Topics and Trends

Annual Report

August 1, 2022 – July 31, 2023

In 2022-23, we accepted 14,617 complaints filed by customers across Canada. This represents a 14% increase from last year.

Overview

During this year of transformation, we successfully maintained a high-resolution rate of 89%.

We resolved 75% of all complaints within 30 days.

Issues raised in complaints

This year, 28,821 issues were raised in 13,847 concluded complaints. A single complaint can contain multiple issues. For example, a customer may submit one complaint about both the billing of their internet service and roaming charges related to their wireless service, which would be reported as two issues.

Wireless issues remain the most-raised issue, representing 55% of all issues raised. Wireless issues increased by 6% compared to last year. Internet issues returned to the second most-raised issue, accounting for 26% of all issues raised.

As part of our transformation process, we reviewed and simplified our “nature of incident” classification system. Reporting on issues this year is based on the new classification system. Refer to Appendix D, which provides mapping of old issue names to new issue names.

Table 7.1: Number of issues by service type, Year-over-Year (YOY) change

Figure 7.1: Five-year view of issues by service type

Spotlight on wireless services

  • Wireless remains the most complained-about service. Wireless issues increased by 6% from last year.
  • Wireless issues account for 55% of all issues raised, up from 51% last year.
  • Billing remains the top category of issues for wireless services, representing 44% of wireless issues. Wireless billing issues increased by 11%.
  • Contract dispute issues, and service delivery categories followed, comprising 30% and 22% of wireless complaint issues, respectively.
  • Disclosure issues remain a top issue raised by wireless customers. Disclosure issues account for 18% of all wireless issues, up from 15% last year. Wireless disclosure issues decreased by 2% from last year.
  • Notably, wireless complete loss of service issues increased by 93%.
  • Issues relating to wireless roaming charges also increased by 98%.
Figure 7.2: Five-year view of wireless issues
Table 7.2: Top 10 wireless issues
Issue Number Proportion YoY (%)
Disclosure issues 2,839 18% -2%
Monthly price plan – Incorrect charge 2,170 14% 16%
Quality of service 1,152 7% 8%
Credit or refund not received 1,019 6% 31%
Roaming charges 851 5% 98%
Changes to the contract 784 5% 32%
Breach of contract 756 5% -16%
3rd party credit reporting 650 4% -12%
Due dates not kept or delay for installation or cancellation of service 554 3% 8%
Complete loss of service 487 3% 93%
Figure 7.3: Five-year view of internet issues

 

Spotlight on internet services

  • Internet issues account for 26% of all issues raised by customers.
  • Internet issues declined by 7% and this is the second year in a row that internet issues declined.
  • Service delivery is the top category of issues for internet services, representing 41% of all internet issues.
  • Despite a decrease in overall internet issues, internet service delivery issues increased by 5%. This increase is driven by significant increases in issues related to complete loss of service, a 48% increase, and unable to cancel, a 72% increase. Meanwhile, the top service delivery issue continues to be quality of service, which decreased by 13% and accounts for 16% of internet issues.
  • Billing continues to be the second most-raised category of issue, accounting for 33% of all internet service issues.
Table 7.3: Top 10 internet issues
Issue Number Proportion YoY (%)
Quality of service 1,183 16% -13%
Monthly price plan – Incorrect charge 922 12% -9%
Disclosure issues 766 10% -13%
Due dates not kept or delay for installation or cancellation of service 621 8% -3%
Complete loss of service 554 8% 48%
Credit or refund not received 479 7% 18%
Changes to the contract 301 4% 11%
Termination fee 271 4% -30%
Breach of contract 266 4% -28%
Unable to cancel 253 3% 72%

Spotlight on TV services

  • For the fourth consecutive year, the number of TV issues decreased.
  • TV issues account for 10% of all issues raised in 2022-23.
  • Although down in overall complaints, billing remains the top category of issues raised by customers of TV services, representing 39% of all issues about TV services.
    • Incorrect charge relating to the monthly price plan remains the top billing issue for TV customers, accounting for 14% of TV issues.
  • Service delivery is the second most-raised category of issues by TV customers, accounting for 35% of TV issues.
    • Quality of service is the top service delivery issue, accounting for 14% of all TV issues, a 3% increase from last year.
    • Complete loss of service issues increased by 33% since last year.
Figure 7.4: Five-year view of TV issues
Table 7.4: Top 10 TV issues
Issue Number Proportion YoY (%)
Monthly price plan – Incorrect charge 417 14% -17%
Quality of service 390 13% 3%
Disclosure issues 346 12% -24%
Due dates not kept or delay for installation or cancellation of service 210 7% -9%
Complete loss of service 173 6% 33%
Credit or refund not received 168 6% -7%
Changes to the contract
 150 5% -11%
Equipment charges 98 3% -37%
3rd party credit reporting 97 3% -22%
Breach of contract 94 3% -24%
Figure 7.5: Five-year view of phone issues

Spotlight on phone services

  • Local phone services (landlines) account for 9% of all issues and are down 17% from last year. Phone issues have decreased consistently for four years in a row.
  • Service delivery remains the top category of issues, accounting for 43% of all issues raised about local phone services.
    • Quality of service was the second most-raised issue by local phone customers, accounting for 12% of local phone issues. Phone quality of service issues decreased by 4% from last year.
  • Billing remains the second most-raised category of issues.
    • Notably, issues related to incorrect charge relating to monthly price plan remains the top issue for phone customers accounting for 12% of local phone issues.
    • Issues related to complete loss of service were the most-increased local phone issue, up 20% from last year.
Table 7.5: Top 10 phone issues
Issue Number Proportion YoY (%)
Monthly price plan – Incorrect charge 313 12% -22%
Quality of service 301 12% -4%
Disclosure issues 249 10% -22%
Complete loss of service 231 9% 20%
Due dates not kept or delay for installation or cancellation of service 178 7% -18%
Unable to port 145 6% 4%
Termination fee 114 5% -42%
Credit or refund not received 114 5% -12%
Changes to the contract 106 4% -12%
Regular price increase of monthly price plans 73 3% 3%

Breakdown of issues across all service types

Disclosure issues continue to be the top issues raised by all customers, followed by complaints about incorrect billing of their monthly price plans.

Table 7.6: Top 10 issues across all service types

Contract dispute issues

Disclosure issues

Customers often raise concerns about information not being fully or clearly provided. This is reflected in the data, as disclosure issues continue to be the top issue. Disclosure issues were raised 4,222 times this year across all service types and account for 15% of all issues raised across all service types. Disclosure issues decreased for the third year in a row and decreased by 8% from last year.

Figure 7.6: Five-year view of disclosure issues

Note: As part of our transformation process, we reviewed and simplified the nature of incident classification system. Reporting on issues this year is based on the updated classification system.

Disclosure issues by type of service

The lack of clear disclosure is the top issue raised by wireless customers and is the number three issue for internet, TV, and phone customers.

Disclosure issues are raised disproportionately by wireless customers. Although wireless customers account for 55% of all issues raised, they account for 67% of disclosure issues.

Figure 7.7: Disclosure issues by type of service

 

Table 7.7: Disclosure issues – Top 10 service providers

* The average disclosure resolution rate was 89%.

 

The top disclosure issue is no consent or contract conflicts with agreement, which occurs when a customer is not made aware that they were entering into an agreement with a provider, or there is a conflict or mismatch between what a customer has agreed to purchase and what their contract indicates. This type of disclosure issue accounts for 78% of disclosure issues, up from 76% last year.

The second biggest disclosure issue is rules related to agreement being unclear, which is about a conflict or a mismatch in the customer’s understanding of the rules related to the agreement, such as information about promotion details not fully disclosed, plan eligibility requirements not disclosed, or details about manufacturer’s warranty or extended warranty coverage not clearly disclosed. This type of disclosure issue accounts for 17% of all disclosure issues. This issue decreased by 5% from last year.

 

Table 7.8: Types of disclosure issues, broken down by service type

 

No consent or contract conflicts with agreement

Of all disclosure issues raised, 78% are the result of a conflict or mismatch between whether the customer consented to the agreement, or what the customer believes they agreed to purchase and what is indicated in the contract sent to them after the transaction occurred.

This type of disclosure issue was raised 3,295 times.

Figure 7.8: No consent or contract conflicts with agreement issues by type of service
Table 7.9: Disclosure – No consent or contract conflicts with agreement: Top 3 service providers
Service provider Number of times issue was raised Proportion of issue
Rogers 681 21%
Bell 535 16%
TELUS 499 15%

Rules related to agreement are unclear

A common disclosure issue occurs when the rules related to agreement are unclear. This issue accounts for 17% of all disclosure issues.

Wireless customers raised a disproportionately high number of issues regarding the clarity of agreement-related rules.

Figure 7.9: Rules related to agreement are unclear issues by type of service
Table 7.10: Disclosure – Rules related to agreement are unclear: Top 3 service providers
Service provider Number of times issue was raised Proportion of issue
Rogers 165 24%
Fido 132 19%
Bell 86 12%

Device financing plans

In March 2021, the CRTC issued a decision determining that device financing plans fall under the scope of the Wireless Code. The CRTC found that the required repayment of the balance of a device financing plan ultimately constitutes an early cancellation fee for the purposes of the Wireless Code. To inform future reviews of the Wireless Code, the CRTC requested that the CCTS begin tracking complaints related to device financing plans in our Annual and Mid-Year Reports.

Overall, there was a 31% decrease in device financing plan issues from last year. The proportion of this issue to overall issues raised in 2022-23 is 0.8%, down from 1.2% last year.

Table 7.11: Issues with device financing plans (wireless services)

Key Message: Device Financing Plans

Service providers offer device financing plans to help lower the high cost of wireless devices by spreading the cost into monthly installments over a fixed term. Device financing plans are increasingly complicated, with different components such as a monthly device subsidy, device discounts or device bonuses, and may contain conditions such as a requirement to bring the device back to the provider at the end of the term. While device financing plans are allowed under the Wireless Code, these agreements are complex, and consumers are often surprised at the early cancellation fee or device balance they are required to pay when they cancel before their fixed-term contract is over.

Given the complexity of device financing plans, we continue to encourage providers to explore simpler ways of explaining to customers how their device subsidies work in order to avoid confusion and future complaints. Service providers should also train their representatives to be able to accurately explain cancellation scenarios and the calculation of early cancellation fees if a customer inquires.

We strongly recommend that customers explore cancellation scenarios before entering into an agreement. Asking for an example of how an early cancellation fee would be calculated would be informative. Consumers should also carefully review their device financing plan agreements.

Changes to the contract

Issues regarding changes to the contract occur when a service provider notifies the customer about a change to the terms of their agreement that the customer does not believe the provider is allowed to make, or the provider fails to provide required advance notice to the customer about a change to the terms of their agreement.

This issue accounts for 5% of all issues raised. This past year, issues about changes to the contract increased by 17%. There was a disproportionate increase in changes to contract issues for wireless services. While changes to contract issues for wireless services increased by 32%, overall wireless issues increased by 8%.

This year, 58% of changes to contract issues were raised by wireless customers, up from 51% last year.

Figure 7.10: Changes to the contract issues by type of service
Table 7.12: Changes to the contract issues – Top 3 service providers
Service provider Number of times issue was raised Proportion of issue
Rogers 259 19%
Bell 237 18%
Fido 183 14%

Key Message: Changes to Contract

When there is a dispute about changes to a contract, we ask the provider to demonstrate what the customer agreed to and explain what changes were made to the contract. If changes were made, the provider must also demonstrate that it had the right to make these changes. We also check if the provider followed the appropriate steps to do so, such as providing the required advanced notice or getting the customer’s express consent, if required.

The CRTC codes of conduct set rules about what and how providers can, or cannot, change certain terms of the contract. For example, the Wireless Code requires providers to get the customer’s informed and express consent if it wants to change a “key contract term”. An example of this is when a provider makes changes to the minimum monthly charge during the commitment period. Other contract terms can be changed without customer consent but require notice explaining the change and when it will take effect, at least 30 days prior to the increase taking place.

Breach of contract

Service providers are required to follow their own terms of service, agreements with customers, and any specific offers they have made to a customer. If a service provider fails to follow their contractual requirements, we consider it a breach of contract.

This year contract breaches were the third most-raised contract dispute issue, accounting for 15% of all contract dispute issues and down from 17% last year. Overall complaints about breach of contract decreased by 21% from last year. Of the issues raised, 64% were by wireless customers and 22% by internet customers.

Figure 7.11: Breach of contract issues by service type
Table 7.13: Breach of contract – Top 3 service providers
Service provider Number of times issue was raised Proportion of issue
Rogers 243 20%
Bell 193 16%
Fido 145 12%

Key Message: Breach of Contract

When there is a dispute about a breach of contract, we ask the provider to demonstrate what the customer agreed to and how the service provider acted to fulfill the terms of the agreement. If any changes were made to the agreement, the provider must demonstrate that it had the right to make those changes, and how it followed the rules to do so, such as providing advance notice.

We look at the contract term in dispute and evidence about interactions between the customer and the service provider discussing these terms, such as call recordings, transcripts of chats or calls, and call notes.

Billing issues

Billing issues were raised 11,379 times in 2022-23 and accounted for 39% of all issues raised, maintaining the same percentage as the previous year.

 

Figure 7.12: Five-year view of billing issues

 

Complaints about billing issues for wireless services continued to rise, and now account for 60% of billing issues, up from 54% last year.

While overall billing issues decreased by 1% year-over-year, wireless billing issues increased by 11%. This 11% increase is driven by increases to issues about roaming charges (up by 98%), credit or refund not received (up by 19%), pay per use services (up by 139%) and third-party charges (up by 60%).

Figure 7.13: Billing issues by service type
Table 7.14: Billing issues – Top 10 service providers

* The average billing resolution rate was 90%.

 

Incorrect charges relating to monthly price plans remain the number one billing issue, accounting for 34% of all billing issues. Credit or refund not received is number two, accounting for 16%.

Notably, issues related to roaming charges moved from eighth position to third position in the top ten billing issues. It now accounts for 8% of billing issues, up 4% from last year.

Table 7.15: Top 10 billing issues
Issue Number
Monthly price plan – Incorrect charge 3,856
Credit or refund not received 1,785
Roaming charges 851
Deactivation charges or billed after cancellation 612
Equipment charges 538
Regular price increase of monthly price plans 503
Data charges 411
Installation, activation, or reactivation charges 379
Chargeable messages 338
Invoices not received 327

 

Incorrect charge relating to monthly price plan

In 2022-23, 34% of all billing issues were about customers being charged incorrectly for their monthly price plans.

Continuing a three-year increase, wireless services account for 56% of incorrect charge issues, up from 50% last year. Wireless customers raised issues about incorrect charges relating to their monthly price plan 16% more often this year.

 

 

Figure 7.14: Incorrect charge to monthly price plan by service type
Table 7.16: Incorrect charge to monthly price plan – Top 3 service providers
Service provider Number of times issue was raised Proportion of issue
Rogers 883 23%
Bell 628 16%
TELUS 585 15%

Key Message: Incorrect Charge of a Monthly Price Plan

When we investigate complaints about the incorrect charge of a monthly price plan, we review the rate to which the customer agreed, and we confirm if the billing matches this rate. If there is a mismatch between the bill and the price the customer agreed to, we ask the service provider to explain the reason for this discrepancy. To ensure that the provider is acting reasonably, we also ask why it believes it has the right to bill a different rate.

Billing issues can stem from a lack of clear information, potentially leading to unmet customer expectations or suspicions of being incorrectly charged. We encourage customers to carefully read their agreements. Agreements often provide explanations about what the customer will be billed at the expiry of a fixed-term agreement. They also state whether the customer is required to take any action at the end of their term to adjust their monthly service rate.

Credit or refund not received

Concerns about not receiving a promised credit or refund were the second biggest billing issue.

This issue accounts for 16% of all billing issues, up from 13% last year. The number of times the customers raised issues about credit or refund not being received increased 19% year over year.

While this issue decreased for all other services, wireless services saw a significant 16% increase in this issue compared to last year.

Figure 7.15: Credit or refund not received issues by service type
Table 7.17: Credit or refund not received – Top 3 service providers
Service provider Number of times issue was raised Proportion of issue
Rogers 431 24%
Bell 279 16%
TELUS 266 15%

Roaming charges

Issues with roaming charges increased significantly, by 98%, nearly doubling compared to last year after doubling the year before. This accounts for 8% of billing issues, up from 4% last year. The increase has seen this issue move from eighth position to third position in the top 10 billing issues.

Table 7.18: Roaming charges – Top 3 service providers
Service provider Number of times issue was raised Proportion of issue
Fido 217 26%
TELUS 139 16%
Freedom Mobile 134 16%

Service delivery issues

Service delivery issues increased by 10% from last year despite a 2% decrease in all issues reported. Service delivery issues account for 30% of all issues raised, 8,605 issues raised this year.

Figure 7.16: Five-year view of service delivery issues

 

Of all service delivery issues raised, 40% were about wireless services. Internet customers account for 35% of service delivery issues, down from 37% last year. However, given that internet customers make up 26% of all issues raised, this is a disproportionately high number of service delivery issues raised by internet customers.

Wireless service delivery issues increased by 18%, which is a disproportionate increase considering overall service delivery issues increased by 10%.

Figure 7.17: Service delivery issues by service type

 

Rogers now accounts for the most service delivery issues, with 22% of all service delivery issues. Bell ranks second, accounting for 17% and TELUS third, accounting for 12% of service delivery issues.

Notably, TELUS and Fizz experienced a significant increase in service delivery issues this year.

Table 7.19: Service delivery issues – Top 10 service providers

* The average service delivery resolution rate was 87%.

 

Quality of service issues remain the top service delivery issue. Issues with quality of service account for 35% of all service delivery issues.

Due dates not kept or delayed for installation or cancellation of service is the second most-raised service delivery issue, accounting for 18% of service delivery issues, down from 21% last year.

Complete loss of service is the third-highest service delivery issue. This accounts for 17% of all service delivery issues, up from 12% last year. Complete loss of service is the most-increased service delivery issue, up by 53% from last year.

Table 7.20: Top 10 service delivery issues
Issue Number
Quality of service 3,033
Due dates not kept or delayed for installation or cancellation of service 1,569
Complete loss of service 1,450
Unable to cancel 704
Unable to port 511
Nonpayment or collections 417
Installation error 339
Repair issues and appointments 162
Our of service due to policy 113
Service not working 74

“I felt supported in resolving the dispute with my internet provider. It was quick and done in a professional manner. Thank you for being there!”

— Small business owner, Victoria, BC

Quality of service issues

Customers raise quality of service issues when their telecommunications or television services are not working to the service level that they expect. These are some common examples:

  • slower than expected internet or wireless data speeds
  • intermittent service such as service not being continuous, working on and off with regular or irregular interruptions, or
  • call quality issues such as static or clips with their wireless or landline phone service.

Customers raised concerns about the quality of their service 3,033 times this past year. Quality of service remains the number one service delivery issue. This accounts for 35% of all service delivery issues.

For internet customers, quality of service issues continue to be the leading concern, accounting for 16% of all internet issues. Internet customers also account for the highest proportion of quality of service issues at 39%, down from 44% last year.

For wireless customers, quality of service issues account for 38% of all wireless issues reported, up 4% from last year. Wireless quality of service issues increased by 8% this year.

Figure 7.18: Quality of service issues by service type
Table 7.21: Quality of service issues – Top 3 service providers
Service provider Number of times issue was raised Proportion of issue
Rogers 704 23%
Bell 548 18%
TELUS 371 12%

While there was an overall decrease in quality of service issues, Rogers and TELUS both saw a year-over-year increase in the number of issues raised around quality of service, 26% and 35% respectively.

Key Message: Quality of Service

Customers are expected to raise issues with their service providers through appropriate support channels and allow the provider the opportunity to attempt to troubleshoot and resolve the issue. In turn, service providers are expected to act reasonably to address those issues, within the context of their troubleshooting policies.

When we look at complaints about quality of service issues, we determine what the customer ought to be experiencing, for example, through the service provider’s service level commitment or inclusions in the customer’s contract. We also examine the evidence submitted by both the customer and the service provider that shows what service level the customer is actually experiencing. If the customer is not experiencing the expected service quality, we:

  • examine whether the service provider has followed its process to correct the service quality issue or issue credits.
  • consider what other steps the provider has taken to fix the issue and resolve the complaint.

If the customer is not receiving the service levels they ought to experience, the provider will need to correct this or provide appropriate redress to the customer.

Complete loss of service

This past year, complete loss of service represented the most-increased service delivery issue, increasing by 53% from last year. Complete loss of service was the third highest service delivery issue, accounting for 17% of all service delivery issues.

Internet customers reported the highest proportion of complete loss of service issues at 38%. Complete loss of service for internet customers increased by 48% from last year.

Wireless customers account for 34% of complete loss of service issues. Complete loss of service for wireless services increased by 93% from last year.

Figure 7.19: Complete loss of service by service type
Table 7.22: Complete loss of service – Top 3 service providers
Service provider Number of times issue was raised Proportion of issue
Rogers 414 29%
Bell 221 15%
TELUS 133 19%

Rogers accounts for the highest proportion of complete loss of service issues at 29%. Rogers also saw a 138% increase in the number of issues raised about complete loss of service.

Unable to cancel and unable to port services

This year, we noticed that customers raised more issues with leaving or switching their service providers because they were unable to cancel their wireless or internet services or unable to port (transfer) their phone services to another provider.

Notably, unable to cancel issues increased by 31% from last year, most significantly with wireless and internet customers this past year. These issues are about customers who request to cancel their services, but the provider refuses, or a system error prevents the cancellation. The occurrence of issues where customers could not port their service increased by 23%. Among these complaints, 71% were wireless customers and 29% were local phone services. We will continue to monitor these issues as customers ought to be able to easily cancel or switch their services and providers.

Credit management issues

Credit management issues like credit reporting and security deposits account for 4% of all issues. Credit management issues were raised 1,121 times this year and decreased by 17% year-over-year.

Figure 7.20: Five-year view of credit management issues

 

Credit reporting issues

The vast majority, about 94%, of credit management issues are about third-party credit reporting. The number of credit reporting issues decreased by 16% from last year. Wireless customers account for 62% of all credit reporting issues, up from 59% last year.

Figure 7.21: 3rd party credit reporting issues by service type
Table 7.23: 3rd party credit reporting issues – Top 3 service providers
Service provider Number of times issue was raised Proportion of issue
Rogers 207 20%
Bell 180 17%
TELUS 178 17%

Key Message: Third Party Credit Reporting

When there is a dispute about credit reporting, the service provider must demonstrate that it had the authority to make a credit report. We assess whether the circumstances for making the credit report were valid. For example, did the customer fail to pay for the services by the due date? We also verify the provider’s compliance with their internal credit reporting procedures by confirming that the appropriate steps were taken to report to the credit bureau and that the reporting was accurate.

If we determine that the circumstances to report were not valid, we will require the provider to demonstrate that they have corrected the credit report and consider whether any compensation is required to the customer as a result of any proven loss, damage, or inconvenience arising directly from the unjustified credit reporting.

“Excellent service. I felt understood as a consumer and felt like I had a voice. I was happy to receive a response within a few days. I was quickly satisfied. Great job.”

— Wireless Customer from Moncton, New Brunswick

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