Rogers CEO in hot seat as MPs grill him over contracts customers call unfair and misleading

The CEO of Rogers Communications was in the hot seat Monday, facing pointed questions on Parliament Hill.

MPs on the Commons committee on industry and technology summoned Tony Staffieri to testify, after he skipped a scheduled appearance last week and sent a subordinate via videoconference instead.

The committee wanted to question Staffieri after revelations in a Go Public investigation — hundreds of Rogers customers say they're outraged after their bills for internet, TV and home phone jumped, even though they'd signed a contract, believing they had a guaranteed monthly price.

Rogers can charge customers more for things such as rented TV boxes, thanks to a clause in the contract.

"I'd like to know why you think that's OK," Nova Scotia Conservative MP Rick Perkins asked. "And how many other buried costs do you have that you can jack up, and rip Canadians off on?" 

"Shouldn't Canadians be able to count on a fixed-rate contract being stable, with no surprises?" asked Liberal MP Ryan Turnbull.

Staffieri defended his company's practices, saying price guarantees only apply to base services and that customers can remove certain add-ons — like TV box rentals — without penalties. 

Asked whether customers are specifically told that fees could go up mid-contract, Staffieri repeatedly insisted that Rogers customer service agents, and the company's contracts, are "clear and transparent."

Alberta Conservative MP Michelle Rempel-Garner suggested Staffieri and Rogers were "danc[ing] around the salient details" with both the committee and its customers. 

She also brought up the case of Cathy Cooper — the first Rogers customer from Victoria who told Go Public that it was not clearly explained that her monthly bill could increase.

"If I reviewed that contract, do you think it's reasonable for me to understand it?" Rempel-Garner asked Staffieri, before requesting that Rogers submit that contract to the committee for review.

Staffieri agreed and also agreed to provide the recorded phone call Cooper had with the Rogers agent when she signed the two-year deal. 

Despite Staffieri's insistence that Rogers contracts are "clear and transparent," Go Public continues to hear from frustrated Canadians such as Laurie Michalycia of Saskatoon.

She signed a two-year deal for internet, TV and home phone in August, saying she made it clear to the Rogers agent that she could not pay more than $199 a month before taxes and long-distance calls. To get her bill to that price, she even lowered her internet speed.