All is not fair in customer service
A trivial charging mistake becomes significant hassle with poor problem resolution
Consumer disputes are often about fairness and justice. I’m happy to help resolve them, even if only small amounts of money are at stake.
Eric Moore, for example, found a charge on his credit card statement that he didn’t incur.
“The charge was for one British pound, about $1.78, a trivial amount but not mine,” he said, telling me of his frustration with CIBC Visa.
He was put on hold four times after calling CIBC’s fraud department. He went online with his complaint, but waited four days for a response after being told the usual response time was 48 hours.
“Can you give me a human contact to get the charge removed? The issue is the poor customer service, or ‘care,’ as CIBC calls it,” he said.
CIBC spokesperson Caroline Van Hasselt made sure the mystery charge was erased on the morning his email arrived.
“I know I am one of countless others you have lifted over a wall of ‘please hold’ on the phone,” Moore said.
Norman Levine wrote to me about his 93-year-old mother, Evelyn, whose CIBC Cash Back MasterCard was being converted to a Visa card.
“She doesn’t want a Visa, as she can’t use it at No Frills or Costco. I told her to get a cash back BMO MasterCard and she did,” he said.
“She asked CIBC to cancel her card immediately and send the cashback amount (of $130.92) she has accumulated. They said they couldn’t until December — and even then, they might not be able to give her a rebate because it will be a different card.”
Levine’s mother heard from CIBC the day after I sent her complaint. This time, the response was more enlightened.
“They agreed they had broken the contract with her by changing her from a MasterCard to a Visa card and they will be issuing a cheque to her for the accumulated amount,” her son said.
Adam Morrison was on a trip to the Dominican Republic with his family. After a few nights at a hotel, he went to the Be Live Collection Punta Cana resort, where he had booked two rooms with Sunwing Vacations.
“The front desk could not find the reservations,” he said. “I had to call Sunwing using Skype at the front desk. But after spending 90 minutes in the lobby getting nowhere, we left and checked into another resort.”
Why did Sunwing cancel the reservation without notice? Morrison was told it was because he had disputed a previous stay at a Sunwing resort with his credit card company after it didn’t live up to its billing.
“We are extremely vigilant in protecting our customers against credit card fraud, which is a growing concern,” said Sunwing spokesperson Rachel Goldrick. “Unfortunately, in this case, many of the factors surrounding the reservation pointed to this being a fraudulent transaction.
“The booking was made from Punta Cana for a hotel-only reservation, checking in that same day, and was guaranteed by a U.S.-issued credit card.”
Since the incident last January, Sunwing has invested in fraud detection technology and improved its communications process, she said.
Since Morrison had used a U.S. credit card and was charged in Canadian dollars, he received a refund that was $10 less than what he paid because of fluctuating exchange rates.
He will receive the difference in the amount credited back to his card, plus a future travel voucher. He was hoping for more.
“At no time while booking this reservation did Sunwing tell me that they no longer wanted my business,” he said. “Checking into another resort was an ordeal, as I was with my two kids (turning three the next day), my wife, her brother and sister-in-law.”
Finally, I heard from two readers whose basic home phone service with Bell Canada was increasing.
“My $24 monthly bill went up $5 without explanation,” said Diane Slawych. “When I called, they told me they had been undercharging me for a long time and now they’re trying to recoup their mistake.”
John Sheard had been paying $21.86 a month for more than 20 years. Last month, Bell put a notice on his bill that he had been undercharged and would have to pay a new rate of $31. What should he do?
Spokesman Jason Laszlo said Bell started notifying affected customers in July, using bill notices, letters and email.
A typical message reads as follows:
“Due to an error on our part, we’ve been undercharging you for your residence line. The correct rate of $30.86 a month will be charged as of September 2016.
“Rest assured you won’t be charged for the unbilled amounts. In addition, we’ll apply a $5 monthly discount to this service for 12 months.”
Kudos to Bell for not making customers pay for billing errors in the past. Gas and hydro utilities often send huge catch-up bills to customers who were undercharged when their meters don’t work properly. Ellen Roseman’s column appears each week in Smart Money. You can reach her at eroseman@thestar.ca