Government auditors recently issued a report critical of the way the Federal Communications Commission handled some of the 454,000 complaints it received between 2003 and 2006 saying the agency needs to improve how it tracks and responds to consumer, safety and service complaints.
But the Government Accountability Office report also detailed the types of complaints it deals with on a daily basis: the FCC’s Top 10 complaint list.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the largest number of complaints alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), including violations of the do-not-call list request and telemarketing during prohibited hours.In addition, complaints about billing and rates for wireline and wireless services increased, from almost 30,000 in 2003, to almost 36,000 in 2004; complaints then decreased to about 21,000 in 2006. These complaints included not receiving credits, refunds, or adjustments that were owed to the subscriber; questions about local, state, or federal taxes appearing on the complainant’s bills; and premature termination of calls.
The overall trend for programming issues, such as indecency, has been steadily upward. For example, this type of complaint increased, from about 700 in 2003, to almost 9,000 in 2006.
There have been financial consequences for violators, whether or not they amounted to too much or too little, depends on where you stand. According to FCC, it assessed fines and negotiated payments through consent decrees, which totaled about $73 million from 2003 through 2006, and has collected about $53 million, or 72%. However, the amount of the fines and payments negotiated through consent decrees decreased, from about $25 million in 2003 and $26 million in 2004, to almost $11 million in 2005 and $12 million in 2006-a decrease of more than 50%.
According to an FCC Enforcement Bureau senior official, the phasing out of carrier interLATA rules (section 271) complaints may have contributed to this decrease. FCC staff also stated that the amount of fines and negotiated payments through consent decrees totaled about $43 million in 2007.
According to the GAO the FCC's Top 10 complaint list (and number of complaints received between 2003-2006) looks like this:
1. General solicitations or TPCA violations: Complaints regarding the receipt of unsolicited calls or messages for the purpose of encouraging the purchase, rental, or investment in property, goods, or services (178,079).
2. Billing and rates: Complaints regarding a number of issues, including airtime charges, roaming rates, credit, and refund adjustments (117,875).
3. Referral to government agencies/FCC offices/states: Complaints beyond FCC's jurisdiction, such as intrastate billing charges and expanded local calling service. Service related issues (20,757).
4. Complaints regarding the quality of services provided by cable, satellite, wireless, and wireline providers: Carrier marketing and advertising Complaints regarding advertising and marketing practices of carriers, including misrepresentation (19,509).
5. Carrier marketing and advertising: Complaints regarding advertising and marketing practices of carriers, including misrepresentation (17,568).
6. Programming issues: Complaints regarding programs, such as those that allegedly contain indecent, obscene, or profane material (16,076).
7. Number portability: Complaints regarding the porting of telephone numbers from a wireline to a wireless carrier or the reverse (13,824).
8. Slamming: Complaints regarding the switching of a consumer's telephone services from one telephone company, or from one calling plan, to another (10,374).
9. Cramming: Complaints regarding unauthorized, misleading, or deceptive charges on a consumer's telephone bill for services and products (8,915).
10. Operator Service Provider issues: Complaints about a common carrier that provides services from public phones, including payphones, and those in hotels or motels (5,273).
All other complaints: Complaints such as those regarding connection to cable service, closed captioning of video programs, digital subscriber lines, and may also include consumer inquiries. (46,123)
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