FCC Consumer Complaints – 10 April 2016

Introduction

The Federal Communications Commission recorded 311 consumer complaints on Sunday, 10 April 2016 relating to telecommunications services, this was lower than the 499 complaints recorded the day before. The complaints came from 41 states and territories, with California reporting a modestly higher count than the other locations. Billing was reported slightly more frequently than other issues.

Key statistics

Total complaints
311
States & territories reporting
41
Most common issue
Billing (69)
Most reported state/territory
California (54)

Where the complaints came from

Reports recorded on 10 April 2016 show 311 complaints originating from 241 cities across 41 states and territories. Overall, complaint activity was broadly distributed, with no single state or territory representing a significant proportion of the total. A similar pattern is observed at the city level, with complaints spread across locations rather than concentrated in a single area.

The distribution of complaints by state and territory is shown below, with locations ranked by the number of reports recorded.

State/Territory Complaints
California 54 17.4%
Florida 29 9.3%
Maryland 26 8.4%
Texas 26 8.4%
Arizona 17 5.5%
New York 16 5.1%
Ohio 15 4.8%
Georgia 14 4.5%
Pennsylvania 11 3.5%
New Jersey 10 3.2%
Other states and territories 93 29.9%

Location highlight

California had the widest distribution of complaints, with reports originating from 43 different cities.

What the complaints were about

Complaints recorded on this date related to 6 different complaint categories. Phone was the most reported category, with 143 complaints. This was followed by Internet, which accounted for 91 complaints.

Complaint category Complaints Share
Phone 143 46.0%
Internet 91 29.3%
TV 46 14.8%
Radio 26 8.4%
Emergency 4 1.3%
Accessibility 1 0.3%

Phone complaints

143 complaints were recorded in this category, representing 46.0% of the total.

Issue Complaints Share
Telemarketing (including do not call and spoofing) 58 40.6%
Billing 27 18.9%
Robocalls 20 14.0%
Equipment 11 7.7%
Privacy 10 7.0%
Availability (including rural call completion) 5 3.5%
Cramming (unauthorized charges on your phone bill) 4 2.8%
Junk Faxes 4 2.8%
Number Portability (keeping your number if you change providers) 2 1.4%
Interference (including signal jammers) 1 0.7%
Open Internet/Net Neutrality 1 0.7%

Telemarketing (including do not call and spoofing) represented the largest share of complaints recorded in this category, with lower volumes reported across the remaining issues.

Internet complaints

91 complaints were recorded in this category, representing 29.3% of the total.

Issue Complaints Share
Billing 30 33.0%
Availability 18 19.8%
Speed 13 14.3%
Open Internet/Net Neutrality 11 12.1%
Privacy 8 8.8%
Equipment 6 6.6%
Interference 5 5.5%

The remaining complaints in this category were spread across several issues, including Billing, Availability and Speed.

TV complaints

46 complaints were recorded in this category, representing 14.8% of the total.

Issue Complaints Share
Availability 18 39.1%
Billing 12 26.1%
Loud Commercials 7 15.2%
Equipment 5 10.9%
Indecency 2 4.3%
Interference 2 4.3%

The largest share of complaints in this category related to Availability and Billing, with fewer reports falling into other issue types.

Page last updated: 10 December 2018 with FCC complaints data from 10 April 2016.

The information presented on this page is based on consumer complaint data submitted to regulatory authorities. References to telephone numbers reflect reports made by consumers and do not confirm ownership, authenticity, or that the number was genuinely associated with the call. Caller ID information may be inaccurate or subject to spoofing.

Complaint categories, dates and complainant locations are based on the source records and may contain incomplete, approximate or user-entered information. Location details refer to the complainant’s reported location, not the location of the caller or telephone number. This content is provided for informational purposes only.