HC Deb 14 April 1964 vol 693 cc218-9
8. Sir M. Galpern

asked the Postmaster-General how many telephone subscribers questioned the accuracy of their accounts during each of the years 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1963; and in how many cases the complaints were found to be justified in each of these years.

Mr. Mawby

I am sorry the information is not available.

Sir M. Galpern

Naturally, I am very much disappointed with the reply that the hon. Gentleman has given. On the basis of the number of complaints which I have received in my constituency, may I ask whether the hon. Gentleman agrees that complaints concerning accounts represent a high percentage of the complaints from telephone subscribers, who blame the system which is used in the exchanges for the recording of calls as being the prime cause of the discrepancy between what they claim to be the amounts incurred by them and the amount demanded by the Post Office?

Mr. Mawby

The major difficulty is that most of the queries which are made concerning the accuracy of accounts are made by telephone and it would be difficult to keep a record of them. The question of deciding whether complaints are justifiable cannot be established as, very often, subscribers are given the benefit of the doubt in the interests of good relations. Obviously, the recording system is not perfect, but we hope that we can get a system which will accurately record calls as well as keep a check on people who consistently complain, so that we have an accurate record of the number of calls over a period.

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