equipment, technical support, customer service and billing. With regard to complaints addressed directly to this Authority, the issue giving rise to most complaints was pre-selection, with complaints on billing (with particular relevance of incorrect situations on bills), contracts (with the prevalence of situations of contractual alterations) and technical support also standing out due to their high volume.
With regard to the postal sector, the greatest number of complaints referred to the correspondence service (around half of the total complaint volume), whereas, with respect to complaints addressed directly to this Authority, the situations giving rise to the largest number of complaints were connected to delays in delivery, loss and undue return of mail, while in complaint books, the large majority of the situations giving rise to complaint were associated with customer service problems.
Regarding requests received by ANACOM's public attendance office, 7,644 requests were registered, of which 7,272 were complaints and 372 were requests for information. The majority were received by phone and were connected to the electronic communications sector, with the telephone service at a fixed location standing out as giving rise to the largest number of complaints.
Consult:
- 2007 https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=271042
Further information:
- Complaints received by ANACOM in 2007 increase by 43% https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=564785
Related information on ANACOM's website:
- ANACOM receives over 10,000 complaints in first half of 2007 https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=523947
- Around 17,300 complaints received by ANACOM in 2006 https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=475919
