LeapTel is committed to providing excellent service and this statement explains our Complaints Handling Process.

Our complaints process is designed to encourage the fast and efficient resolution of your issue at the first point of contact. While we will always aim to provide you with exceptional customer service, we recognise that you may wish to express dissatisfaction with our products, services, staff or procedures.

During the course of your complaint, we will aim to tailor any proposed resolutions to provide a fair and reasonable outcome to all parties involved. Once accepted, we will aim to deliver our mutually agreed resolution to you within 10 business days, or 2 business days where the complaint is urgent.

Please follow the steps below to raise and escalate your complaint. In the event that you require assistance with making a complaint, our staff will be more than happy to assist. If you believe your complaint is urgent, please see the following section of this page.

Making a complaint

A complaint can be raised with Leaptel via the following methods:

If you would like to nominate an authorised representative/advocate to make a complaint on your behalf, you can authorise them during this contact with us.

If accessibility is an issue, you can also use these Australian government services to assist you in making your complaint:

  • National Relay Service: 133677
  • Translating & Interpreting Service: 131450

First contact

At first contact, you will initially be addressed by a Customer Service Representative (CSR).  A CSR empowered to resolve complex issues and first level complaints and make fair and reasonable customer service decisions. It is always our objective to mutually resolve your complaint upon first registration of a complaint but further time may be needed to investigation and provide a proposed solution for the complaint.

The CSR will undertake an initial assessment of your complaint to ensure it properly understood and that is categorised to enable an effective response.

If your complaint relates to billing related issues, we will cease any Credit Management action while the complaint is resolved.

You will receive acknowledgement of your complaint – including a reference number – within 2 business days if you make your complaint in writing or via email. For complaints lodged via the telephone,  acknowledgement and your reference number can be provided immediately.

Internal Escalation

If a CSR is not able resolve a complaint, or at your request, your complaint may be escalated to a Customer Service Manager (CSM) or an appropriate alternative senior member of staff if a CSM is not available. In such circumstances it may not be possible to resolve your complaint during the first contact, as further investigation may be required. You will be provided with a complaint reference and we will work to resolve your complaint within within 2 working days.

Complaint Resolution Timelines

Leaptel aims to resolve all complaints on first contact, but if we are unable to do so we are committed to resolving your complaint within the following timelines:

  • within 15 working days from the date the complaint is received by us; or
  • if we do not believe the complaint can be resolved within 15 working days we will advise you before working day 15 of:

The reasons for the delay;

  • The specific timeframe for completion of the resolution; and
  • If the anticipated delay is a further 10 working days or more (and is not the result of a mass services disruption), we will advise you of your options for external dispute resolution including the TIO.

At all times we will advise you of any delays in the proposed timeframes.

Getting Updates

While we will keep you regularly informed about the status of your complaint, you can check up on the progress of your complaint at any time by calling us on 1300 205 327 and quoting the complaint reference number.

We will advise you either verbally (via telephone) or in writing (via email) of the outcome of your complaint. If you prefer a specific method of contact, this can also be requested when lodging your complaint.

Urgent Complaints

If you feel your complaint is urgent, please tell us as soon as possible via telephone, email, or in writing. We will refer your case for investigation by an appropriate senior manager on site, or the Solutions team, and provide a response to your complaint within one business day.

Urgent complaints differ from regular complaints in that they are referred to the Solutions team or an appropriate level of senior management significantly earlier, and are treated with higher priority than normal complaints.

We aim to resolve all urgent complaints within 2 business days. We will contact you directly to advise and discuss a new timeframe in the event that a resolution may fall outside these timeframes.

We consider a complaint urgent when it concerns any of the following:

  • You have asked to be assessed or have been approved for financial hardship assistance and you believe your issue directly contributes to or worsens that hardship.
  • Your issue is about a disconnection that’s about to happen, or a disconnection that has happened in error.
  • Your issue is about a service or situation that is dangerous to you or others.

Need this information in another language? Please ask for a referral to our Solutions Team.

Attempt to make contact

If in the course of following our complaints handling process, we are unable to contact you to discuss your complaint or advise you of the proposed resolution of your complaint, we will write to you to advise you that:

  • We were unable to contact you;
  • Provide details of our contact attempts; and
  • Provide an invitation to contact us to discuss the complaint within 10 business days. If we do not receive a response from you we will consider the complaint resolved.

Frivolous or vexatious complaints

If, after careful consideration and appropriate internal escalation of your complaint we reasonably conclude:

  •  We can do nothing more to resolve your complaint or assist you; and
  •  We reasonably believe that your complaint or behaviour is frivolous or vexatious,

We may decide to not deal, or to deal further with your complaint. If we reach this determination we will,

  • Within 2 business days of making a decision to not deal with a frivolous or vexatious complaint advise you of the reason for our decision and your options for external dispute resolution, including the TIO.
  • Advise you that we will no longer accept further complaints from that consumer on the same or similar issues, except as part of our requirements and responsibilities for any external dispute resolution process
  • Provide you with our reasons in writing, if requested by you, within 5 working days after receiving your request.

Escalation

If, after Leaptel has provided you with a response to your complaint and you are not satisfied with the outcome or resolution of your complaint, you are entitled to refer your complaint to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) for independent advice. The TIO is an office of last resort and deals with complaints that consumers have not been able to resolve with their telephone or Internet company after exhausting all possible avenues directly with the company.

Leaptel asks that if you do have a complaint, you allow us the opportunity to exhaust all possible internal resources before going to the TIO, as in our experience complaints dealt with internally are resolved much quicker than complaints mediated via the TIO. As a consumer you have the right to make a complaint to the TIO at anytime if you believe you have given Leaptel adequate opportunity to resolve your complaint.

The TIO can be contacted via the following means:

Alternatively you can contact the Office of Fair Trading in your state or territory.