The CRTC announced today that it’s reminding phone, internet, and TV providers to be clear about customer protections. That’s according to the CRTC’s Vice-President of Consumer, Analytics and Strategy, Scott Hutton.
Companies such as Rogers, Telus and Bell need to inform customers about the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS), which helps resolve issues, and about the Wireless Code, which covers things like early cancellation fees when buying or renting a cellphone.
The CRTC emphasized that it is protecting Canadians, pointing to its previous effort asking the ‘Big 3’ to lower international roaming rates (only if you ask with a pretty please, right?).
Specifically, a recent letter written by Hutton addresses the recent price hikes from the likes of Rogers, which jacked up TV box rentals for customers still on contract. The CBC recently shared a follow-up story where it received “hundreds” of emails from customers of the ‘Big 3’, citing price increases and just downright confusion when it came to their bills.
Over the next few weeks, the CRTC says it will hold public consultations to improve customer protections. It wants to focus on making information clear so customers can easily compare deals and switch services. The CRTC also is considering combining the Wireless, Internet, and TV Service Provider Codes into a single set of rules.
“The CRTC is concerned with recent trends, which suggest that Canadians may not be benefiting from the full protections of our codes. We will continue to monitor developments and will take further action if our codes are not being followed,” said Hutton.
Whether or not the CRTC will actually lay the smackdown on powerful telcos is another story. Maybe we’re just hearing some tough talk again?
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Ooh! The paper tiger strikes again!
Oh please just do something and do it now.
Rogers/Shaw should of never gone through and we are tied of the monopoly's. Their promises are unfilled and they find loop holes to screw over customers.
Bell is busy investing in the US instead of Canada and we are stuck with an outrageous Bell monopoly in parts of this country.
Only competition we have is starlink which doesn't help Canadas economy but apparently no regulation or telecom stacked government bodies will do anything.
The CRTC does not have the balls to do anything!
The Canadian gov should own the data networks and lease them to the carriers.. that way they can control the system (carriers) properly!
I kind of agree, but we pay so much in taxes that internet and telephone should be free for each household.
"only if you ask with a pretty please, right?" lol, this encapsulates the muscle of the CRTC. They haven't forced any financial hardship on telcos ever. They always find a way to get it back other ways.
The CRTC is the biggest clown show. They serve zero purpose except to be a puppet that's controlled by the big 3
The #1 thing that the CRTC needs to do for consumers is adopt the FTCs "click to cancel" rule.
Making it simpler to move without going through "retention hoops" is what will result in better overall prices for consumers because providers will actually need to compete with real pricing.
Stop the oligarchy and open the Canadian market to US carriers.
Only if you think water is wet.
THIS !!!!!
How about large fines after one warning. I can assure you bell or bell mobility doesn't waste time cutting you off because you're late paying their high bills. They have a pay or else attitude so why not give them a taste of their own medicine.
The CRTC is toothless and the major telcos know this or they would not keep gouging Canadians with their death by a thousand cuts strategy to drive up their profit margins. A regulatory body should regulate, or be defunded and replaced by one that can.
I have Public Mobile (Telus) and I do get texts reminding me about the CCTS all of the time. That's fine, but it's a useless service. They take your complaint and then take the side of the phone company.
I finished my contract with Bell. I spent an entire afternoon trying to cancel my account. That was fun. Someone would finally answer, then transfer me or hang up on me. Every time that I called back, I was on hold for 30-60 ,minutes. The person who answered would transfer me, then that person and the next person and the person after that would also transfer me and so on until, whoops, I was "accidentally" disconnected. At the time, Bell employees were being penalized for allowing someone to caancel. Finally, I thought that I was canceled. I didn't receive another bill and didn't realize that my account was actually not canceled until the collection agency started calling.
Why did I leave? I had to change my number a few months before my contract was up. I got hacked. I had Russians calling and taunting me at all hours. I ended up being out of the frying pan and into the fire. When Bell gave me the new number. It was the number of a person who had been cut off for non-payment. The collection agency was relentless and kept threatening to cut off my phone service if I didn't pay the other customer's bill. I ended up in the ridiculous situation wihere the collection agency was calling and trying to collect both bills on another. new number with another provider. Oh, and the service STILL wasn't canceled. I was billed for two more months service until they finally cut off the service for "non-payment."
The CCTS refused to do anything for me. There was no way that I was paying and it's a black mark on my credit to this day. Who ever heard of Bell allowing you to go 9 months without paying and still keeping you connected?
And, by the way, I had been a Bell Mobility customer since I bought my first brick-sized analog Nokia. I had no history of not paying. That didn't even help me.
CCTS is useless.