I’m having problems with my service provider. What should I know?

The Wireless Code protects cellphone users in Canada. The code is a set of rules about how cellphone contracts work. It applies to both prepaid cellphone users who purchase their minutes in advance, and postpaid users, who pay monthly fees.    

You might be having problems with your service provider. For example, you may feel that you’ve been overcharged. The most common overcharges that people complain about are:

• being charged after they cancel their contracts
• being charged too much for going over their data limit
• not receiving credits or refunds that their provider promised
• being charged too much for their monthly usage
• being wrongly charged for roaming
• being charged too much for texting

When this happens, your service provider can make it frustrating to get a refund. But there are ways you can get help.

If you have a problem with a cellphone service provider, you can:

• talk to the provider
• complain to the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS)
• sue the service provider in Small Claims Court