Message from the President – March 3, 2025

March 3, 2025

Dear Directors, Alternates, Presidents and Executive Directors:

You will recall in my letter of February 5, 2025, that I was selected to participate in two webinars organized by the Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in February.

The goal of these sessions was to improve the experience of senior citizens and consumers when dealing with telecommunication service providers (e.g., television, Internet, mobile and phone service) by:

Giving organizations representing seniors’ issues and organizations representing consumer interests the opportunity to describe their lived experience when dealing with their telecommunication service providers and the challenges they face. This would include experiences purchasing plans and devices or dealing with consumer support.
Facilitating discussions between the senior and consumer groups and communication providers to explain potential solutions to address the challenges.

I am pleased to report that I participated in two four-hour webinars on the following dates and issues:

February 24^th to focus on the sales process and consumer rights
February 27^th to cover customer and technical support

I want to thank the ACER-CART member organizations that submitted their thoughts and suggestions prior to the webinars.

Session 1–Sales Practices and Consumer Rights (February 24^th)

During this session there was one representative from the Consumers Union of Quebec, a representative from the National Research Council, a representative from the Association of Communications Providers and service providers Rogers and Vidéotron and CRTC representatives. Translation services were provided as the majority of participants were from Quebec.

The topic of the first session was discussion of seniors’ experiences finding plans, devices and equipment that met their needs. I raised the following points:

Seniors are often confused when bombarded with sales pitches when comparing cell phones, landlines, Internet and television packages and bundles.
Aggressive sales agents want seniors to make immediate decisions on purchasing plans.
Seniors not always offered lower-cost alternatives.
Seniors prefer in-person services but this is not available in rural parts of Canada.
Many sales agents are not familiar with special equipment for seniors with mobility or cognitive challenges.

The topic of the second session was a discussion on seniors’ experience with sales representatives. I raised the following points:

Seniors have trouble understanding representatives in call centres outside of North America.
Representatives who are rude and have ageist attitudes.
Representatives which exploit seniors with cognitive decline and lack of familiarity with technical issues.
Representatives that pressure seniors into purchasing unnecessary upgrades or extended service contracts.

The topic of the third session was the rights of consumers. I raised the following points:

Many seniors have little or no knowledge of how to file a complaint.
The filing of complaints is too complex and time consuming.
Seniors do not know that if they are not satisfied with the service providers’ response that they can file a complaint with the CRTC and Commission of Complaints.
Seniors have little knowledge of the CRTC and service providers code of conduct.

The final session for the day was a brainstorming exercise on the following 3 topics:

Experiences with finding suitable plans, devices and equipment;
Experiences with sales representatives when purchasing plans, devices and equipment; and
Understanding and exercising consumer rights.

Session 2–Technical and Consumer Support (February 27^th)

During this session there were two consumers from British Columbia; one member from the Consumers Union of Quebec; one member of the Office of Seniors Advocate; one member from the Association of Communication Providers; service providers Telus, Bell and Eastlink and CRTC representatives.

Once again translation services were provided to participants.

The topic of the first session was accessing customer support. I raised the following points:

Long wait times to receive technical support.
Seniors’ frustration in not understanding the language of the service representative.
Frustration with the automated phone menus and frequently being sent to the wrong department.
Seniors would prefer in-person technical support.
On-line support is not helpful if a senior does not own a computer.
On-line support needs high-speed Internet and Fibre Op which is not available in many parts of Canada.
High cost of having a technician coming to one’s home to resolve technical problems.

The topic of the second session was getting information about devices and equipment purchased from the service provider. I raised the following points:

Seniors not provided simplified, step-by-step easy instructions with the possibility of visuals.
Some companies require a telephone app for technical support.
Seniors prefer in-person guidance.
Have community-based volunteers to provide help as was provided by CAP sites.

The topic of the third session was the language used by customers and technical support representatives. I raised the following points:

Seniors frustrated with language issues if speaking with representatives in call centres outside North America.
Seniors do not feel that the service representatives adjusted their language and terminologies to their level of knowledge with devices.
Seniors frustrated when help becomes too complicated and hard to follow.
Service providers need to set up dedicated senior-friendly customer service lines.

The final session of the day was a brainstorm exercise on the following 3 topics:

Experiences with accessing customer service representatives,
Experiences getting information and support for devices and equipment use; and
Understanding of the language used by the customer and technical support representatives.

The discussion was lively in the second session as the two consumer representatives provided many complaints with the services provided by Telus and Bell. It will be interesting to read the What We Learned report and see if the service providers listened to the conversations and if they improve service delivery and address consumers needs, for example–creating best practices for interacting with consumers, in particular seniors.

When asked at the end of each session for a closing comment, I offered the following:

“Accessibility, Affordability and Simplified Support Systems remain key areas for improvement to better serve the needs of Canada’s senior population.”

Sincerely,

Bill Berryman

President ACER-CART