Investigation Finding Report

After analyzing the information and evidence from both parties, we determined the service provider failed to meet its obligations towards the customer and is required to take the following actions:

1. Credit the customer $62.00 for their wireless service for the month of June 2024.
2. Credit the customer for inconvenience and time spent.

We note that the provider has already completed remedy #1 above.

Issue 1: The customer’s complaint is that they experienced intermittent wireless service delivery issues.

• The customer’s complaint is that they experienced intermittent wireless service delivery issues starting in June 2024. The customer signed a month-to-month Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) wireless agreement with the provider on June 1, 2024. The plan included 100 GB of non-shareable data at 250 Mbps, then unlimited data at up to 256 Kbps, 5G network access, unlimited Canada-wide calling and texting, call waiting, call display and message centre, as well as SD video streaming (480p) for a minimum monthly charge of $45.95 before tax. The customer confirmed that the issue happens throughout the entire day, and they have not called their provider since July 2, 2024.
• To understand the obligations of the service provider, we reviewed its Terms of Service and note the following:
  • The provider and its roaming partners may change networks or geographical coverage both in and out of Canada.
  • The performance, speed, and availability of the services can be impacted by weather, geography, network congestion, or interference, network outages, equipment or device failure. etc.
• That said, the CCTS expects that a service provider will respect its own troubleshooting policies and procedures when service delivery issues are brought to its attention.
• We reviewed the provider’s troubleshooting policy and note the following:
  • Customers are instructed to review the coverage map, reset their phone settings, turn the phone on or off, toggle to airplane mode, update settings, clear browser settings etc. If required, customers are escalated for additional troubleshooting.
• We reviewed call notes and technical tickets from May 28, 2024, through to July 7, 2024, and found the following:
  • On June 3, 2024, the customer indicated that they had issues with slow data on their phone. The technical ticket indicates there were no issues with calling or texting, and noted slow download speed of 18, and upload speed of 1.1. Troubleshooting was completed.
  • On June 4, 2024, the customer noted they were having issues with speed. The provider conducted a speed test and noted download speeds of 10.1 Mbps and upload speeds of 0.16 Mbps. Troubleshooting was completed.
  • On June 6, 2024, notes indicate that a SIM swap was completed. This SIM swap was undertaken in the hope that it would resolve the customer’s concerns.
  • On June 27 and 28 and July 7, 2024, the provider attempted to phone the customer and left messages for them.
  • Notes from July 1, 2024, show that the service provider confirmed that the customer was informed that they reside in an Area of Concern (AOC), noting that the coverage in the area is poor.
  • On July 2, 2024, the provider confirmed that the customer was advised that the issue had no ETA for a resolution and the issue was trending.
  • On July 7, 2024 the provider attempted to reach the customer but left a voice message as the customer was not available.
  • The provider confirmed that the customer made no further calls to them after July 7, 2024.
• We reviewed the provider’s online coverage map and note that the customer’s home address does seem to be located within an area designated as covered by 5G.
  • However, the provider noted that not all customers in this area are experiencing technical issues, therefore the AOC will not show up on the online map.
  • Further, only the type of coverage available is visible on the online map, as well as a disclaimer that the coverage shown is approximate and actual coverage may vary.
  • Speed and signal strength may vary due to traffic, topography, environmental conditions and other factors, including internet traffic management practices (e.g., priority access to emergency personnel and critical infrastructure personnel).
• We reviewed the customer’s invoices for June and July 2024 and can see the customer’s usage for each month as the following:
  • For June 2024, the customer had 50 text message, and 10 short code text messages received. In addition, they had approximately 8,134 MB of data used and had 554 minutes for phone calls.
  • In July 2024, the customer had 1,818 text messages, 116 short code messages, and 4 picture/video message. In addition, they had approximately 52,870 MB of data used and approximately 8,457 minutes of phone calls.
• We note that the provider gave the customer a credit of $62.00 on their July 1, 2024, invoice for issues experienced in June 2024.
• We note that the customer is on a month-to-month contract and therefore is able to leave the provider at any time without penalty.
• We consider it reasonable that a customer should expect the provider will continue to troubleshoot issues when they are brought to its attention. Based on a review of the evidence, we can see that the provider did work with the customer to troubleshoot issues when they were brought to its attention; however, the customer stopped flagging issues to the provider as of July 7, 2024.
• While we understand that the speed and performance of a network can vary, we do note that the speed tests completed in June 2024 demonstrate very slow upload speeds; therefore, we find the provider failed to provide reasonable internet speeds to the customer on those occasions. However, we acknowledge that the provider did work to troubleshoot the issues when they were brought to its attention in a timely manner.

• In deciding whether to award compensation and, if so, the amount, we considered several factors, including the severity of the issue and related costs, the responsiveness of the service provider, the reasonableness of the complainant in communicating with CCTS and the service provider, and the total number of hours spent by the complainant in pursuing a resolution.
• We acknowledge that a provider cannot guarantee error-free service; however, it is reasonable that customers should expect speeds to be close to what is found in the contract.
• We reviewed the provider’s online coverage map and can see that the broader area does appear to be covered by the provider’s 5G network; however, we note that the customer was informed by the provider on July 1, 2024, that they were in an AOC, and that there was no ETA to resolve the issue.
• As noted above, the customer is on a month-to-month contract and is therefore able to find another provider at any time without penalty.
• We can see that the customer called the provider five times between June and July 2, 2024, to discuss their concern with slow internet speeds. While we understand that the customer has been informed that the issue has been “trending” since July 2, 2024, we find that the provider should credit the customer service charges for June 2024.
• We also find it reasonable that the provider offers a small amount of compensation due to the inconvenience experienced.