The FCC has focused on the often poor customer service we receive from telecommunications providers. The agency said on Wednesday opening formal process for reviewing customer support from cable, broadband, satellite TV and home voice service providers.
The review will cover customer friction points when interacting with telecom industry providers. These include subscriptions that are difficult to cancel, getting stuck in “loops of agony” when trying to reach a person, hidden automatic updates, and accessibility options for people with disabilities.
“We can and should expect consistent, transparent and helpful customer service from communications companies that provide many of the services that are so important to our daily lives,” FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel wrote in a press release announcing the inquiry. “No one should be stuck in a cycle of disaster trying to cancel a subscription or get a human to help resolve service issues.”
The FCC wants to simplify customer cancellation options, requiring providers to offer more options and transparent disclosures at the point of sale and on accounts. In addition, it hopes to obtain open customer consent before automatically renewing services and helping customers get easier access to live representatives without going through endless phone trees. It also aims to improve the accessibility of customer service resources for people with disabilities.
Other fine points on the agenda include cable operator installation, expansion of existing rules on outage and call-for-service rules, satellite television, voice and broadband services. Finally, it wants “current cable operator customer service requirements to reflect market and technology changes.”
The commission adopted the notice of inquiry by a 3-2 vote “highlighting the importance of majority customer support.” For starters, the FCC will release public records on where these customer service points are today and what specific rules they might adopt to make things smoother for families and businesses.
The survey is part of a larger effort to eliminate the daily headaches that waste time and money. Earlier this month, the FCC launched an investigation into the broadband industry nonsense, profit-making data limits. This summer, Verizon paid a $1 million fine to settle an investigation into the 2022 crash prevented hundreds of emergency calls. Meanwhile, The FTC recently approved the “click-to-cancel” rulemakes it easy to end subscriptions.
