Telecom complaints fall in second half of 2016

Watchdog sees 13% drop from year earlier

TORONTO • The number of complaints to Canada’s telecommunications watchdog dropped in the second half of 2016 from the same period a year prior, according to a semi-annual report that monitors the grievances Canadians have with their wireless, Internet and telephone providers.

The Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services accepted 3,955 customer complaints between Aug. 1, 2016, and Jan. 31, 2017, a 13.3-percent drop from the 4,562 accepted in the same period in 2015. Ninety per cent of complaints were resolved.

BCE Inc. was the most griped about, receiving slightly less than one third of complaints. Rogers Communications Inc. placed second with 13.5 per cent, followed by Bell’s Virgin Mobile with 7.2 per cent, Telus Corp. with seven per cent and Rogers-owned Fido with 5.2 per cent. Bell, Telus and Fido received fewer complaints compared to this period in 2015, whereas more people complained about Rogers and Virgin.

“It’s good to see the ongoing downward trend in the number of complaints over the past several years,” Bell spokeswoman Michelle Michalak said in an email, adding Bell receives more complaints since it has “significantly more customers.”

Bell launched a mobile self-help app and has invested in customer service, field technicians and store teams, she wrote, adding that calls to its service centres fell by 4 million in 2016.

In emailed statements, spokespeople for Rogers and Telus both said they are always working to improve.

The most common complaints related to non-disclosure of terms or misleading terms, incorrect charges and inadequate quality of service.

“In complex consumer transactions clarity is critical,” CCTS Commissioner Howard Maker said, stressing that wireless and TV codes of conduct require providers to use plain language with customers.

“We are hopeful that these requirements will help reduce the many miscommunications and misunderstandings that lie behind so many of the complaints that we see,” Maker said.

Overall, the CCTS found fewer breaches of the wireless code, introduced in 2013. It largely eliminated threeyear contracts and drastically reduced overage fees for roaming.

The high volume of complaints makes it “particularly surprising” to the Public Interest Advocacy Centre that the CCTS can’t yet address these grievances.

Although the number of complaints fell, PIAC executive director John Lawford noted consumers continue to have ongoing problems.

“Our bottom line is no one knows CCTS exists and this drop is at least as much thanks to inadequate awareness as provider good behaviour,” Lawford said.