ISSUE 4 2013 DECEMBER INTRODUCTION FAIRWAY RESOLUTIONTDR’S CHRISTMAS HOURS THE TDR SCHEME IS EXPANDINGPREVENTATIVE APPROACH TO RESOLVING DISPUTES SCHEME MEMBER PROFILE Lianne Graham - 2degreesMEDIATION GURUADJUDICATED DECISION Misleading advertising and failure of network coverage for overseas roaming servicesSCHEME MEMBER UPDATEQUARTERLY STATISTICS

TDR Newsletter

IN THIS ISSUE...

INTRODUCTION Welcome to the fourth quarterly issue of our newsletter. As we near Christmas, we typically look back on what we have achieved over the preceding year. When we do that for the TDR Scheme, it has been a good 12 months. Our Customer satisfaction surveys show that the TDR Scheme is continuing to provide an effective and useful service to the Customers of our Scheme Members, and we have also received similar feedback from the Scheme Members. While the Scheme has been working well, we believe we should continuously look to fine-tuning the Scheme to make it even better. We have done just that over the last year, working with the Scheme Members and TDR Council to identify some improvements to the processes we apply, which will go live from 1 January 2014. Also we have seen an expansion of the TDR jurisdiction in Multiple Unit Complexes (as we discuss on page 2 of this newsletter). We continue to face challenges with marketing the Scheme. Probably the most common criticism we receive is a lack of recognition of the TDR Scheme in the community in general. That has also been a strong criticism in the media recently from Gordon Harcourt (click here to view the video clip), a leading consumer champion. TDR’s marketing budget is very limited, and we are in large measure reliant on the Scheme Members to assist with passing on information about the Scheme to their customers. We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a safe and happy Christmas break, and if we are not in communication beforehand, we look forward to working with you again in the new year.

TDR’S CHRISTMAS HOURS TDR is closed for business from 5.00pm on Tuesday 24th December and re-opens at 8.00am on Tuesday 7th January 2014. Messages and complaints received by email or phone, during the holi-day period, will be dealt with on Tuesday 7th January 2014. Normal business hours are between 8.00am and 5.00pm on weekdays, excluding public holidays.

For those of you who do not already know, FairWay Resolution Ltd (FairWay) is the new Dispute Resolution Services Ltd (DRSL), the company that, among other things manages the TDR service. Take a look at the brand new FairWay website

www.fairwayresolution.com

FAIRWAY RESOLUTION

How did you get into the Telecommunications Industry? I answered a job advert for a Complaints Team Manager. I had never worked in the Telco industry so sort of fell into the role! Someone should have warned me! :) Tell us the most amazing question/challenge you have had in dealing with a customer The most amazing challenge was dealing with a relatively simple issue for a prepay customer and having the customer drag out the issue for 120 working hours… over a $99 handset and the fact I used the word “unreasonable” :) Challenging… most definitely! What do you see as the next step in social media for the Telecommunications industry? I think we’ll see more companies using social media as a customer service, communica-tion and marketing tool. Businesses are recognising the importance of engaging with their customers where they are talking about them not just to promote new products and services and create brand loyalty but helping customers. Social media is being used increasingly to resolve customer issues, recognise customer pain points, identifying opportunities and being proactive with informing customers on possible pain points that help prevent calls to the call centre and therefore reducing overall cost. Customers are more likely to post on Facebook or Twitter if they have a grievance before they call the help desk and are assuming their issue will get dealt with quicker than the usual channels.

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SCHEME MEMBER PROFILE LIANNE GRAHAM - 2DEGREES

THE TDR SCHEME IS EXPANDING

Actively Listen to the Complaint Active listening is a communication technique used in counseling, training and conflict resolution, which requires the listener to feedback what they hear to the speaker, by way of re-stating or paraphrasing what they have heard in their own words, to confirm what they have heard and moreover, to confirm the understanding of both parties. Using active listening skills will show your client that you not only are listening to their complaint but that you understand it from their point of view. Demonstrating to your client that you understand their problem and their perspective is essential to engaging the client in the dispute resolution process. Respond with Empathy If people believe that you genuinely and sincerely care whether or not they continue to use your products or services, they intuitively sense that you appear to be vulnerable to them. Vulnerability creates trust. Clients with complaints feel they have lost something, and they need to intuitively sense that you have something to lose (i.e. their business) as well. Choose Your Words Carefully Whatever you do, do not use accusatory language if you want to alienate a client, the best way to do it is by telling them that their problems are their fault. The client obviously disagrees with the idea that the problem they’re having is their fault, or they wouldn’t be coming to you to resolve the complaint!

Suggest A Way Forward The client has already described the problem they are having in their complaint. Through actively listening, you have demonstrated that you understand the problem and their perspective. You have shown empathy, demonstrating that you are as invested in a solution as the client is. By choosing your words carefully, you have not shifted the blame to the client. If you can solve the problem immediately, do so. Nothing makes clients happier than instant gratification… except, perhaps, instant gratification for free! By suggesting a solution that meets your needs and respectfully and adequately addresses your client’s complaint, you will prove that you are willing to work with the client to maintain your business relationship. If Necessary, Concisely Describe Your Reasoning If the reason why you have proposed a particular solution is not apparent to a person who is not familiar with the intricate business processes of your industry and who is possessed of at least average intelligence and life experience, you should clearly and concisely (briefly and effectively) describe the reason why you think your solution addresses their complaints (remember the client’s problem and their perspective on it, which you acknowledged by actively listening to their complaint). Excerpts taken from a blog by Noel R Bagwell III in Clarksville Online 18 November 2013.

PREVENTIVE APPROACH TO RESOLVING DISPUTES

From 1 January 2014, TDR will provide dispute resolution under the MUC (Multi User Complexes) Dispute Resolution Code. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has created an industry code of practice under the Telecommunications Act 2011 called the Multi-Unit Complexes (MUC) Code. The MUC Code sets out requirements that a Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) service provider must follow in order to obtain access to multi-unit complexes to install fibre. It is a requirement of the MUC Code that FTTP service providers belong to a “consumer complaints system” in order to make use of the MUC Code. The TCF has developed a dispute resolution code, which largely mirrors the residential Customer Complaints Code. However there is one significant difference with the MUC scheme, in that Scheme Members will be able to bring complaints to TDR about their Customers. In line with this new Scheme, TDR welcomes new FTTP Scheme Members. There will also be some changes for the existing residential and small business Customer Complaints process, which will apply from 1 January 2014. These are summarised as follows:

TDR will be able to enlarge timeframes for steps in the TDR process when exceptional circumstances arise.

When we ask for your written response to a complaint, we will also ask about any offers you have made to resolve the dispute.

The TDR Facilitators will work with the Scheme Member and Customer for up to 5 days, to try to reach a resolution of the complaint, before it goes to the charged investigation/resolution phase.

The process regarding ‘statements of position’ has been removed (not to be confused with position statements which we still have).

We will advise Customers that they can have a support person to assist them with the TDR process if they wish.

Companies should be diligently monitoring these posts and responding in a way that not only helps the customer and reaffirms the company position and brand to the wider audience. In other words ‘be firm but fair’. Companies should consider rewarding ‘brand champions’, customers that help others that post on their Facebook wall or Twitter. At 2degrees we have ‘Facebook Community’, an app designed to reward customers that help others. It works like this: An existing and potential customer posts a question on the Facebook Community page, someone answers it and when the questioner or 2degrees administrator marks it as ‘best answer’ the person that replied with the best answer gets a cash credit added to their 2degrees account. We currently have a community of over 1,000 people willing to help others and has been a great success in promoting brand loyalty. What is the most technological development that has occurred in the residential Telecommunications market and why? For me personally, I think the use of internet for residential home phones has been the biggest development in my mind. We have come a long way from the crank handle phones and sharing lines, to all the telephone lines being underground, to no lines at all… just the internet waves. Telecommunications is such a huge part of peoples very busy lives. Its opened up a world of possibilities. Maybe the next step will be holographic images that go from your phone so you can see the one you are having the conversation with. What are your interests outside of work? My interests outside of work are boxing and paintball… relieves the stresses of work! LOL on a lighter note, I’m studying Crystals and Herbs and will graduate next year, singing (used to be a Harmony Belle) and spending time with my three year old grandson.

SCHEME MEMBER PROFILE

CONTINUED... Once in a blue moon - or to be precise in this instance, every 6 years (as apparently blue moons (2 full moons in a month) can occur at least once per annum) - one gets to sit at the feet of a Guru. My mediation Guru is Californian Kenneth Cloke. He comes with a long list of attributes and experience. My favourite of his books (most readable) is ‘Mediating Dangerously’ (Jossey-Bass) - and, if I convey nothing else in this short article it is that anyone/everyone involved with Dispute Resolution could be well served by reading it. Ken’s first point to successfully mediating a problem is to ‘humanise the complaint’. Simply put, engage the other party as a human being - it may take 30 seconds longer to start with but it usually makes the interaction more enjoyable and often more successful. Ken also suggests one can tailor one’s approach to resolution by recognising that the process of dispute resolution can involve the mediator in any one or all of 4 dimensions of conflict engagement: the ‘power-based’ model where one party

demands obedience for settlement; the ‘rights based’ approached (legalistic)

where acceptance of the resolution may be expected;

the ‘interest-based’ approach which is collaborative, emotionally informed gaining resolution through consensus; and

Finally the ‘heart-based’ dimension which can be a caring/relationally informed process providing unanimity.

Which one do you regularly engage in? Which one would you like to be part of in the future? When one is aware of the dimension of the dispute, the language used is a vital ingredient to a successful outcome. “Language is the dress of thought, every time you talk your mind is on parade” Dr. Samuel Johnson

“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see” Mark Twain Thus the language used, linked with the four dimensions set out above will provide one with a predictable outcome. My preference in resolving telecommunications disputes is at least the consensus and - better still - the ‘heart-based’ unanimity approach. American author Marshall B Rosenberg has assisted my mediations further with his publication ‘nonviolent communication’ - skills incorporating the ‘Jackal’ and ‘Giraffe’ speak. Simply put, the ‘Jackal speak’ is from the head and ‘Giraffe’ speak is from the heart - the language of requests. Try it sometime and notice the different response. In responding to ‘NO’ from the ‘Jackal’, Marshall says we can ‘describe the situation, guess the other person’s feelings, guess the reasons for the feeling, together with the unmet need: then let the other person verify whether you have correctly understood and clarify the unmet need’. Marshall notes that ‘in the end, Jackals are simply illiterate Giraffes. Once, you’ve learned to hear the heart behind any message, you discover that there is nothing to fear in anything another person says. With that discovery, you are well on your way to compassionate communication. This form of dialogue, although offering no guarantees of agreement between disputing parties sets the stage for negotiation, compromise, and most importantly, mutual understanding and respect’. Every expression is an expression of need. So, from blue moons to the plains of Africa we can broaden our minds and enlarge our vocabularies to embrace the next challenge when someone says ‘I have a complaint’… and enjoy the experience. Jay Clarke, FairWay Resolution Mediator

MEDIATION GURU

Below are statistics from July to September 2013. For more information on what each of the bar charts below measure, please refer to pages 8 and 9 of the 2011—12 TDR Annual Report.

QUARTERLY STATISTICS July - September 2013

ADJUDICATED DECISION Misleading advertising and failure of network coverage for overseas roaming services Background The customer subscribed to mobile phone and data services with the Scheme Member Provider (Provider). The provider’s promotional material had offered a free handset that would roam to multiple countries. In fact, the customer experienced great difficulty using the roaming service overseas with his new handset. He said that he was not given full or adequate information about international roaming capacity when subscribing to the service, and complained that the promotional material was misleading. The provider responded that the roaming difficulty was an overseas network coverage problem, which was outside its control. In respect of the alleged promotional material, the provider argued that this too was beyond the scope of the scheme. Adjudicator’s decision Firstly, as there was an absence of evidence relating to any defect in the mobile handset, the issue was about the international roaming service. With reference to clause 20.1(f) of the Customer Complaints Code (the Code), the

adjudicator upheld the provider’s submission that the complaint regarding network coverage failure was excluded from the scope of the TDR scheme. Secondly, in regard to the customer’s allegation about being given inaccurate information by the provider, the adjudicator found that this was an issue about advertising content. As such, it was excluded under clause 20.1(i) of the Code, and would more appropriately by considered by the Advertising Standards Authority. Final outcome The adjudicator dismissed the complaint and concluded that: (1) the complaint regarding the failure of overseas network coverage (roaming service) was excluded from the scope of the TDR scheme, as provided for in clause 20.1(f) of the Code; and (2) there was no specific or identifiable breach of the Code regarding the complaint of misleading promotional material. There were therefore no remedies awarded. Full details of this decision can be found on the TDR website.

SCHEME MEMBER UPDATE We are pleased to welcome a new member, United Networks, trading in New Zealand as Cov-er-More Global SIM and United Global SIM. We also welcome two new wholesale members (Local Fibre Companies), Ultrafast Fibre and FX Networks. More details about these companies can be found on their websites: www.ultrafastfibre.co.nz www.fx.net.nz We look forward to working with Nick Patterson, who was recently appointed as the Contact Centre Manager at Compass Communications. All our members are invited to attend our bi-monthly Operation Meetings (the next one to be held on 9 December 2013) and to raise any issues regarding the operation of the TDR scheme. If you would like to attend and have not been invited, or if you know of someone who should be invited, please contact Kate Shearer kate.shearer@fairwayresolution.com

SCHEME MEMBERS