Comwave sold 'unlimited' internet with a cap — and prices full of fees — $300K

Comwave Networks, a Toronto internet and home-phone provider, advertised its services as unlimited and at attractive prices. The Bureau found both claims false or misleading: the 'unlimited' services carried monthly usage caps, and the advertised prices were not attainable because non-optional fees were added on top. Fine-print disclaimers and call-centre scripts did not save the ads — the Bureau ruled them insufficient to keep the headline claims from misleading.

On 13 September 2016 Comwave signed a consent agreement: a $300,000 penalty plus $60,000 toward the Bureau's costs, corrected advertisements that accurately explain the services and their costs, and a corporate compliance program.

Senior Deputy Commissioner Matthew Boswell's standard applied to the smallest carrier as to the largest: consumers shopping for telecom services deserve clear and accurate information. The case landed in the same year the Bureau was disciplining drip pricing in car rentals — 'unlimited with a cap' and 'price plus non-optional fees' are the same deception in different words.