OTTAWA — The number of Canadian consumer complaints to the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) increased by 6% during the six-month period from August 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021 compared to the same period of the previous year, according to the CCTS’s 2020-21 mid-year report, released this morning.
During the six months ended January 31, the CCTS accepted 9,121 complaints from Canadian telecom and TV customers and resolved 88% of all complaints. There were 28 confirmed Wireless Code breaches, five Television Service Provider Code breaches, four Internet Code breaches and one Deposit and Disconnection Code breach.
The CCTS notes the 28 violations of the Wireless Code during this six-month period represented a decline from the 46 breaches confirmed in its report from the previous year. The most common Wireless Code violation involved the service provider failing to issue a copy of the contract to the customer or the contract not including information required by the Code, says the CCTS.
Overall, Canadian consumers complained most often about their wireless service (41% of all issues), followed by Internet (33%), local phone (13%) and TV (12%). Of the top issues raised in complaints, the most frequently raised concerns were “disclosure issues”, primarily involving a mismatch between what the customer was expecting and what they received, and incorrect charges on customer invoices.
In its report, the CCTS notes customers raised more Internet-related issues since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, such as poor service quality and complete loss of service.
“Canadian families have become more reliant on their Internet services during the global pandemic. Many Canadians were working, studying and socializing from the comfort of their own home, and as a result, we observed a 50% increase in issues related to the quality of Internet service,” says CCTS Commissioner Howard Maker, in a CCTS press release.
As can be seen by the graph, Bell accounts for 20.3% of all complaints received by the CCTS, followed by Rogers at 13.2%, Fido at 10.3%, Telus at 7.1% and Freedom Mobile at 6.5%. When compared to the CCTS’s 2019-20 mid-year report, these figures represent a 17.3% decrease in complaints against Bell, a 23.9% increase in complaints for Rogers, a 45.3% increase for Fido, a 7.5% decrease for Telus and a 1.9% increase for Freedom Mobile.
In a press release issued this morning, Bell highlighted that it had the largest reduction in consumer complaints among national providers. The company noted customer complaints dropped 17% at a time when Bell was confronting the impacts of Covid-19 with enhanced service investment, including accelerated broadband network buildouts, investment in network capacity and redundancy, and expanded digital support options.
For more on the CCTS’s 2020-21 mid-year report, please click here.
