Poor communication about terms of service remains most common telecom gripe

Poor communication from telecom providers about terms of service remains the most frequent complaint from Canadian wireless, landline, and internet customers, according to a new report from the Commissioner of Complaints for Telecommunications Services.

CCTS, which administers various codes of conduct created by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, received a total of 3,955 complaints about telecom service between August 1, 2016 and January 31, 2017. That's down from 4,562 last year.

Of this year's complaints, almost 90 per cent were "resolved to the satisfaction of both the customer and the service provider."

• Force telecoms to live up to wireless code, consumer groups argue
• TV service complaints outnumber all others, CCTS says
• A truly Canadian problem: Who do I complain to about Netflix?

Non-disclosure of terms of service, or misleading information about those terms were the most common beef, comprising 10.7 per cent of all complaints.

"Understanding what you are getting when you sign up to receive a service or product is fundamental in a consumer transaction," said CCTS Commissioner Howard Maker in a statement. "That can only happen if service providers ensure they present customers with clear information that sets out their rights and responsibilities."

The second most-common complaint was incorrect charges, said the CCTS, making up 9.4 per cent of complaints. Complaints about intermittent or inadequate service were the third most-common, comprising 8.5 per cent of complaints.

Wireless code of conduct breaches down

In addition to fewer complaints overall, the CCTS found significantly fewer breaches of the CRTC's Wireless Code of Conduct from August 1, 2016 to January 31, 2017, compared to the same period a year earlier. The code was breached 52 times during the most recent period, it said, compared to 120 times a year earlier.

The Deposit and Disconnection code, which applies to home telephone services, was breached seven times during the most recent period, down from twelve times in the previous comparable period.

Among participating service providers, the CCTS received the most complaints about the following five telecom providers:

1. Bell: 1,258 complaints (31.8 per cent of all accepted complaints)
2. Rogers: 535 complaints (13.5 per cent)
3. Virgin: 285 complaints (7.2 per cent)
4. Telus: 278 complaints (7 per cent)
5. Fido: 204 complaints (5.2 per cent)

In September of this year, the CCTS will begin enforcing a new code of conduct: the TV Service Provider Code.