If you have a billing, contract, or service quality problem with your phone, wireless, TV, or internet services, start by contacting your service provider. Providers are best placed to explain what happened and offer a solution. In many cases, the CCTS’ help isn’t needed. If the problem persists after you’ve given your provider a reasonable chance to fix it, the CCTS may be able to help.
The CCTS is Canada’s independent ombuds for the telecom (internet, wireless, phone, and TV) industry. We help customers and service providers resolve their disputes when they can’t solve it themselves.
Below is a guide to help you resolve your complaint directly with your provider as soon as possible with the best possible outcome.
At a Glance: How to solve a problem with your service provider:
- Gather information about the problem
- Clearly explain the problem to your service provider
- Keep records of your conversations and interactions with your service provider
- Ask when you can expect an update or resolution
- Give your provider a reasonable chance to fix it
- Discuss possible solutions with your provider, be flexible and consider any offers
- Know when you can file a complaint with the CCTS, and what outcomes are possible
Gather information about the problem
Before contacting your provider, decide how you will clearly describe the issue and why it’s a problem for you. Having supporting documents ready when you contact them will increase your odds of success, avoid misunderstandings, and help get you a solution quicker.
We recommend reviewing your service contract or, at a minimum, the summary of your contract. The goal is to have the facts ready when you contact your service provider. Clearly stating what you expect from your service provider and why will likely move the conversation towards a better explanation from your provider and possible solutions.
Clearly explain the problem to your service provider
Now that you’ve got a clear description of the problem and supporting documents, like your contract or recent bills, it’s time to contact your service provider through their customer support channels. Keep in mind when you interact with your provider, that your chances of getting the problem resolved quickly will increase if you can clearly and respectfully explain the issue.
When explaining your problem, reference any supporting documentation you have to back up your concern. For example, if you see a new fee on your recent bill, you can point to your contract, which doesn’t have that fee in it, or show that your communications from them did not provide advance notice of the fee. This can help you get a speedy resolution.
Be sure to specify what resolution you want, such as a partial refund, bill correction, service restoration. Sometimes, service providers have processes for correcting billing errors or waiving fees, like a credit on next month’s bill. When asking the representative for billing fix, ask when and how the credit will be applied.
Keep records of your conversations and interactions
It’s a good idea to keep track of your communications with the provider and save documents related to the issue. Useful records can include:
- Dates and times of calls or chats
- Reference or case numbers given to you by the provider
- Copies of emails, bills, letters, chat transcripts and other relevant documents
- Details of any explanations, proposed solutions, or commitments your service provider offered
- Any estimated or promised timelines for an expected solution
- What resolution you wanted and why you thought it was fair
These records can help you and your service provider track what progress has been made to solve your dispute, especially if you are working with different service representatives.
These records assist if you file a complaint with us later, particularly if there is a disagreement about the facts.
What if I can’t reach my provider? Use any features your provider offers like a callback option. The CCTS can’t help with customer service issues. However, we may be able to help with problems if you made reasonable efforts to reach their provider through proper channels without success. You should keep track of your attempts to reach your provider, like how and when you tried to contact your provider, whether you requested a callback, and how many times you tried, before you submit a complaint to the CCTS. This helps us assess if the provider had a reasonable opportunity to resolve the issue before a complaint was submitted to us.
Ask when to expect a solution and give them a reasonable chance to do it
Some problems take time to understand, investigate and resolve. Stay in touch with your provider to keep things moving. Some problems need collaboration to solve, and the next steps will depend on the type of issue you have. Understanding what your provider is doing, what‘s been promised, and when you should expect an update can help you decide whether further action is needed.
If it’s a billing issue
Ask the provider to explain the charge and request a correction if you believe there has been an error. Have a look at our article covering what to do if your service provider increases your bill for some extra insights.
In some cases, your provider may be allowed to increase their price if they take certain steps like providing you with advance notice. If your provider promises a credit or adjustment, ask when the credit will be applied and check the appropriate bill or account statement to confirm that it was applied.
If it’s a service or technical issue
Your provider may need time to review technical information, test the service, or arrange a technician visit to determine the cause and appropriate solution to the problem. Many providers have troubleshooting processes to identify the source of the problem and test possible solutions. While working with your service provider, ask them what the next step is and when you can expect an update.
Effective troubleshooting requires customers to engage in some steps – like checking or swapping equipment, or answering questions, or running a diagnostic test, or testing a solution. If a technician visit or equipment change is needed to resolve the issue, wait and see if these steps solve your service problem.
When the CCTS investigates service issues, we consider whether the provider has followed its troubleshooting processes to help address the customer’s service issues. However, the CCTS cannot change providers’ policies and processes or change the way providers operate.
If you still can’t get your problem resolved
If you’ve contacted your service provider, clearly explained the problem, worked with them to diagnose and solve your problem, and still cannot reach a resolution, here are some next steps for you to take:
Escalate your concern:
Explain why you are not satisfied with their offer. If the representative is still not willing or able to offer the solution you want, ask to speak with or be connected to a supervisor.
Supervisors can be more knowledgeable about certain issues and may be able to offer you different solutions.
If you’ve tried to address your concern with your service provider and it remains unresolved, it may be time to file a complaint with the CCTS.
CCTS may be able to help with:
- Contract terms, commitments or disclosure issues
- Service delivery, installation, repair, disconnection or cancellation issues
- Credit management, payment arrangement, collection or credit-reporting issues
For more details, review what complaints the CCTS can help with.
The CCTS cannot help with complaints about:
- Customer service, such as wait times or how customer service staff treated you
- Pricing of telecom or TV services
- A provider’s policies and processes or business decisions
- Asking a provider to change how they operate
- Punishing or fining providers
Filing a complaint with the CCTS
When you file a complaint with the CCTS, you will be asked to:
- Confirm how you’ve advised your provider about the problem
- Provide dates and methods of how you contacted your provided
- Describe what steps your provider took to address your problem, their response
- Explain why you are unsatisfied with the result
This ensures that customers’ problems with their service providers have the chance to be resolved quickly, while allowing the CCTS to focus on unresolved complaints that may require independent review.
What to expect if you file a complaint with the CCTS
The CCTS is Canada’s national and independent telecommunications and television ombuds. Its complaint resolution service is free for consumers. If the CCTS accepts your complaint, it sends a copy of the complaint to your service provider, and the provider must first work with you to try to resolve the issue as part of the CCTS process. Most complaints are resolved at this stage.
Where necessary, we can investigate the complaint to determine if your provider met its obligations to you, like following its contract and any rule requirements. If a provider has not followed its requirements, we can require the provider to fix the issue. However, if we determine a provider has met its obligations or followed its processes, your provider would not be required to fix anything. It’s important to note that the CCTS does not have authority to punish or fine service providers or force them to change how they operate.
While your complaint is being reviewed, continue to pay any charges that you’re not disputing. Your provider may take collection actions for amounts that are not paid.
Learn more about the CCTS complaint resolution process.
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