Fewer complaints against telecoms in late 2016: study
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 per cent drop from the 4,562 complaints accepted in the same period in 2015, according to the mid-year report released Thursday. Ninety per cent of complaints were resolved.
BCE Inc. was the most griped about provider, receiving slightly less than one-third of complaints. Rogers Communications Inc. placed second with 13.5 per cent of complaints, 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 of complaints.
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 that Bell receives more complaints since it has “significantly more customers than our competitors.”
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 four million in 2016.
In emailed statements, spokespeople for Rogers and Telus both said they put their customers first and that 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 in a statement, stressing that the wireless and TV codes of conduct require providers to use plain language when dealing 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, which was introduced in 2013. It largely eliminated three-year contracts and drastically reduced overage fees for roaming.
The CCTS also received thousands of complaints that fall outside its mandate, notably 2,734 complaints related to broadcasting. It will start dealing with those complaints when the TV service provider code comes into effect for most providers on Sept. 1.
“It looks like the CCTS will have its hands full bringing TV Service providers up to the standards Canadians expect,” the Public Interest Advocacy Group said in a statement.
The high volume of complaints makes it “particularly surprising ” to PIAC that the CCTS can’t yet address these grievances.
Although the number of complaints fell, PIAC executive director John Lawford noted that consumers continue to have ongoing problems with their providers.