Billing Dispute – Usage

A customer complained to the CCTS after incurring pay per use charges for usage that they believed should have been included in their monthly plan. The PSP explained that the customer’s plan had been discontinued, and that it had notified all of its customers in advance by text message. The PSP said that it had also invited customers to select a new plan in order to avoid being migrated to pay per use service. The customer alleged that they never received the notification, and asked the PSP to waive the charges and reinstate the plan. In response to the complaint, the PSP waived 50% of the usage charges as a “goodwill gesture”.

What did the PSP include in its response? The PSP responded to each of the customer’s allegations and provided a copy of its service terms, a copy of the notification that was sent to all of its customers, and a screenshot of the account showing that an adjustment had been applied.

Was the response complete? No. The PSP failed to provide the invoice(s), the usage records, and copies of the account records. Although the PSP did provide a copy of the notification template it says was sent to its customers, without providing the customer’s account records we will have no way of confirming that the PSP fulfilled its obligation to notify the customer, or when that notification took place.

What will happen to the complaint next? The complaint will escalate to Investigations and a Complaint Resolution Officer will ask the PSP to provide the missing information. If the PSP fails to provide the missing information, the complaint may proceed to the Recommendation stage.

Key Message

PSPs have to provide a customer’s unique account records. In this case, the PSP stated that the customer received the notification, but provided no supporting documentation linking the notification template to the customer’s account. The PSP also stated that it has waived 50% of the usage charges out of “goodwill”. The missing account records will help us determine whether or not the PSP fulfilled its obligations to the customer, in which case we could conclude that the adjustment was in fact “goodwill” rather than a corrective measure. The missing invoices will demonstrate whether or not the usage charges were incurred as a result of the plan change, and whether or not the adjustments applied by the PSP are equivalent to 50% of the total charges in dispute.