In early January 2026, a Bell customer, Vicki Sloot, was promised by a chat agent that she could keep her specialty sports channels like TSN and Sportsnet while upgrading to a new Bell Fibe TV box and paying $5 less per month. However, upon receiving the new equipment, she discovered the channels were missing, and Bell informed her that she needed to pay an additional $25 per month to access them. This led to an eight-week struggle with Bell’s customer service department, involving numerous hours spent on live chat and phone calls with different agents before escalating the issue to the resolutions team.
Sloot’s experience is reflective of the frustrations expressed by numerous customers, including those of Canada’s major telecom companies – Rogers, Bell, and Telus. Common complaints include extended hold times, frequent transfers, dropped calls, and poor communication, resulting in delays of days or even weeks to resolve seemingly straightforward issues. Employees from Rogers and Telus revealed that frontline representatives face diminishing incentives to assist customers with credits or bill reductions, as their performance is gauged based on bill increases.
The surge in complaints against telecoms, with over 23,000 filed last year with the CCTS, primarily centered on billing discrepancies, further highlights the challenges faced by consumers. Mohammed Halabi, a telecom industry veteran, emphasized the increasing complexity of issue resolution for customers. Sloot’s unresolved problem and her subsequent decision to pay more for the channels exemplify the hurdles faced by consumers in dealing with telecom companies.
Moreover, insights from industry insiders shed light on the internal pressures faced by employees, with some expressing concerns over the shifting focus towards upselling rather than resolving customer issues. The lack of a standardized customer service benchmark for telecoms in Canada contrasts with Spain’s recent legislation enforcing strict service standards, emphasizing the need for improved customer service practices within the Canadian telecom sector.
While the CRTC oversees the CCTS’s mandate, the absence of specific regulations addressing customer service quality remains a point of contention. As consumer frustration persists, there is a call for telecom companies to enhance their service delivery and prioritize customer satisfaction. The contrasting approaches in Spain and Canada underscore the potential for positive changes in the telecom industry’s customer service landscape.