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Complaints against Canadian telecom providers soar 44%: commission

What happened: The number of complaints against telecom providers grew from 6,849 to 9,831 during comparable time periods Why it matters: Complaints commission says providers’ improper disclosure of terms is persistently ‘problematic’ Incorrect charg
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What happened: The number of complaints against telecom providers grew from 6,849 to 9,831 during comparable time periods

Why it matters: Complaints commission says providers’ improper disclosure of terms is persistently ‘problematic’

Incorrect charges, misleading terms and poor service quality are the most common gripes Canadians have against their telecom providers, according to a mid-year report from the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS).

The April 2 report revealed the number of accepted complaints spiked 44% to 9,831 between August 2018 and January 2019 compared with 6,849 during the same period a year earlier.

With 3,668 complaints lodged, the No. 1 issue for Canadians was incorrect charges hitting their wireless, internet, TV, local phone or long-distance bills.

That was followed by 2,716 complaints over non-disclosure of terms or misleading information about terms.

Combined, those two issues accounted for 28.7% of all complaints against telecom providers.

“This report shows that disclosure issues continue to be problematic,” CCTS commissioner Howard Maker said in a statement.

“We were pleased to provide vital data during the CRTC’s recent review of telecom sales practices. Our identification of a ‘mismatch’ between what many customers think they are buying and what they are getting is the focus of the CRTC’s report.”

Vancouver’s Telus Corporation (TSX:T) was the subject of 746 complaints, up from 511 complaints a year earlier.

But during both periods the B.C.-based telecom giant accounted for roughly the same proportion of complaints against providers (7.6% in the most recent report vs. 7.5% during the same period a year earlier).

This came as complaints against Bell Canada (TSX:BCE) shot up 33% from 2,275 to 3,034, accounting for 30.9% of all complaints.

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