Yesterday, the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) released its 2022-23 Mid-Year Report, revealing a 12 per cent increase in the number of complaints about phone, internet, and TV services in Canada.
A total of 400 service providers are mandated by the CRTC to take part in the CCTS.
For the first time ever, Rogers accounted for most of the complaints received by the CCTS with 1294 out of 7,451 total complaints. This represents a 29 per cent increase in the number of complaints about Rogers.
According to the report, this increase was largely driven by the ‘complete loss of services’ complaints, which more than doubled. The CCTS adds that the number of calls and chats from customers during the July 8th outage last year nearly doubled, as it received a record 187 complaints in one day.
Bell was the second most complained-about provider; it scored a 6 per cent decrease in its number of complaints, of which the telco says it is “extremely proud.”
“Our continued improvements in CCTS results is evidence that Bell’s strategy to champion the customer experience is working, even as complaints increase across the telecommunications industry overall,” said Mirko Bibic, chief executive officer, Bell. “Our investments in our network, enhanced service and digital tools are clearly making a difference, as is our customer-first approach.”
However, the number of complaints drastically increased by an average of 78 per cent for Koodo and TELUS.
Customers complained most often about their wireless (mobile) services (54.5 per cent of all issues), followed by internet (26.2 per cent), TV and local phone/landline (9 per cent).
Interestingly, most of the complaints spanning wireless, internet, and TV were about disclosure issues, including conflicts resulting from discrepancies in contracts and undisclosed details and terms of a promotion.
A couple of weeks ago, the CCTS sat down with the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry and Technology (INDU) to discuss a new proposed piece of legislation, Bill C-288, aimed at deterring false advertising and ensuring that Canadian carriers provide accurate details about the fixed broadband services that they offer.
Howard Maker, chief executive officer and commissioner of the CCTS, argued that the bill is a financial incentive for carriers to resolve complaints, as service providers are required to pay for each customer complaint that comes to the CCTS.
Out of the 7,451 complaints accepted by the CCTS, 5,934 were resolved, often within 30 days, the report revealed.
Finally, the study showed that there were 36 confirmed Wireless Code breaches over the 2022-2023 period. Some cases included a service provider not giving 14 days notice before disconnection, no paper contract or electronic copy provided to customer, and a service provider not unlocking a phone upon sale.
All comparisons are to Mid-Year Report 2021-22.
