The Commerce Commission has published new mobile and broadband customer service rankings. Photo:
One NZ has ranked the lowest in a customer service survey of telecommunications companies across the country, with Skinny taking out the top overall spot.
The Commerce Commission's independent research released on Thursday was prompted by ongoing, high levels of complaints about customer service.
Telecommunications Commissioner Tristan Gilbertson said the rankings were based on six months of data from New Zealand consumers.
"These rankings focus on how well each provider looks after you when something goes wrong. This really matters to consumers. We know there can be a big gap between what consumers expect and what they actually get from their provider," he said in a statement.
The commission ranked Skinny as the current league leader, scoring well across almost all mobile and broadband areas, with its customers experiencing the fewest issues.
The current rankings showed that while some were doing better than others, all providers had areas for improvement, Gilbertson said.
"Skinny is the current league leader and ranked well across almost all mobile and broadband areas with its customers experiencing the fewest issues.
"We can also see that Skinny customers are more likely to recommend this brand to friends and family. However, it ranked lowest for broadband customer service staff helpfulness and knowledge."
The survey also ranked the companies on their residential broadband services with Skinny coming out on top as the company consumers would recommend to their friends. Spark was ranked the lowest of seven companies in this category.
How quickly complaints were resolved was another measure, with Skinny topping the speed of resolution rankings, and Spark coming last.
While Contact Energy customers had the least issue with their broadband service.
"Contact Energy appears to be outperforming some of the traditional telcos in broadband, ranking highly for satisfaction and staff helpfulness. One NZ (previously Vodafone NZ) is ranked low across almost all measures for mobile and broadband, although it did rate well for the speed with which it resolves broadband issues."
Gilbertson said each consumer would have a different set of priorities when it comes to choosing a telecommunications provider.
"Our work suggests that the rankings will be useful to many consumers when it comes to weighing up providers and making an informed decision. There's often a trade-off involved between price and the level of customer service on offer. Consumers can now see what they can expect from different providers to help choose who is best for them."
Consumers wanted to know how quickly providers fixed problems and how helpful staff were in making that happen and the rankings showed how well different providers were performing in those two areas, he said.
"To balance this out, we're also showing how successful providers are at avoiding customer service issues in the first place, as well as how they compare in terms of overall satisfaction, so that customer service can be seen in a broader perspective," Gilbertson said.
The commission was still considering whether to make it mandatory for providers to publish some or all of the rankings on their websites and in their retail stores.
"The current rankings reflect a point in time, and we would expect this to be dynamic as providers lift their game for the benefit of Kiwi consumers of mobile and broadband services," Gilbertson said.
The commission will update the rankings every month over the next six months and then publish updated rankings every quarter to show changes in customer service levels over time.
Telco user group Tech Users Association believes the report may encourage people to shop around for new mobile and broadband providers.
Its chief executive Craig Young, told Nine to Noon, that research carried out in 2021 revealed two-thirds of people do not review their providers.
"We know the New Zealand market is sticky.
"We think that information like this, that consumers can look at when they're looking at prices as well will help them think about 'maybe it's time for me to think about moving and getting a better deal somewhere else'."
He said it should be easier and clearer for customers to compare "like for like" when considering telco providers.
Listen to the interview with Telecommunications Commissioner Tristan Gilbertson and Tech Users Association chief executive Craig Young
One NZ chief executive Jason Paris Photo: Screenshot / Checkpoint
One NZ chief executive Jason Paris told Checkpoint did not believe the company had bad customer service.
"What the Commerce Commission has released is certainly not reflective of our own numbers, and not reflective of the conversations that I have with our customers, and and what I see from our team every day."
He said customer numbers were good and were getting better.
Call centre pick up time was 60 seconds on average, he said.
"Our numbers internally would say that 80 percent of the time our customers contact us, we fix it first time, which is a very different number to what's been published.
"However, our own numbers would suggest that that means 20 percent of the time New Zealanders aren't being helped first time and that's not good enough and that's our biggest focus."
"What the Commerce Commission has released is certainly not reflective of our own numbers" - One NZ chief executive Jason Paris