Annual Report 2009–2010 Table of Contents 2
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
www.ccts-cprst.ca | [email protected] | 1-888-221-1687 CCTS Annual Report 2009–2010 Table of Contents 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS one Message from the Chair of the Board of Directors . .3 two Message from the Commissioner . .4 three Who We Are and What We Do . .5 Our Mandate . .5 Our Complaints Process . .6 four 2009–2010 Highlights – The Year in Review . .8 Financial Highlights . .10 five Participating Service Providers (as of 31 July 2010) . .11 six Statistics . .12 Definitions . .12 How Consumers Contacted Us . .13 Aggregate Data (August 1, 2009 – July 31, 2010) . .14 Contacts – Participating Service Providers – Outside of Mandate . .15 Contacts – Non-Participating Service Providers . .15 Nature of Complaints . .16 Complaints by Type of Service . .17 Summary of Complaints by Service Provider (2009–2010) . .18 Nature of Complaints by Service Provider (2009–2010) . .21 CCTS Website Traffic . .24 Complaints by Province and Territory (2009–2010) . .25 seven Topics and Trends . .26 Understand Your Telecom Contract . .26 Case Study #1 . .27 Case Study #2 . .27 Case Study #3 . .28 Number Portability – Sometimes Not as Easy as it Looks . .29 Case Study #1 . .29 Case Study #2 . .30 Number Portability – There’s A Catch! . .30 Premium Text Messages (Short Codes) . .31 eight Our Board of Directors . .33 Independent Directors . .33 Industry Directors . .33 nine Director Biographies . .34 ten How to Contact Us . .36 CCTS Annual Report 2009–2010 Message from the Chair of the Board of Directors 3 ONE MESSAgE FROM THE CHAiR OF THE BOARD OF DiRECTORS, MARY M. gUSELLA On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am pleased to describes the rights and responsibilities of providers and present the third annual report of CCTS, an agency that customers in relation to deposits and disconnections . provides consumers of telecommunications services in Despite considerable work and consultations with Canada with recourse for the independent resolution of consumer groups and industry participants, it was their complaints . This report covers the second year since not possible to achieve agreement on such a Code . the appointment of the permanent Board of Directors in Nevertheless, the exercise proved a valuable one in June 2008 . assessing CCTS’s capacity to undertake this new kind of role, in addition to its central dispute resolution role . As outlined in this report, the number of communications from consumers has risen 150% over the past year . The Finally, when CCTS was created by CRTC Decision in number of complaints received and resolved has also December 2007, the Commission promised a “three-year increased substantially . The public awareness campaign review,” which is now upon us . On April 30, 2010, the launched in cooperation with participating service Commission commenced a public proceeding to review providers is helping consumers to learn about CCTS all aspects of CCTS operations, including an assessment and how to contact us, especially when they discover a of the effectiveness of CCTS and a determination of problem or concern . We intend to continue our efforts to whether to continue the requirement for mandatory achieve greater consumer awareness of our organization . membership of certain service providers . In June a number of interested parties provided written comments, At the outset the Board recognized that the Procedural including providers and consumer groups . Despite the Code required reform in order to promote timely, widely divergent views among stakeholders about so effective resolution of complaints, many telecommunications and so launched a Board-led issues, we were pleased review of the Code to identify that the comments were opportunities for streamlining its we intend to continue supportive of the effectiveness complaint handling processes . our efforts to achieve of CCTS in its main area of Revisions to the Procedural Code operations: dispute resolution . were approved by the Board in greater consumer A public hearing will be held in April 2010 and went into effect awareness of our November 2010 with a decision June 1, 2010 . organization. expected in late December . This will be a seminal moment CCTS represents a new dispute in our brief history . resolution model that operates in the public interest yet outside government processes and We are proud of our achievements to date, and we without government funding . The governance of such a are also mindful of the amount of work that lies ahead . stakeholder-led and industry-funded organization is vital As noted above, the Board of Directors approved a to its success . Accordingly, the CCTS Board established formal expression of our Mission, Vision and Values . a Governance Committee that has been working over the Our Mission is to provide outstanding dispute resolution past year to construct its governance infrastructure . The services to Canadian consumers and telecom providers, Board of Directors also conducted a strategic planning and we hope to continue to pursue this goal with vigour exercise and, in December 2009, confirmed CCTS’s and professionalism . Mission, Vision and Values . Other highlights of the year include the Board’s acceptance in February 2010 of a request from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to work with its participating service providers to develop an industry Code of Conduct that CCTS Annual Report 2009–2010 Message from the Commissioner 4 TWO MESSAgE FROM THE COMMiSSiONER, HOWARD MAkER in the year just concluded, we focused on two specific including our contact information, available to customers objectives: to improve the service we provide to consumers on their websites and in their “white pages” directories . and service providers, and to broaden consumer awareness about the availability of our service . We In order to further enhance consumer accessibility to CCTS, succeeded this year on both counts . It is tempting to say effective June 1, 2010 our Board of Directors adopted some that we “accomplished” these objectives . But these are not amendments to our Procedural Code, the document that objectives that can be “accomplished .” That term implies describes our mandate and the extent of our authority to a goal that can be completed and ticked off the list . These resolve disputes . We clarified some language and made objectives do not fit that category . We can (and should) some changes designed to enhance the readability of always strive to improve what we do and how we do it . the Code, its inclusiveness and its tone . In particular, we amended the standard of review to provide CCTS with some Likewise, organizations like ours face unique challenges additional tools to assist us in dealing with complaints . in ensuring that consumers know about us and how we can help them . But I am pleased to say that we have made For the first time, over half of the complaints we accepted great strides towards meeting these objectives . dealt with one line of business: wireless services . We received more than twice as many complaints about In early 2010 we launched our new website, complete with wireless as we did for any other line of business . This our new logo and new tagline, “Let’s Talk Solutions .” Our should not really be a surprise . The wireless business has focus on complaint resolution whenever possible has met the highest rate of growth, the greatest pace of change, and with a very positive response from both customers and the greatest degree of complexity–at least at a retail level . service providers . It has also allowed us to resolve more With the recent launch of new wireless service providers, complaints, and to do so more quickly . In 2009–2010 we and the anticipated entry of even more carriers in the near received 3,747 complaints (16% more than last year) and future, we can expect this trend to continue . processed 3,522 of them—an increase of over 500 from the year before . This means that we completed 94% of We are heading into a review by the Canadian Radio- the work that came to us, an enviable rate . Of the 3,522 television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) files we handled to conclusion, we achieved a resolution this fall . We are hopeful that the CRTC will agree that we satisfactory to both parties in 84% of cases, of which are fulfilling the objectives described first in the report roughly 65% took place within 30 days . of the Telecommunications Policy Review Panel, then in an Order-In-Council (P .C . 2007-533), and finally in two We redesigned our website to allow consumers to learn CRTC Decisions (2007-130 and 2008-46) – specifically more about us . We rewrote all of the content, and added to bring independent, impartial and effective dispute new content, in an effort to provide consumers with resolution services to consumers in the unregulated relevant information about us . We also improved our online telecommunications sector . complaint form, to make it even easier for customers to file their complaints . I offer my sincere thanks to the members of our Board of Directors, and in particular our Chair, Mary Gusella, for Our participating service providers are also doing their part their consistent and unwavering support . And I conclude to raise our public profile . The most effective measure has with a note about our staff . We insist that our employees been the biannual bill messages that the providers are bring special attributes to the organization—an interest in using to inform their customers about CCTS . Large spikes telecom, a desire to work with people, and a passion for in the number of calls received by our call centre coincided fairness . I can say without fear of contradiction that the with the issuance of these messages by the larger members of our staff have distinguished themselves this providers . Although not all of these callers had a complaint year by providing superb service to our customers .