Iqaluit’s cell phone users still being overcharged

Iqaluit West MLA Monica Ell says local Bell Mobility customers who are still being overcharged for local calls made on their cell phones should file a complaint with a federal telecommunications body.(PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)

(updated March 8)

Iqaluit West Monica Ell wants to know why Iqaluit Bell Mobility customers are still being overcharged for local calls made on their cell phones.

A number of the company’s Iqaluit customers say that, since as far back as the summer of 2011, Bell Mobility has been charging some of their local calls at long-distance rates.

A number of Bell Mobility customers complained to Nunatsiaq News about the problem last January.

Bell Mobility said then that they were aware of the problem and looking into an issue where calls are being randomly mis-coded as long-distance. Iqaluit customers’ phone bills show certain calls have been routed through the Yukon Territory or the United States.

Company spokesman Albert Lee told Nunatsiaq News March 7 that Bell’s billing department “addressed the coding issue with an update in mid-February and no reported issues have been seen since then.”

But even customers who have had Bell correct previous bills say the problem persists.

“Although these problems came to light earlier this year, it is my understanding that they have not yet been resolved and that residents continue to be billed incorrectly,” Ell told the Nunavut legislature March 5.

Customers like Janet Brewster, who first noticed the problem last December, said she finally got Bell to refund her the more than $300 she was overcharged – only to have been overcharged on the next two phone bills.

Brewster says it took hours on the phone to correct the problem the first time around, and she hasn’t had time to call and have her latest bills corrected.

She wonders why the company hasn’t correctly the problem after several months, or why Bell Mobility can’t take responsibility for automatically correcting the mis-coding.

“When I did talk to them, I told them I wanted to ensure that it didn’t happen again,” Brewster said. “But they told me it was my responsibility to call and have the charges corrected.”

Bell Mobility has yet to respond to Nunatsiaq News’ request for a comment.

But Brewster said she’s frustrated and plans to take her complaint elsewhere.

That’s why Ell is now encouraging Bell Mobility customers to file a complaint to the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services.

The independent body, which is recognized under federal legislation, serves to resolve consumer and small business complaints about retail communications services.

“This is a resource that residents of Iqaluit who have been experiencing these problems may wish to consider,” Ell said.

At least one other MLA – House Speaker Hunter Tootoo – says he plans to file his own complaint, after being overcharged hundreds of dollars on recent cell phone bills.

Customers can go here to make a complaint.

Complaints can also be made to the CRTC.