Complaint Handling Policy
Contact UsComplaint Handling Policy
This policy outlines our Complaint Handling Policy for AgBiz Assist Limited, trading as Community Business Connect.
While we always aim to provide you with great customer service, if you haven’t received the service you expected, you have the right to make a complaint.
Our complaint handling process complies with the requirements of the Telecommunications (Consumer Complaints Handling) Industry Standard 2018 and responsibility for compliance with the process lies with our Managing Director.
A complaint means an expression of dissatisfaction made to us in relation to our products or the complaints handling process itself, where you expect a resolution. Contacting us to request technical support or to report a service issue is not necessarily a complaint. Where it’s not clear to us, we’ll ask you to confirm that you wish to make a complaint.
During the complaint process, we will treat you with fairness and courtesy and will provide a fair and reasonable outcome to all parties involved. Our team aims to resolve any problems you raise on your first call with us although sometimes a complaint requires investigating so it’s not always possible.
How to make a complaint
If you wish to make a complaint, please contact us via one of the following methods:
Via Email: enquiries@cbconnect.com.au
Via Phone: 1300 844 420 (Mon-Fri 8:00am-5pm AET)
Via Our Website: www.cbconnect.com.au/contact
By Mail: 102 Hume Street, Wodonga, VIC, 3690
We’re here to help
Please let us know if you need assistance with understanding this process or help in making or progressing a complaint.
You may nominate an authorised representative or advocate to make a complaint and deal with us on your behalf. However, to protect your privacy, you must give us your permission (provided either over the phone or in writing) to speak with your authorised representative or advocate about your complaint.
If you have a hearing or speech impairment, you can contact us by using the National Relay Service. If you’re from a non-English speaking background, you can contact us via the Translating & Interpreting Service on 131 450. Please note you may incur fees from any third-party services you engage to assist you.
If you have other special needs, please let us know and we will do our best to assist where we can.
If you are suffering financial hardship, please see our Financial Hardship Policy to learn more about how we can assist you.
What we do when we receive your complaint
We will acknowledge your complaint and provide you with a unique reference number:
immediately, if you contacted us by phone, or if you contacted us by any other means, within 2 business days.
We aim to investigate and resolve all complaints within the following timeframes:
for Urgent Complaints, within 2 business days;
for all other complaints, within 15 business days
For Urgent Complaints, we will provide, within 2 working days of receiving the complaint, written confirmation of the proposed resolution (and if accepted, the date the resolution was implemented). For general complaints, we will confirm the proposed resolution in writing within 15 working days of receiving the complaint.
If we reasonably believe that a resolution may fall outside of the timeframes above, we will contact you directly to discuss the reasons for the delay and advise a new timeframe. If the delay is expected to be longer than 10 working days (and is not the result of a Mass Service Disruption), we will advise you of your options for external dispute resolution, including the TIO.
Classification of Complaint
On receipt of complaint, we will classify the complaint as outlined below.
Complaint Type: | Priority: | Resolution Expected Timeframe: |
Urgent Complaint | 1 | 2 Business days |
Faults (non-urgent) | 2 | 10 Business Days |
Credit Management | 2 | 10 Business Days |
Connections/Disconnections | 2 | 10 Business Days |
Customer Service | 3 | 10 Business Days |
Billing and Payments | 3 | 10 Business Days |
Contracts | 3 | 10 Business Days |
Escalating your complaint
If our support team is not able to resolve your complaint in the first instance, your complaint will be escalated to a Senior Manager within our business for further assistance. At this point Senior Management will discuss the complaint and make a decision on how to resolve the issue.
If at any stage of the process, you’re not happy with the progress or proposed resolution of a complaint or you want to know more about your options to pursue a complaint further, we will advise you of your option to reasonably request to have your complaint escalated to a Senior Manager or your options for external dispute resolution.
If you tell us that you are not happy with the response times that apply to the handling of your complaint, we will, within 5 working days, advise you about our internal prioritisation and escalation processes and your options for external dispute resolution, including the TIO.
When is a complaint treated as urgent
Your complaint will be treated as urgent:
if you have applied for being in financial hardship under our Financial Hardship Policy and the issue you are complaining about directly contributes to the Financial Hardship you are experiencing, or if your service has been disconnected and due process has not been followed, or if you are receiving Priority Assistance (eg because of a severe medical condition) for the service you are complaining about, or
you are dissatisfied with the standard response time that’s that apply to the handling of your complaint, or you reasonably request that your complaint is treated as urgent or request that your complaint is escalated.
We do not offer priority assistance, nor support for medi-alert services and monitored alarm systems. Priority assistance is offered by Telstra for people who may be reliant on a telephone service because of a serious medical condition. If you have a medi-alert or priority assistance service or believe that you are eligible, please consider this before proceeding with your order.
Urgent Complaints will be given priority over other complaints. We will acknowledge your Urgent Complaint immediately if you contacted us via phone or otherwise within 2 business day of receiving your Urgent Complaint.
We aim to resolve Urgent Complaints within 2 business days. We will contact you directly to advise and discuss a new timeframe in the event that a resolution is likely to fall outside of this timeframe.
If your complaint has not been considered urgent based on the above criteria and you reasonably believe it should be, please let us know and we will, within 2 working days, advise you about our internal prioritisation and escalation processes and your options for external dispute resolution, including the TIO.
Ways you can monitor your complaint
We will keep you updated with the status of your complaint and you may contact us either by phone or by email with your reference number, username or customer number to request a status update.
Where relevant, we will let you know any reasons for any delay as soon as practical and a specific timeframe for resolution.
When a complaint is resolved
After we’ve completed our investigation of your complaint, we will, as soon as practicable, confirm with you that your complaint has been resolved. 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, please advise us when making your complaint. If you request written confirmation of the resolution, we will provide such confirmation within 5 business days of your request.
We are unable to implement any proposed resolution until you have accepted it. Once you have accepted the resolution, we will take all reasonable actions to implement it within 10 business days (or within 2 business days for Urgent Complaints), unless you have agreed upon another time frame, or where resolution required some action from you and you have not yet completed that action.
We will not close your complaint without your consent, except where your complaint has already been appropriately escalated within CBC and where:
you’ve told us that you’re not happy with the progress or resolution of your complaint and in response we have advised you of your options for external dispute resolution, including the TIO; or we have not been able to contact you for more than 10 business days after an attempt to contact you in writing or by phone; or we reasonably believe, after careful consideration, that your behaviour or complaint is frivolous or vexatious and within 5 business days of reaching this view, we have advised you that will we not deal with your complaint (and the reasons why) and explained your options for external dispute resolution. If requested by you, we will confirm these matters in writing (via email) within 5 business days of your request
Further options for external dispute resolution
You will find the majority of complaints can be handled by our internal processes and we do ask that you first allow us the opportunity to exhaust all avenues in resolving your complaint. However, if you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint after it has been appropriately escalated within CBC, you may seek complaint mediation or further assistance from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (telephone 1300 844 420) or the fair trading department in your state or territory.
Who we work with
Community Business Connect is proud to work with the following organisations.
Community Business Connect is part of the AgBiz Group.
Contact Us
Please feel free to give us a call or send an email if you'd like to get in touch.
Office Hours: 8am – 5pm Monday to Friday
If you require an Authorised Representative, please
contact us to discuss.
Hearing or speech impaired?
Please call us via the NRS;