Many Canadians have gripes about their wireless phone service (and many of them are legitimate). Whether it’s poor customer service or outrageous fees, Canadians have plenty to complain about when it comes to their wireless service providers.
However, several consumer advocate groups are listening to our bellyaching and have made an interesting proposal to alleviate at least a few of our concerns. The three groups proposed during a Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission hearing on Monday that people buying multi-year contracts should have a 15-day grace period to ensure they’re not getting a raw deal.
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Consumers’ Association of Canada and the Council of Senior Citizens’ Organizations also advocated for the “buyer’s remorse” period to ensure customers can make sure they are comfortable with the service they’re receiving before being locked into a wireless contract for several years. During the 15-day period, customers who signed a contract could cancel if they changed their minds.
In addition to the grace period, the advocacy organizations have proposed a number of other regulations that would make signing up with a wireless service provider much less of a headache, including:
- Customers would be allowed to unlock their phones immediately after purchase, and the charge for the wireless carrier to unlock a phone would be limited to how much it actually cost the carrier (i.e. no exorbitant unlocking fees);
- Service providers could no longer make unilateral changes to customer contracts; and
- Carriers would provide shorter contract periods.
