On Monday, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel introduced a new Notice of Inquiry to improve customer service across the communications industry.
If it is adopted, the FCC customer service inquiry will aim to ensure that consumers have better experiences when dealing with broadband and phone providers.
The FCC’s announcement stated, “Consumers should have access to customer service resources that are helpful and efficient, so that they can easily resolve issues and make informed choices when it comes to their telecommunications service providers.”
Specifically, the FCC customer service Notice of Inquiry will attempt to address several topics, including:
- Making it easier and simpler to cancel service
- Ensuring access to live representatives when needed
- Creating a set of requirements around various moments in the customer lifecycle, including installation, service outages, and technician service calls
- Ensuring clear notifications around automatic service renewals and price increases
- Making considerations for people with disabilities
“Consumers deserve the ability to resolve problems quickly and easily, in a way that works for them, not just what benefits the company’s bottom line,” said Chairwoman Rosenworcel. “Through this effort, we want to explore options to take some of the pain out of routine customer service problems and pass along cost savings to consumers.”
The FCC’s customer service inquiry was announced the same day that the Biden-Harris administration launched their “Time Is Money” effort, intended “to crack down on all the ways that corporations—through excessive paperwork, hold times, and general aggravation—add unnecessary headaches and hassles to people’s days and degrade their quality of life.”
Like the FCC customer service inquiry, the “Time Is Money” effort will address “Making it easier to cancel subscriptions and memberships.” While the FCC’s customer service inquiry and the “Time Is Money” effort are not explicitly related — which is to say, the two announcements do not mention each other — the timing of the announcements and some of their aims appear to be well coordinated.
The inquiry is the next step the commission is taking in addressing consumer concerns, such as their recent actions to reduce the number of robocalls.
