Customers with Canada’s three biggest telecom providers — Rogers, Bell and Telus — say they’re frustrated by contracts that lock them into agreements but allow the companies to increase prices at the same time.
In hundreds of emails to Go Public, customers say they’re fed up with unexpected increases to their monthly internet, TV and home phone bills during their contracts.
They started writing after CBC News reported the story of Cathy Cooper, a Rogers Communications customer in Sidney, B.C., who was caught off guard when the company jacked up the monthly price of renting TV boxes by $7 apiece ($12 each for newer customers).
Melani Norman of Toronto wrote that she got her “first bill of a new three-year contract with Bell and the fees had increased by $5 a month for my TV before I even began.”
“It turns out that the promise Bell made me was false.”
In email after email, telco customers say they were never told about language — often buried in the fine print — that says companies are allowed to increase the price of certain items during the term of a contract.
Some describe spending hours on the phone with customer service agents, trying to understand their bills and fighting for the original monthly price they believe they were guaranteed.
Many said they found their contracts confusing.
A contract law expert says consumers have been complaining about one-sided telco contracts for almost two decades.
“These contracts are long — and even if you read them, you need at least a university-level education to understand them,” said Marina Pavlović, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa’s faculty of law who specializes in consumer protection and digital society.
Pavlović says the contracts are a “trap by design” and that it’s time for Canada’s telco regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), to investigate.
A growing number of Rogers, Bell and Telus customers have complained to CBC’s Go Public about contracts they feel are misleading, and it’s led to more calls for the industry regulator to investigate.
“We need to rebalance them so that consumers feel that they’re more protected.”
Go Public asked Rogers, Bell and Telus to comment on the fact that customers feel misled. None would address the growing customer frustration.
‘I felt kind of bamboozled’
Norman says she agreed to a three-year contract for TV, internet and home phone with Bell in August, and was quoted a monthly price over the phone.
When her first bill arrived in September, her TV service was already $5 higher than she was led to believe. When she called to inquire, she says an agent told her the price would also soon be going up for phone and internet.
“It was a bit of, like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding,'” said Norman.
Her contract says the company can raise fees by up to $10 each calendar year, which she says was not explained to her on the phone.
“I felt kind of bamboozled.”
A spokesperson for Bell told Go Public it “regrets” the price increases weren’t clearly explained over the phone, and that the company will now credit Norman’s account to cover her extra costs.
She also said that Bell “does not offer nor advertise fixed prices for the duration of a contract” on any of its plans.
“Our pricing terms are clearly displayed on our website, in the contracts and our customer service representatives are trained to explain them clearly to our customers,” she wrote.
Pavlović, the contract expert, says stories like Norman’s are so common “you almost need to be a CPA [certified professional accountant] to audit your account.”
Turns out, Norman is a CPA — who created a spreadsheet to track her Bell costs — and even she had a hard time figuring out her increased bill.
‘Cash grab’
Customers from the big telcos call their experiences everything from “infuriating” and “shady” to “a cash grab.”
Many describe asking a customer service agent repeatedly if the price they were agreeing to for two years was “guaranteed.” But after getting assurances it was, they saw their bills creep up shortly after.
Some question why they didn’t get a credit when they called to complain about a new charge, when friends and family managed to get the same charge lowered or even reversed.
When Carl Cameron of Wasaga Beach, Ont., called Rogers to “loudly complain” about a TV box increase, he says a manager gave him a 50 per cent discount and claimed that deal was for “infinity.”
“She didn’t send it to me in writing,” he said. “So it means nothing.”
In an email to Go Public, a spokesperson for Rogers said Cameron would maintain that discount for as long as he has the box.
CRTC to hold consultations
Pavlović says she’s not surprised so many Canadians are frustrated by little-known provisions in their telco contracts.
“Consumers feel very vulnerable,” she said. “Some of these services are absolutely essential for their lives, and they don’t really have a choice other than to accept these terms that are heavily skewed in favour of providers.”
Pavlović says the CRTC should investigate, and could require that prices remain unchanged during a contract.
A spokesperson for the CRTC told Go Public that recent reporting about price increases within existing contracts is “concerning.”
The regulator has since sent a letter to the big telcos, which states they “should not be surprising their customers with price increases beyond the price they had originally agreed to” and reminding them that any additional charges — such as those related to equipment — “must be clear.”
A week after CBC’s Go Public highlighted customer concerns surrounding Rogers price increases, the NDP has called on the Liberal government to demand the telecom reverse the price hikes, or be banned from future federal contracts.
The CRTC spokesperson also said the regulator is launching consultations with telcos, the public “and any other interested parties” to ensure information provided to customers is “clearer and uniform” so Canadians can more easily compare offers and change services or providers if they choose.
NDP calls for Liberal action
On Parliament Hill, the NDP is also calling for action. Industry critic Brian Masse says the government must use its clout to get Rogers to roll back the recent price hike to TV box rentals and not allow “weasel words” in contracts.
“The minister … has the capability to connect to Rogers and tell them to stop abusing Canadian consumers,” Masse told Go Public.
A spokesperson for Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne did not address whether he would ask Rogers to reverse its recent price hike, writing: “We expect Rogers to clearly communicate contract terms and pricing changes to its customers.”
Meantime, the standing committee on industry and finance — consisting of Liberal, Conservative, NDP and Bloc Québécois MPs — has unanimously passed a motion to call the CEO of Rogers, Tony Staffeiri, to appear before them.
When Go Public asked whether the minister would ask the CRTC to hold a hearing that investigated contract language that allows telcos to increase prices during an agreement, the spokesperson did not respond. She did say the minister has “texted with senior leadership” at Rogers, but did not elaborate on what was discussed.
Pavlović, the contract law expert, says a CRTC hearing is long overdue.
“We need to bolster the rights of consumers.”
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