Telus asks CRTC to make filing telecom complaints more difficult

Telus has filed documents with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) seeking changes that would make filing complaints with the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services (CCTS) more difficult for Canadians.

Before I get into it, I’ll add some context: the CRTC has an ongoing consultation on ways to improve awareness of the CCTS when customers have unresolved complaints, and to ensure their telecom provider informs them in a timely manner. In this consultation, the CRTC put forward a preliminary view that telecom companies should be required to inform customers about the CCTS earlier than is currently done; specifically, right after the service provider offers a solution to the customer.

Currently, service providers must notify customers about the CCTS after the second escalation of an unresolved problem.

With this in mind, an intervention filed by Telus proposes keeping the notice at the second level of escalation, but goes on to request no “wasteful general awareness campaigns,” and wants to establish a CCTS intake screening protocol that would force customers to prove they reached a second level of escalation.

Telus noted within the proposal that “there is an urgent need for the CCTS to implement an objective, mandatory verification protocol within its online complaint intake portal.” Telus also added that under this new protocol, the intake system must refuse to accept or register any complaint unless the individual filing the complaint provides verifiable documentary evidence demonstrating that the dispute was formally escalated to second-level customer support.

Complaints without documentary evidence would then be “automatically screened out at the portal entry stage,” meaning that even if you are missing one piece of documentation, you won’t even get through the complaint form.

Now, Telus isn’t the only one to have filed interventions related to this, as the Canadian Telecommunications Association (members of which include Rogers, Bell, and other telecom providers) also filed its own proposal on Oct. 7, in which it wants carriers to send customers information about the CCTS within two business days of their complaint reaching second-level support, and similarly opposing the CCTS’ suggestion.

With all this in mind, these resolutions make it harder for Canadians to file complaints with the CCTS. In a thread on the r/telus subreddit, several users noted that excessive wait times make it difficult for consumers to reach customer service (especially with Rogers’ gutted customer service staff), and one user pointed out how hard it is to get written proof of the escalation.

Source: CRTC