In a blunt attack on the past management of Telstra, New CEO David Thodey has said that he does not need a Complaints Ombudsman to handle Telstra service problems which he claims are well above any industry averages.

Speaking to analysts at the company’s half yearly results press conference, Thodey said “there have been far too many complaints. A customer saved is worth a lot more than trying to attract a new customer. I intend to cut the churn and I don’t need a Complaints Ombudsman to tell me that Telstra has a problem.”

“The issue of customer service is a high priority for me and every customer saved is worth money to Telstra”.

Thodey who was appointed CEO of Telstra earlier this year is the former CEO of IBM, a company that over many years has built extensive customer service systems.

David Moffett, the Managing Director of Telstra’s consumer division, said that they were currently conducting extensive research in an effort to address customer service issues.

Earlier Thodey said that he wanted to initiate a program where complaints were addressed within 24 hours and solutions to fix problems delivered within 5 days.