By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri on Monday defended a $7-per month price hike on the company’s TV set top boxes in front of House’s committee on industry, saying it’s the result of increased investments the company makes to improve software and functionality to the device it considers a premium product.
The cable giant’s head also said the majority of customers are not impacted by the hike on the Ignite boxes first revealed by a CBC/Radio-Canada investigation – stemming from consumer complaints that promises of fixed-rate contracts were allegedly broken – and that customers who were affected, were notified beforehand.
He also said customers who don’t want the box can return it and be ported over to alternative experiences, such as the Rogers app.
Staffieri’s defense came in dribs and drabs throughout the two-hour experience as members of Parliament from all three parties interrupted and lambasted the man of the hour. (Bell sent their lawyer Mark Graham, who simply said the company hasn’t increased the price on its set top boxes in the past five years.)
Some of the frustration from MPs came from the feeling that they’d been slighted because Staffieri could not make an appearance in person last week, which he attributed Monday to a last-minute personal matter.
By the end of the two-hours, Calgary MP Michelle Rempel Garner used some of her question time to start a tri-partisan motion to draw up a report, to be sent to the House floor, conveying the committee’s “disappointment in Rogers Communications for not proactively disclosing the true cost of their products and services to consumers and notes the detrimental impact of the lack of competition in the telecommunications sector is having on Canadian consumers.”
That motion is expected to be revisited on Thursday during committee business.
Committee MPs also conveyed they had more arrows of action in their quiver.
Staffieri, at the behest of MPs, committed to providing the committee with a copy of the contract, the time on hold, and the recording between the Rogers sales rep and Cathy Cooper, the lead complainant in the CBC investigation, who had six TV boxes.
The point is to gauge whether it would be an inconvenience for a customer to get in touch with a Rogers customer service – the experience of which the company has bragged about for years, especially after its acquisition of Shaw – and to understand what exactly customers are being told about the services and what to expect.
Some MPs also wondered aloud about the drafting of consumer protection laws in this sector – beyond the CRTC’s codes for internet and wireless.
Staffieri said that is unnecessary – and Graham agreed – because there is sufficient competition in the market, as providers compete not just with themselves but with new technologies that are emerging.
Last month, the CRTC launched three consultations to strengthen consumer protections through amendments to those codes. Proposed changes include more transparent communications from the service providers, the elimination of certain fees associated with switching, and self-service options for customers to easily cancel or modify their contracts.
