Your right to register a dispute or complaint

You have the right to dispute charges and to file a complaint about the service you receive. There are processes in place to assist you if you are having difficulties getting service or answers from your phone company.

Disputing phone charges

You have the right to dispute any telephone charges on your billing statement that you believe are incorrect. If you dispute a telephone charge, the phone company will investigate your claims, and will make the results of its investigation available to you. The phone company cannot consider the charges that you are reasonably disputing to be past due, but you are required to pay the undisputed portion of your bill. As a general rule, the phone company cannot threaten to suspend or cut off your local phone service over any amounts that you are reasonably disputing (see "Your rights when the phone company wants to cut off your phone service" section). Various scams and frauds exist that may affect your telephone service and could lead to additional charges on your phone bill. You are responsible for keeping yourself informed and protecting yourself against various scams and fraud. For more information about known scams and fraud, contact your phone company.

Complaints

You also have the right to complain to the phone company if you have any problems with the service you receive. If you have a dispute or complaint, the first step is to speak to your phone company. If the representative handling your call cannot resolve the problem to your satisfaction, you can ask to speak to the service manager or a supervisor in the customer service department. If you are still not satisfied with the answer you are getting, you can contact the CRTC. The CRTC will ask the phone company to respond to your concern shortly thereafter. You should receive the phone company's response within 20 working days of the CRTC's request. If the CRTC is not satisfied with the phone company's response, it may investigate the matter further. If you wish to register a complaint, or want to find out more about your rights in general, you can contact the CRTC by:

* The rights summarized in this guide are for informational purposes only and do not represent a complete list of your rights. The information contained in this guide may also be subject to change. This guide does not change or add to any existing rules or laws. In the event of any inconsistencies between this guide and any existing rule or law, the existing rule or law will prevail.

Date Modified: 2006-12-21