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Post by Banjo on Oct 28, 2015 6:58:44 GMT 7
Centrelink most complained about agencyCentrelink remains the most complained about Commonwealth agency, a report shows. Of 28,154 complaints received by the Commonwealth Ombudsman in 2014-15, 6280 related to Centrelink, an increase of 26.5 per cent. The Ombudsman's annual report says they received more complaints about Centrelink than any other Commonwealth program or agency and that was largely tied to the size and complexity of its responsibilities, which in 2013-14 involved payment of $159.2 billion in social services benefits. The Ombudsman said some of the complaints in 2014-15 related to difficulties accessing phone and online complaints services. Australia Post is the second most complained about agency with 5613 complaints - a 38 per cent increase. Loss of mail, slow delivery and poor complaint handling were the most common problems. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection prompted 1810 complaints, a slight increase. Around 800 come from people in immigration detention and related to delays in visa processing, personal property going missing and problems with medical treatment. Complaints from overseas students about private education providers are on the rise. During the year, the Ombudsman received 689 complaints, a 33 per cent increase. The complaints related to fee disputes, provider refusal to transfer students to another provider and provider decisions to report students to the immigration department for failing to meet course and attendance requirements. Read more at www.9news.com.au/national/2015/10/27/18/11/centrelink-most-complained-about-agency#aekZtDE7uqv7reSB.99
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Post by Denis-NFA on Oct 28, 2015 23:51:21 GMT 7
I'd prefer to complain about the ACCC.
They boost the cost of petrol.
And electricity.
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Post by Banjo on Jan 15, 2016 8:08:06 GMT 7
Despite promises, the government is keeping you on hold with calls to Centrelink Despite a report published by the National Audit Office in May 2015, Centrelink phone services are still being described as “unusable” for most people. Labor claims the federal government has not kept its promises to improve Centrelink, despite the National Audit Office highlighting an appalling lack of customer service. Senator Doug Cameron, Labor’s spokesman for Human Services, believes that Centrelink has never been so unreachable since moving its services online. “(People) can’t get access to their account, then when they ring up the phone lines are jammed, they can’t get on the phones, when they go into a Centrelink office the lines are out the door”, Mr Cameron said. Mr Cameron has criticised the Liberal government for purporting to be internet-savvy, through various advertising campaigns. “To say that they are innovative, and yet they cannot deliver basic services through the technology… it’s just an absolute joke”, he said. However the Human Services Minister, Stuart Robert, said that January is typically a busy month for Centrelink anyway. With hold times over an hour in many cases, the Liberal MP blamed families returning to work and school for causing extra Centrelink backlogs. startsatsixty.com.au/current-affairs/despite-promises-the-government-is-keeping-you-on-hold-with-calls-to-centrelink
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Post by scallywag on Jan 15, 2016 8:37:53 GMT 7
If the politicians were paid through clink the problems would be fixed yesterday.
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Post by Denis-NFA on Jan 15, 2016 14:02:36 GMT 7
However the Human Services Minister, Stuart Robert, said that January is typically a busy month for Centrelink anyway. With hold times over an hour in many cases, the Liberal MP blamed families returning to work and school for causing extra Centrelink backlogs.There you go then. It's not the 'gubermints' fault, it's those pesky C/Link 'clients' that are mucking up the system. |
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Post by Banjo on Jan 15, 2016 14:56:35 GMT 7
Layabouts and rorters, every one.
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Post by scallywag on Jan 15, 2016 15:36:54 GMT 7
It's not as if they know what time of year families return to work and school, if they did, they could have got a second person to man the phones.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2016 17:34:10 GMT 7
It's not as if they know what time of year families return to work and school, if they did, they could have got a second person to man the phones. Thats too hard Would cost them more They want to save money not spend it |
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Post by latindancer on Jan 15, 2016 17:54:29 GMT 7
I moved house recently, and informed Centrelink of this online. They sent me a form to fill out and I returned it together with my lease agreement. I posted it before the end of the year.
Yesterday (2 weeks later) I was informed that my rent assistance had been cancelled because my form had not been received.
Today I called them 3 times and there was no pretence of a callback service. I was not even told how long I would have to wait. So I hung up each time, in utter frustration. I work part-time and can't stay on the phone for an indefinite period.
I suppose they may still receive the form but the whole experience of trying to get through to them by phone was frustrating, infuriating, and irritating. You have to go through the same old menu, with the same music and useless announcements which don't apply to me.
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Post by Banjo on Jan 21, 2016 7:40:26 GMT 7
Brisbane woman on hold to Centrelink for 15 hoursA MOTHER has waited for 15 hours to get through to Centrelink staff as the service experiences a blowout in demand. Desperate parents calling the family line to make changes to family, childcare and parenting payments are being met with a busy tone and given no chance to use online or in-office services instead. Redcliffe woman Sandra Kajewski was on hold for more than 15 hours on Monday in a marathon effort to get through to a person. Ms Kajewski, who provided The Courier-Mail with a screen snap of her 15-and-a-half-hour wait, said 30 calls she made on Monday were met with a busy tone until she finally got put on hold about 4pm. She said she was still on hold at 8pm, when the office closes, and so decided to continue the call so she could be first in line on Tuesday. “Then when I did actually get them on the line, they said that their system was down so they couldn’t even answer me after 15 hours of me being on hold,” Ms Kajewski said. “The woman was very nice, she said ‘I’m so sorry, ring back later’ and I just laughed.” Ms Kajewski, who needs to update her son’s information as he moves from daycare into school and can’t use online or in-office services to do so, said she was trying to do the right thing but Centrelink wouldn’t let her. www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/brisbane-woman-on-hold-to-centrelink-for-15-hours/news-story/3bd67fe4d7423c270257f94459903238
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Post by immiadvice on Jan 21, 2016 7:47:06 GMT 7
Wow.
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Post by latindancer on Jan 21, 2016 9:18:37 GMT 7
So essentially she had "only" a 4-hour wait. Still completely unacceptable.
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Post by nomadic on Jan 21, 2016 18:31:39 GMT 7
Banjo, are you saying i'm a layabout and rorter? You got this one wrong 50%. Rorter no. Layabout Yes. I have an arvo nap everyday for sure. Overall ROYAL bloody COMMISSION. Complaints against Centrelink are totally dismissed by the regular system anyhow. Including the Ombudsman who I contacted many times only to be given the usual fob offs. Ok, nap time.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2016 18:47:39 GMT 7
I called CL Int today. Wait time was about 5 mins. This was about 11:00 AWST
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Post by Banjo on Jan 21, 2016 19:37:58 GMT 7
It never used to be too bad if you went in, up to an hour... tops.
I used to like to look them in the eye as well, see who blinks first.
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