Last week, Unitel Communications, the largest alternative telephone company in Canada, lodged a complaint to the Bureau of Competition Policy asking for an investigation into the advertising practices of Stentor Resource Centre and its affiliates.

Unitel claims that several Stentor companies, in broadcast and print campaigns, including bill inserts and invoices, have made misleading and unfair savings claims to consumers.

Unitel believes many of the savings claims are ‘contrary to the letter and spirit of the Competition Act.’

Carleen Carroll, Unitel’s manager of public affairs, says Unitel is making efforts to correct the misleading claims for the benefit of consumers.

Carroll admits, though, that in aiding consumers, Unitel is assisting itself.

She says if consumers are given ‘a solid basis to choose the best rates,’ many consumers may choose Unitel.

Unitel’s major complaint, outlined in a press release, is that Stentor members ‘compare the potential savings for their calling plans and promotions with their midweek daytime rates.

‘The midweek daytime rate is not the regular price for calling during the evening and weekends, and, therefore, should not be used for the purposes of comparison,’ the release says.

Unitel contends Stentor members should compare established ‘time of day discount’ rates to advertised savings claims that fall within discounted times of day.

Lynda Leonard, at Stentor Communications, says Stentor believes this is ‘another tactic and example of Unitel shopping around for these kind of baseless charges’ in order to get publicity.

Two years ago, Leonard says, Unitel launched another complaint against Stentor with regard to advertising and it was dismissed.

The latest complaints, Leonard says, are as ‘baseless’ as those made two years ago.

‘The real battle is in the marketplace – delivering choice and good value to customers,’Leonard says. ‘Unitel has adopted a strategy to deploy in other arenas, like the Competition Board and other government agencies.’

While Carroll would not say this complaint is part of a strategy to improve Unitel’s image, she did say it is part of an ongoing strategy to encourage fairness in telco practices.

In the first quarter of 1995, Unitel’s revenue was up 31% from the 1994 first quarter. However, Unitel is losing $1 million per business day.

Cecile Suchal, communications advisor for the Bureau of Competition Policy, says the complaint has been received and is being reviewed.

If any questions are raised and any misleading advertising provisions appear to have been violated, the Bureau of Competition Policy will investigate the matter.

Suchal says when the investigation is complete, the information is turned over to the attorney general who may or may not decide to prosecute.

Charges laid can result in fines.

Unitel cites these examples as unfair savings claims:

Bell’s Invoice – In April 1995, Bell introduced a monthly bill that included a savings box showing the customer’s monthly savings.

The base on which the savings are calculated is Bell’s midweek daytime rates as opposed to the long-distance rates ordinarily charged to customers during the corresponding time of day.

SaskTel’s Invoice – SaskTel introduced a prominent Real Plus savings claim in its residential long-distance bill. SaskTel compared the Real Plus savings to the midweek daytime rate.

The actual Real Plus savings are only a fraction of the total savings when compared with the appropriate time of day rate ordinarily charged by Sasktel.

Savings of up to 60% (Manitoba Telephone System (mts – In January 1994, mts ran television advertising claiming savings of up to 60% by using Teleplus plans.

(mts was comparing these potential plan savings with their midweek daytime rates.

(In fact, with the Teleplus plans at that time, the residential customer could only save 15% to 20% against the mts long-distance rates ordinarily charged in the same time period.

Bell’s ‘60% OFF WEEKENDS’ – In November 1994, Bell used a series of billboard advertising that offered customers a long-distance telephone discount of 60% for weekend calls.

Bell was comparing the savings of 60% off with its regular midweek rates.

When comparing this ‘60% OFF’ savings claim to Bell’s long-distance rates ordinarily charged to customers during weekends, the real savings amounted to a discount of 0%.

Stentor’s Summer Promotion – In May 1995, Stentor introduced a Summer Promotion Campaign on behalf of most of its members, which changed the hours of the regular time of day ‘discount, ‘ and, in a couple of cases, increased the ‘discount.’