Complaints against Canada’s main ‘Big 3’ telecom and TV providers are surging yet again. According to the latest annual report from the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS), consumer grievances jumped 17% this year, reaching a record 23,647 cases.
Wireless services remain the primary headache, making up over half of all reported issues. However, the real story is in the billing; nearly 46% of all complaints involve incorrect charges or promised credits that simply never showed up.
While complaints rose across the industry, the ‘Big 3’ saw very different results:
“Unresolved telecom and TV service issues can be very frustrating for consumers,” said Josée Bidal Thibault, the new Commissioner and CEO of the CCTS (as of January 1), on Wednesday. “Our reports highlight complaint trends and emerging issues, offering service providers valuable insights to improve the customer experience.”
The most alarming trend in the report is a 121% increase in “breach of contract” complaints. This happens when a provider fails to honour the terms you signed up for, such as hiking fees mid-contract or failing to provide promised features (which we keep hearing about over and over).
Beyond broken promises, general service delivery (including outages and installation delays) accounted for a quarter of all issues raised.
The CCTS is a free, independent service for Canadians who can’t resolve disputes directly with their providers, though it remains a tool many average consumers aren’t aware it even exists. To protect yourself, Thibault advises staying organized: “Customers should remember to keep a copy of all signed agreements and communications with their provider, such as chat transcripts or emails.”
The data reveals a difficult environment for Canadian telecom users. Driven by a 16% rise in billing errors (a five-year high) and a 44% spike in TV-related complaints, the 23,647 accepted cases mark a new low for industry customer service. Despite the record volume, the CCTS claims that it successfully resolved the majority of disputes between frustrated Canadians and their providers.
Did you use the CCTS in the past year for your telecom complaints?
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Telus has been horrible for me this past 2 years.
I wonder how many of those complaints are related to the new auto pay by bank account requirements for the auto pay discount.
I’m sure that’s a component but honestly Telus is doing far worse stuff than that on the regular to customers. I help clients every week with it. Almost nothing is achieved without making or threatening to make a CCTS complaint. Competence is the exception to the rule with them rather than the norm. Sadly I can’t say Rogers or Bell are much better.
I had to do this with Public mobile as nothing gets done and even when I do talk to someone over the phone they too blame the message only system where you're only choice is to make a CCTS complaint
A lot of the complaints also come from their sub brands which all go back to the main company to pay as each complaint sent to either company is ordered to pay a $400 fine so it adds, I got to talking to a CCTS agent who told me how the system works and it was fascinating and yet the problem lies with the CRTC who doesn't push for changes