FCC Consumer Complaints – July 2018

Introduction

The Federal Communications Commission recorded 30073 consumer complaints in July 2018 relating to telecommunications services, this represented a decline from the 30780 complaints recorded the month before. The complaints came from 56 states and territories, with California reporting a modestly higher count than the other locations. Complaints were most commonly associated with Unwanted Calls, accounting for 20223 complaints.

Key statistics

Total complaints

30073

Days with complaint data

31

Days with complaints

31

States & territories reporting

56

Most common issue

Unwanted Calls (20223)

Most reported state/territory

California (4143)

Daily complaint activity

Daily complaint activity averaged 970.1 complaints per day during the month. The busiest day was 10 July 2018, when 1395 complaints were recorded, and 21 days were above the monthly daily average. The lowest daily total was 216 complaints on 29 July 2018, well below the monthly average.

Each bar represents one day of the month. Taller bars indicate more complaints.

Where the complaints came from

Reports recorded in July 2018 show 30073 complaints originating from 6141 cities across 56 states and territories. Complaint activity was fairly evenly distributed, with no single state or territory accounting for a large share of reports. At the city level, a significant concentration was observed in District of Columbia, where Washington accounted for 137 of the 149 complaints recorded.

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

Location highlight

Washington accounted for nearly all complaints recorded in District of Columbia.

What the complaints were about

Complaints recorded during the month related to 7 different complaint categories. Phone was the most reported category, with 24532 complaints. Complaint activity was strongly concentrated in this category, with other categories contributing comparatively fewer reports.

Phone complaints

24532 complaints were recorded in this category during the month, representing 81.6% of the total.

Unwanted calls again accounted for the largest share of complaints in this category. These reports are examined in more detail in the section below. The remaining complaints in this category were spread across several issues, including Billing, Availability (including rural call completion) and Equipment.

Internet complaints

2558 complaints were recorded in this category during the month, representing 8.5% of the total.

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

TV complaints

2531 complaints were recorded in this category during the month, representing 8.4% of the total.

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

Radio complaints

362 complaints were recorded in this category during the month, representing 1.2% of the total.

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

Emergency complaints

52 complaints were recorded in this category during the month, representing 0.2% of the total.

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

Unwanted calls

There were 20223 complaints relating to unwanted calls on this date, representing 67.2% of all complaints. Caller ID and business contact number details are listed below where there is enough concentration to make the data meaningful.

Key patterns

• Prerecorded Voice was reported slightly more often than other call types.
• (555) 555-5555 was reported slightly more often than other business contact numbers.
• (516) 739-8540 was reported slightly more often than other caller ID numbers.