Telecommunications Dispute Resolution: Who Qualifies and What You Get

This scheme provides a way to resolve disagreements with your telecommunications provider through an independent mediation process.

👤Who it's for

This service is specifically for customers who find themselves in a dispute with their phone or internet providers. If you are having trouble with the services you pay for or how you are being billed, this scheme is designed to help you reach a resolution.

🎁What you get

You can access free mediation to help settle various service-related issues. This includes disputes regarding your billing or problems with the actual quality of the service you are receiving. The goal is to provide a way to settle these disagreements without the need for more formal or costly legal actions.

💰What it costs you

Using this mediation service is free for customers. However, there is a mandatory step you must take regarding your time and effort: you cannot go straight to mediation. You must first attempt to resolve the issue through your provider's own internal complaints team. You will need to obtain a specific reference number from that complaints team to prove you have completed this step before you can move forward.

⚠️The catch to know

It is important to understand the limits of what this mediation can address. While it is helpful for individual service and billing issues, it does not cover disputes regarding general pricing levels set by providers in the market. It is meant for resolving your specific personal issues rather than challenging the broad pricing structures of the industry.

📝How to apply

1. Contact your phone or internet provider to lodge a formal complaint regarding your issue.
2. Work through the provider's internal complaints process to try and reach a solution.
3. If no resolution is found, request a reference number from the provider's complaints team.
4. Use that reference number to contact the scheme via the official portal.

https://www.tdr.org.nz