TORONTO – Rogers Communications owes $30 million to approximately 300,000 of its customers who were overcharged during a recent discount program.
The mistake, which Rogers said arose as a result of administrative error and system related issues, varies for each customer depending on their tenure in the ‘Better Choice Bundles’ discount program and the number of services they have, the company said. Rogers introduced the program to offer customers a discount when they purchase two or more eligible communications services with a two-year contract term and a consolidated monthly invoice.
Approximately 200,000 customers, who received greater discounts than they were eligible for, will have their under-payments waived and the correct discount applied moving forward.
"Once we identified the issue, we initiated a comprehensive review of current and former customer accounts to identify those that were not correctly billed," said Phil Hartling, SVP of Rogers’ consumer segment, in a statement. "We have been working around the clock to make this right and we apologize to our affected customers."
Affected customers will be notified by letter starting this week and the correct discount will be applied within their next two bills. Existing under-discounted customers will receive a credit on their account, while former under-discounted customers will receive a cheque. Any unclaimed funds by former customers will be donated to charity, the company said.
Rogers said that it has briefed the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services to ensure that customers have an informed third party to approach should they remain dissatisfied with the steps it has taken. It has also hired PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) to provide an independent analysis of the relevant billing data.
The company has enhanced its processes and said that it is implementing safeguards to help prevent a recurrence including the roll out of an employee re-training program, the introduction of a daily audit to review new customers joining the program, and implementing recommendations identified by PwC.
