Canadians lodged 44 per cent more complaints against telecommunication providers in the second half of 2018, most often about mobile phone service, followed in order by internet, television and landline phone. The biggest number of complaints involved incorrect charges and misleading contract terms where there was a difference between what the client was expecting and what they got.
Prices changed unexpectedly
“Typically the customer thinks they’ve agreed to a two-year contract at a certain price. say. for internet and television and home phone. And then, after six months, it turns out they didn’t get that price for the whole two years.
“It’s a promotional price and it goes up quite significantly after that. Or the company’s reserved the right to raise prices generally during the two years and consumers were pretty sure they were promised, say, one price at 100 bucks and it ends up being 150 by the time they’re done, and they’re not impressed,” says John Lawford, executive director and general counsel at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre.
The company that received the biggest number of complaints was Bell.
60% of complaints were about five telecoms
Almost 10,000 complaints were received by the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS), an industry-funded body that was set up by the government regulator, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). The CCTS says it was able to resolve 92 per cent of the complaints in the August 1, 2018 to January 31, 2019 period. Sixty per cent of the complaints were about five service providers–Bell, Rogers, Cogeco, Telus and Freedom Mobile, the wireless service from Shaw Communications.
Consumer complaints will help bring about change, says advocate. (iStock)
‘The only way to get companies to start to change’
This says Lawford represents progress. “It will raise the profile of CCTS. So, I hope more complaints come in because that’s really the only way to get companies to get companies to start to change their practices.”
Following previous complaints, the CRTC put a cap on the amount telecoms could charge for the use of data over the limits set out in an individual contract. Lawford says it should do the same for overages on texts and calls. And he says the person paying the bill should be informed when a user is approaching the limits. This would help parents with children who run up extra charges.
Lawford acknowledges that changes at the regulator take time and he urges consumers to keep up the pressure.
Canadians pay some of the highest prices in the industrialized world for home internet and mobile phone data plans.
John Lawford says complaints filed by consumers against telecoms may bring about change.
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