Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri said his telecommunications company has been transparent with customers about increased rental fees for additional Ignite TV boxes, rejecting MPs’ accusations that the company buried the additional fees in contracts and misled customers.
The issue that prompted the committee to call on Staffieri to appear was a slew of complaints from customers that Rogers had increased prices for its television box rentals by $7 for every TV box in a household except one. Hundreds of Canadians told CBC’s Go Public the company misled them into signing contracts that they thought locked them into a regular monthly price for the agreement, while a contract clause allowed Rogers to increase prices.
Some MPs expressed concerns about transparency in the contracts. Liberal MP Ryan Turnbull asked why the company would increase its price for a piece of equipment customers were already using.
Staffieri said that price reflected improvements and investments in the company’s products and network. He added that customers can return the TV boxes if they choose, and that most Ignite TV customers are not affected as the first TV box is included.
“Is it just basically that you just assume that your customers are stupid?” NDP MP Brian Masse asked about the television box issue. “Because obviously there’s enough evidence here that people were confused, they'd had different expectations, and you haven’t relented from this practice.”Staffieri said the majority of customers were not impacted by the price change, and that Rogers support worked to help Canadians understand their options.
Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner asked Staffieri to table the frontline sales scripts used by their sales representatives, the recorded conversation between a Rogers sales rep and a customer impacted by the increased fees, and a copy of the TV service contract provided to customers. He agreed to provide these documents.
She asked Staffieri, “If I had reviewed that contract myself ... do you think it’s reasonable for me to say that it’s a plain-language contract?”
“I think you would find it straightforward,” he responded.
MPs dismissed Leech without questioning him, and accused Staffieri of avoiding the committee’s questions. The committee then passed a motion summoning Staffieri to appear within seven days or risk being brought before the House to be formally reprimanded.
In his opening statement on Dec. 2, Staffieri apologized and said he had a “personal matter” arise that required him to get Leech to testify instead. “It wasn’t my intention to disrupt your schedule,” he said.
