1996-06-13|Bell Canada's Pay-Per-Use service charges
CRTC Commissioner
This is not an INTERVENTION on specific applications or proposed policies issued by the Commission, but a complaint about a business practice by Bell Canada.
Today (1996-06-13), I used the "Name That Number" service (+1-416-555-1313) for a telephone number that I was given but was not sure to whom it belonged. After entering the 10-digit telephone number (416-955-0677), the system identified that the number belonged to "VISIONARY", and that the fee of $0.50 CAD would be charged. So far, so good.
When I dialled the number for which the name was identified (+1-416-955-0677), however, I was surprised to hear the message "The number you dialled is not in service". I triple-checked to see if I had not mis-dialled the number.
I immediately dialled "0" and asked the operator to cancel the charge for the "Name That Number" service because it identified the name incorrectly. The operator said that she could not and that I should call the Bell business office.
So, I called the Bell business office for residential customers. The officer said that I should have dialled "0" to get the charge cancelled. When I explained that it was the first thing I did and that I was directed to the Bell business office, she said that I will have to wait until I receive this month's bill. I said I would. However, she was not able to explain why the system is set up so that the charges for a mis-dialled long-distance telephone call could be cancelled immediately by the operator but not the charges for the growing number of Pay-Per-Use services.
This is a complaint to the CRTC that Bell Canada be required to modify the system so that any Pay-Per-Use service charges be cancelled immediately by the operator if the Pay-Per-Use service does not work as advertised and the customer dials "0" for a cancellation of the Pay-Per-Use service charge.
As a consumer, I regard the present situation as similar to the negative billing option by the cable industry. Bell Canada has an appearance of hoping that after waiting up to 1 month for the bill, the customers would forget to bother to call the business office to ask for a cancellation of the Pay-Per-Use service charges!
