How to make a complaint

Consumers of our telecommunications services have a right to make a complaint, and our complaint process is free of charge. Consumers can complain by:

• Speaking to our complaint handling personnel on 1800 775 423 during the hours of 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM & 1:00 PM - 6:00 PM Melbourne Time.

• Writing to us at P.O. 280 Morwell

• Emailing us at complaintresolution@splice.au

• If you are Deaf or hard of hearing, you may contact the National Relay Service (NRS) at National Relay Service

• Starting a chat through our website chat interface and creating a complaint ticket for your case.

• Nominating a representative to make and handle a complaint on your behalf

How we will handle your complaint

If you express dissatisfaction via one of the methods listed above and we are not certain that you wish to make a complaint, we may ask you to clarify that you do wish to make a complaint.

We will help you to draft, make and progress your complaint. We will also help you if you:

• have accessibility requirements or disabilities

• are from a non-English speaking background, and/or

• you are a financial hardship customer and have applied for or begun an arrangement for financial hardship assistance.

If your complaint is not resolved in your first contact with us, the steps we might follow include:

• Communicate with you that your complaint has been received and provide you a reference number or other unique identifier, and instructions on how to monitor your complaint using this identifier

• Conduct an initial assessment of your complaint

• Investigate your complaint

• Respond to your complaint and propose a resolution

• Advise you of our decision about your complaint

• Implement an agreed resolution

• Close your complaint

• Advise how unresolved complaints can be referred to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO)

• Discuss the procedures for identifying and handling urgent complaints

Prioritisation and escalation of complaints

Complaints will be escalated at the reasonable request of a consumer.

If you state you are dissatisfied with our response times, the progress or resolution of a complaint, you reasonably want your complaint treated as urgent, or you enquire about options to escalate a complaint further, then we will provide advice about our internal prioritisation and/or escalation process and how a complaint can be referred to the TIO within 24 hours.

If you state you want your complaint prioritised or escalated, we will assess whether this should occur within 5 working days.

We will not begin legal proceedings against you while a complaint is being internally handled, for at least 7 working days after advising you of the outcome of their complaint, or while a complaint is being investigated by the TIO.

Complaints will be escalated if reasonably requested by you or if we are not sure how it should be resolved. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint or network outage complaint, you can request we escalate the complaint and review the resolution offered. The complaint may be escalated to the next level of management or be referred to a specialised case manager.

Complaint handling time frames

Complaints will be acknowledged immediately if received via phone, live chat or another real-time or near real-time communication; and within 2 working days after we receive a complaint by email or post.

We will resolve complaints about billing errors within the earliest of 30 days or the end of the next billing period. We will provide a proposed resolution within 10 working days of receiving other types of complaint. For an urgent complaint, we will provide a proposed resolution and if accepted by you, implement the resolution within 2 working days of receiving the complaint.

Unless agreed otherwise with you or if you fail to complete agreed actions, we will implement an agreed resolution within 5 working days.

We will confirm our complaint resolution time frames in writing within 5 working days after receiving your request to do so.

Delays in complaint resolution

We will promptly advise you if there will be a delay in our handling of your complaint and explain the cause of the delay, a new resolution time frame and how a complaint can be referred to the TIO. If we have not already done so and a complaint is not resolved within 30 days of receipt, we will advise you of how your complaint can be referred to the TIO.

Confirmation of complaint resolution

We will confirm in writing that your complaint has been resolved within 5 working days after we complete our investigation.

Network outage complaints

If you advise us that your service is not working, and we determine it is due to a network outage not caused by a natural disaster such as a bushfire or weather event, we will manage the interaction as a network outage complaint and may request more information to help us resolve the outage. If you state that that the outage poses a serious risk to health or personal safety, it will be treated as urgent.

We will attempt to notify anyone affected by an outage as soon as practical via SMS or email. We will also make information and updates about the outage available on our website. Our notifications may include an estimate of the outage's scale, its likely cause, details of affected locations and services, and any estimated resolution timeframe.

When we receive a network outage complaint from you, we will:

• Acknowledge the network outage complaint immediately or as soon as possible depending on how you contact us

• Provide you with a unique reference number, explain how you can monitor your complaint and what steps will now occur

• Concentrate on restoring services as quickly as possible and keeping all affected consumers updated. We will update consumers at least every 6 hours on the first day of the outage. If the service is not restored in that time, we will provide daily updates until it is.

• Consider the complaint resolved when the outage is fixed and we have informed affected consumers. Before closing a network outage complaint, we will provide consumers at least 3 business days to inform us if they are not satisfied with the resolution and advise them of their options. We will attempt to confirm the issue is resolved before closing urgent network outage complaints. If you are not satisfied with our resolution or believe the issue is not resolved, you have the right to complain using our standard complaints process or escalate it to the TIO.

Frivolous or vexatious complaints

If we conclude that we have taken all reasonable steps to resolve a complaint and that your behaviour or complaint is frivolous or vexatious, we may decide not to deal further with the complaint. We will inform you of our reasons for this decision within 5 working days and advise your options for external dispute resolution, including the TIO.

External dispute resolution process

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your complaint, you have a right to take it to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO), which is a free and independent service. You can contact the TIO on 1800 062 058 or at www.tio.com.au.

We will not cancel your service for the sole reason that you were unable to resolve the complaint directly with us and have pursued options for external dispute resolution.