Cell phone complaints, banking consumer report...and more.

EDITION #2 [Image]( Cell phone complaints, banking consumer report and more! [Image]( In this month’s newsletter, we explore 2 topics that most South Africans have experienced in the recent past. - According to the [Mobile Economy Report for 2017]( there are more cell phones in South Africa than there are people so you can expect lots of complaints in this space. Read more below on the best way to resolve your cell phone complaint. - We’re excited to present you with our findings of our first ever Consumer Report. See the write up below for a sneak peek. Our reports are also available to purchase or commissioned by you on specific topics. [Contact us](mailto:hello@hellopeter.com) for more information. Until next time, take care and remember that we’re just a click away. [Image] How to resolve your cell phone complaint Everyone knows someone who has had a complaint in the past and because of the sheer volume, resolving yours is a bit of an art. You have to know how and where to go with your complaint to ensure that it is resolved to your satisfaction. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa ([ICASA]( is responsible for cell phone services and has to resolve complaints relating to cell phones. In July 2015 ICASA concluded a working agreement with the National Consumer Commission to resolve complaints about telecommunications and broadcasting to strengthen the mandate of both organisations and ensure that the right body handles complaints. Following this agreement, ICASA published the [End User and Subscriber Service Charter Regulations]( on 1 April last year, that requires service providers to provide you with enough information to make informed decisions, ensure efficient and effective complaints resolution, prescribed minimum quality of service standards and redress for cell phone consumers. Consumers must also receive all relevant information about promotions, rebates and international roaming, as well as detailed bills on request. Pre-paid customers can also request a usage report. According to the Charter, consumers must complain to the service provider first and only to ICASA if they are not happy with the resolution, or if the service provider does not respond. Your service provider must acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 48 hours and give you a reference number. Where and how to complain [Hellopeter.com]( Consumers often use [Hellopeter.com]( as a channel to communicate with businesses and is often a successful platform from a consumer perspective to have their issues resolved. Other avenues: While the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) forms the basis of protecting your rights as a cell phone consumer, you have to follow a specific procedure to complain. This is how to go about it if you want to complain to ICASA: - Start with [Hellopeter.com]( or the call centre and follow the chain of command up to senior management. Starting with [Hellopeter.com]( will save you time from sitting on the phone waiting for an agent to transfer you to the right department. - If your complaint is still not resolved, send your complaint to ICASA. - When you send your complaint to ICASA, you have to add the reference number from the call centre and the names of the people who tried to resolve your complaint, as well as the dates when you spoke to them and what they said. - You can send your complaint to ICASA by mail, fax, e-mail or phone. You can also visit an ICASA office to complain in writing. - After complaining you will get an acknowledgement that your complaint was received within two days, with a reference number and the name of the person handling your complaint. Write a review [here](. Contact ICASA [here](. [Image] Banking Industry Consumer Report During the month of August, we conducted a research exercise where we analysed a large sample of the user generated content on our platform from the banking industry. The primary aim of the project was to understand consumer sentiment in the banking industry and how banks could better facilitate complaint resolutions. [Image] The report unearthed some interesting findings, which thankfully we have decided to summarise for your reading pleasure. The report was broken down into 4 main sections: - The Executive Summary consolidating the findings giving the report a holistic view. - An analysis of the industry as a whole to determine where the majority of complaints stemmed from. - A competitor analysis that compared the BIG 5 banks to each other in order to establish what each banks’ advantages and disadvantages were in their processes, products and services. - And recommendations on how banks could better handle complaints and compliments in order to build their reputation, promote their business and develop better relationships with their customers. [Image] The recurring themes that stood out were the high volume of complaints related to services, processes and products. From these categories, we also established subcategories that gave us much deeper insights into the problems that consumers face on a daily basis. Here are some of the issues that stood out: - Failure of banks to close accounts upon client request resulting in bank charges, - FICA information not being updated correctly, - Failure to deliver new credit cards, and - Inconsistent information from different bank representatives. [Image] [Hellopeter.com]( is also on a path to become a positive tech and data partner. So over and above the issues we also identified some learnings for the banks to adopt to improve customer experiences: - Response time matters. Banks that responded to reviews on our platform within 5 hours experienced much higher ratings once the review was converted. This suggests that customers generally understand that mistakes happen and when a bank is quick to respond, the customer’s trust is reinstated and they are assured that their best interests are taken into account. - Providing a timeframe matters. Nothing is worse than having to sit around waiting and wondering if your issue is on your bank’s radar. By providing a timeframe banks are creating an expectation that the issue is being looked into and will be resolved at a certain time. This contributes to better relationships between Banks and their customers. - After the holiday season people are more likely to complain. We’ve all be there. By the time February rolls around and the festive season memories begin to fade we take more notice of our bank balance and realise that maybe some of the things we splurged on weren’t such a good idea. Coupled with admin errors and incorrect debit orders going off customers’ accounts tends to push some of us over the edge and as a result we saw a spike in complaints during this period. - 30 - 50-year olds are the least happy in the sector. Our in-depth research found that people in this age bracket tend to complain more because they have more complex financial requirements compared to young or retired people. To find out how this report or one of a similar nature can give your business an upper hand in today’s competitive environment contact us on hello@hellopeter.com. Here are some links to other articles that we thought you would find interesting: [What customers dislike most about their banks]( [How Elon Musk handles customer feedback]( [When companies deflect, everybody loses]( Tell us what you think... [Take our survey]( It only takes a minute [Facebook]( [LinkedIn]( No longer want to receive consumer insights? [Unsubscribe]( Hellopeter and the author accept no liability for the incorrect interpretation or actions of any reader relating to the publication. All actions taken by any reader as a result of the publication are done on their own accord. [View in your browser]( | [Forward to a friend](