Aggressive telecom sales tactics to face investigation by CRTC

OTTAWA— The federal government has ordered an investigation into complaints of misleading and aggressive sales tactics by the country’s telecommunications companies.

In a rare move, Navdeep Bains, minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, on Thursday told the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to investigate the sales practices.

“We’ve heard from hundreds of Canadians … clearly there’s a problem,” Bains told reporters on Parliament Hill.

“There are vulnerable Canadians, seniors, low-income earning Canadians, . people that necessarily don’t understand the technology that clearly can be persuaded to buy products and services that they may not necessarily need.

“We’ve also heard from sales agents who say that their managers have put pressure on them,” said Bains, the MP for Mississauga-Malton.

The government has asked the CRTC to have the investigation finished by Feb. 28.

Bell Canada had the most complaints, at 2,275, followed by Rogers Communications (707) Telus Communications (511), followed by Virgin (429) and Videotron (368).

The government order directs the CRTC to examine whether or not telecoms are “providing consumers with incomplete, unclear or misleading information regarding service terms and conditions.”

The investigation will also look at the measures the companies have in place to monitor “aggressive” sales practices, existing policies to protect consumers and the “most feasible and effective” ways to strengthen existing consumer protections.

The CRTC is responsible for regulating telecommunications services and overseeing measures already in place to protect consumers, such as the Wireless Code of Conduct. Bains has also asked the Competition Bureau to assist in the investigation.

The CRTC had already rejected a request this year by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, a non-profit organization that advocates for consumer interests, to investigate what it branded as “aggressive, inappropriate and potentially misleading” sales tactics.

“Many of these aggressive sales practices appear to have targeted vulnerable consumers, including older Canadians, grieving spouses and blind customers,” John Lawford, the centre’s executive director and general counsel, wrote in his January letter to the CRTC requesting the probe.

“The nature of these allegations is so serious that a formal inquiry into the entire industry’s sales practices is required,” he wrote.

In a February response to Lawford, CRTC chair Ian Scott denied the request, saying Canadians “already have a variety of options available to them to seek redress.” Those options include the Commission for Complaints for TelecomTelevision services, an independent organization that helps settle customer complaints.

It received 6,849 complaints between August 2017 and January 2018, up 73 per cent over the comparable period a year earlier.

The complaints covered all platforms, such as wireless, internet, long distance and television. The most common complaint was non-disclosure of terms or misleading information, followed by incorrect charges and poor service.

In a statement Thursday, Bell said it would be “happy” to talk about its customer service.

“Bell’s success depends on delivering the best customer experience and we’re seeing consistent growth in both customer satisfaction and subscriber growth,” Marc Choma, Bell’s director of communications, said in an email.

Rogers said too that it would work with the investigation.

“We strive to deliver the best possible experience for our customers with products and services that best meet their needs and budget, and we will participate and share how we work to be clear, simple and fair with our customers every time they contact us,” a spokesperson said in an email.