“It’s unfortunate the federal government lacks the guts to regulate an industry that continues to short-change consumers on the quality of service, yet over-charge them at every step.” - James Clancy, NUPGE national president
Ottawa (22 Feb. 2011) - Like many cell phone customers in Canada, Denis Gagnon, was charged a $200 termination fee when he cancelled his contract. As a customer of Bell Mobility, he was unaware of such a charge when he originally agreed to the terms.
Now, a Quebec Superior Court judge has authorized a class action lawsuit, launched by Gagnon, to go ahead against Bell Mobility. He is looking for a reimbursement of the termination fee but is also seeking $200 million in punitive damages. He believes there will be many more people joining the suit.
“Heading to court has become a popular way to hold telecommunication companies accountable to the public,” commented James Clancy, NUPGE national president. “It’s unfortunate the federal government lacks the guts to regulate an industry that continues to short-change consumers on the quality of service, yet over-charge them at every step.”
In a similar case, in 2008, class action law suits were filed against Bell Mobility and Telus when the companies began charging for incoming text messages. A ruling has not been made on this case yet.
Earlier that year, Telus was ordered to reimburse customers who were forced to pay a long-distance network fee of $2.95 although they did not use the network. According to the CRTC, almost half a million customers were incorrectly charged. The company disputed the ruling saying “the fee was applied for a tangible service and that whether or not a customer accessed the long-distance network, the cost to the company was the same.”
And In September 2010, a class action suit was settled in Ontario against Bell Canada and its wireless service Bell Mobility when customers were charged late fees despite paying bills on time through a financial institution. While Bell Canada did not admit fault, the company did agree to make changes to the way late fees are calculated and provided people who were still customers with a credit for the disputed charges. For those who were no longer customers or could not be identified, the companies agreed to disburse equivalent amounts to charitable organizations.
“It’s one of the reasons we launched our Smart money consumer advocacy series,” Clancy continues. “We want to make sure people have the information they need to fight for their rights, even in consumer affairs. Canadians should not have to turn to the courts to resolve such matters. The federal government has a role to play in protecting them from this kind of corporate abuse but example after example, we see that it is failing Canadians,” says Clancy.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE
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