Billing Dispute – Price Increase

A customer filed a complaint alleging that the PSP had increased the price of their monthly home phone service despite having just agreed to a 24-month fixed term contract via telephone two months ago. When she reported the problem, the PSP refused to waive the fees or discuss the initial agreement. Upon receipt of the CCTS complaint, the PSP reviewed the account records, including a call recording, and concluded that during the initial telephone call the customer had clearly been informed that the new contract was indeterminate, and that the pricing would be subject to changes per its service terms. The PSP contacted the customer and explained its findings, but refused to play the call recording for the customer upon request. The customer did not remember what they were told during the call and expressed their suspicions about the PSP’s decision to withhold the call recording

What did the PSP include in its response? The PSP explained what happened during the December 2019 telephone call and included a copy of its service terms and a copy of an order confirmation it says was sent to the customer following the verbal agreement reached in December 2019

Was the response complete? No. The PSP should have included a copy of the call recording it was relying on, and a copy of the documentation the PSP relied on when it explained that the order confirmation was sent to the customer (e.g. call notes, transaction records). The PSP also should have explained the relevance of each piece of supporting documentation.

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 call recording demonstrates that the customer was told that the price would increase, and if the available records demonstrate that the PSP followed its usual policies and procedures in implementing the price increase, the complaint will likely be resolved or closed at level 2. If the PSP fails to provide the missing information, the complaint may proceed to the Recommendation stage.

Key Message

The CCTS is an independent, neutral third-party agency. In order to maintain our integrity in the eyes of the customer, and our stakeholders, we cannot rely solely on what the PSP says in order to complete our investigation. PSPs are required to include copies of all relevant documentation in the unresolved response. Sharing this documentation with the customer may also lead to a quicker resolution to the complaint; e.g. If the PSP had let the customer listen to the call recording, perhaps this complaint may have been avoided altogether. A PSP may only withhold supporting documentation if it can demonstrate, to our satisfaction, that the documentation is subject to solicitor-client privilege, or that by providing it the PSP would place itself in breach of the law (section 15.2 of the CCTS Procedural Code).