Patients sick of being charged for service they didn't know they signed up for

Quebec's consumer protection agency is cracking down on a service that's supposed to make life easier for patients.

The Office de la protection du consommateur has sent a warning to Patient in Line, a service that texts patients at walk-in clinics to advise them when it's their turn to see the doctor.

I wasn't ever expecting it to become a monthly subscription.- Jenn Hulleman, Patient in Line user

The notice comes after more than 80 complaints were filed against Patient in Line since the beginning of the year.

"The violation notice requires the merchant to immediately correct any improper practices," Charles Tanguay, spokesman for Office de la protection du consommateur, said in a statement.

Patients have been complaining after noticing a recurring monthly fee on their credit card bills — a monthly subscription they never knew they signed up for.

Jenn Hulleman is one Montrealer who had a bad experience with the service back in January, when she went to the Queen Elizabeth walk-in clinic.

At reception, she was told about Patient in Line. She told CBC her understanding was that if she paid $4.59, she'd be notified by text when it was her turn.

"I did not hear anything about it being a monthly subscription," Hulleman said. "I've used the service before and I was only charged the one time. So I wasn't ever expecting it to become a monthly subscription."

But she was charged for the month of February too — a fee of $3.44 — even though she had never gone to a clinic that month. She had her credit card company remove it from her bill.

The Queen Elizabeth clinic has stopped using the service.

"They changed their billing process without informing us. All our patients were thinking they were using a once-off service, but they were being placed on a monthly debit," said Dr. Mark Roper, the clinic's medical director.

Roper told CBC that the clinic will reinstate the service only once Patient in Line meets three conditions:

• Resolve all complaints.
• Make its service clearer so that patients can differentiate between a single use versus a monthly subscription
• Put a phone number up on its website that patients can call about this issue.

The Office de la protection du consommateur said that if it gets any more complaints about patient in Line, it may launch a formal investigation.

Patient in Line did not respond to CBC's request for comment.