CCTS 2017-18 Mid-Year Report: Telco Gripes Surge; Bell Takes 33% of Complaints

The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) has released their 2017-18 Mid-Year Report, for the six months ending on January 31, 2018.

The report details 6,849 complaints accepted, a 73% increase over the same period last year, while 5,755 complaints were concluded, a 48% increase over the same period last year. In total, the CCTS says 90.4% of complaints were successfully resolved.

Below are the Top 5 Participating Service Providers by Complaints Accepted:

Ccts mid year report 2017 18

As you can see, Bell took 33.2% of all complaints, while Rogers had 10.3% and Telus at 7.5%, rounding out the ‘Big 3’. Bell flanker brand Virgin Mobile Canada took 6.3% of complaints in fourth spot, while Quebec carrier Videotron had 5.4%.

Rogers-owned Fido took 5% of complaints in sixth place, while Telus’ Koodo had 2.6% (in ninth). As for Shaw’s Freedom Mobile, it had 4.3% of complaints in the seventh spot.

According to CBC News, Bell spokesperson Nathan Gibson said “It’s surprising the commissioner highlighted Bell as having the most complaints,” adding “Considering we do have the most customers by far and our proportion of overall complaints continues to decrease more quickly than our competitors.”

The majority of complaints were related to wireless, with the issue “non-disclosure of terms/misleading information about terms” taking 54% of complaints, compared to Internet, local phone, long distance and TV categories.

This mid-year report covers the period when the CRTC Wireless Code imposed new requirements on wireless carriers (starting on Dec. 1, 2017), such as free cellphone unlocking, limits on data and roaming charges and also increased usage for trial periods.

In September 2017, the CCTS started to take on TV service complaints, and the report notes the biggest complaint was related to incorrect charges.

The CCTS also tracked issues outside of its mandate, noting “customer service” (e.g. wait times, rude representative, etc.) was the most brought up by Canadians.

Complaints to the CCTS most likely increased as more people became aware of the independent organization, which is “dedicated to resolving customer complaints about telecommunications and TV services.”

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