Watchdog sees drop in number of complaints about services
Canada’s telecommunications commissioner accepted about 4,500 complaints in the second half of 2015, 16 per cent fewer than during the same period the year before.
The Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services released its mid-year report Wednesday, summarizing the gripes it received from Canadians about their phone, Internet and wireless service.
The CCTS concluded 4,327 out of the 4,562 complaints it received from Aug. 1 2015 to Jan. 31 2016, resolving about 90 per cent of them and closing the rest.
BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Wind Mobile — recently purchased by Shaw Communications Inc. — remained the top three mostcomplained about providers.
About one-third of complaints were from Bell customers, with about 10 per cent complaining about Rogers and 7.5 per cent trying to resolve issues with Wind.
All three of those providers managed to reduce the number of complaints compared to the same period last year, however.
Rogers, in particular, cut the number of complaints the CCTS received to 437, about one-third of the complaints lodged in the second half of 2014.
Additionally, Rogers-owned Fido cut the number of complaints to the CCTS from 306 to 237 during the second half of the year.
In a release, Rogers said its rapidly dropping CCTS complaints are thanks to the company’s focus on improving customer service.
Complaints to the CCTS related to roaming are also set to decrease by 90 per cent this year, the company said.
“We’re continuing in the right direction toward overhauling our customers’ experience,” said Rogers’ chief customer officer Deepak Khandelwal in a release.
“While there is still work to be done, we’ve started tackling some of the industry’s biggest issues head on.”
Customers of Telus Corp. filed 310 complaints with the CCTS during the second half of 2015, making it the fourth-most complained about provider.
Telecom customers were most likely to complain about nondisclosure or misleading information about terms, incorrect charges, inadequate service quality, early cancellation fees and 30-day cancellation policies, according to the CCTS.