Code of Practice for Sales and Marketing of Fixed-Line Telephone Services
Introduction to Onebill Telecom Ltd
Onebill Telecom Ltd is an independent company that delivers telephone, data, mobile and Internet services to our customers throughout the UK, including Northern Ireland. Our products are distributed through our direct sales force and independent sales agencies.
The purpose of our Code of Practice is:
- to show that Onebill Telecom Ltd (“our”, “us”, and “we” refer to Onebill Telecom) adopts responsible best-practice selling techniques when marketing our fixed line-telecommunications services[1] (“services”);
- to help our customers and potential customers understand our services and the behaviour to be expected from our representatives;
- to show that we provide our customers with higher standards of protection than consumer law requires; and
- to set out clearly what is good practice in the sales and marketing of our services, as reassurance to our customers.
The code applies to the sales and marketing of our services to small business customers[2] (“you” and “your” refer to customers) and covers all aspects of the sales process. We aim to avoid mis-selling and misrepresentation and to ensure that you fully understand the services and the terms of the contracts we offer you.
All our sales and marketing staff and agents are briefed on this code and we routinely monitor compliance with it. If you feel that any representative of Onebill Telecom Ltd has breached the terms of the code, please report your concerns to;
Anita Laws
Verification Manager
Onebill Telecom Ltd
PO Box 42177
London
SW8 1UE
T: 0844 567 6777
F: 0845 601 4832
E: sales@onebilltelecom.com
Anita Laws has responsibility for compliance with this code, and for handling associated complaints.
How to contact us:
Should you need to contact Onebill Telecom between 8:30am and 5:30pm Monday to Friday this can be done by telephone, facsimile, Royal mail or email given below. Outside of these hours calls will be taken by our out of hours call centre and responded to the next working day.
Address:
Onebill Telecom Ltd
PO Box 42177
London
SW8 1UE
Business Customer Services: 0844 567 6777
Customer Services Email: customerservices@onebilltelecom.com
Sales Enquiry Email: sales@onebilltelecom.com
Website: www.onebilltelecom.com
Other Useful Contact Information
Ofcom
Riverside House
2a Southwark Bridge Road
London
SE1 9HA
Telephone: 020 7981 3000 / 0845 456 3000
Website: www.ofcom.org.uk
Our Commitment to You
Onebill Telecom is committed to providing you with the highest quality of service. Our company delivers to you telecommunications services purchased from BT Openreach and a selection of main UK carriers. We make every reasonable effort to supply the services that satisfy your requirements.
Our Product Portfolio
Onebill Telecom offer a wide range of products utilising the BT Wholesale Access and Calls & Access range of products and carrier pre-selection, these are:
- PSTN lines - single and multilines
- PSTN calls
- ISDN 2e lines
- ISDN 2e calls
- ISDN 30e lines
- ISDN 30e calls
- Highway
In addition to these products we are also able to provide the following.
- ADSL - Broadband
- Internet Access
- Leased Lines
- Carrier Pre-Selection
Further details about our products can be found on our website: www.onebilltelecom.com
Ordering a new service or Transferring to Onebill Telecom
To order any of our services please call customer services on:
Business Customer Services: 0844 567 6777
We normally do business on our standard terms and conditions, a copy of which is available on request from our customer services team or via our website: www.onebilltelecom.com
The minimum term for telephone service is 12 months. We will endeavour to provide telephone service within 28 days of your original request, this is subject to the availability of lines at your premises. If there are special circumstances such as the need to install additional cabling we will advise you of the revised timescales.
Moving Home or Office
If you are moving home or office please call our customer services team on 0845 450 4882 at least 14 days before you move so that we can make the appropriate arrangements.
If there are special circumstances regarding the move we will advise you of the revised timescales.
It is important to let us know when you are moving to ensure that you are not charged for calls made from your old address once you have moved.
You will remain responsible for any calls made until the point of notification. A final bill will be sent to your new address once you have moved.
Repairs
Should you experience a fault on your line please call our fault repair service on 0800 917 2739 or alternatively you can contact them by email at faults@onebilltelecom.com.
We align our response times and services with BT and offer higher levels of customer fault care should you require them. If you would like to know more about these please contact customer services on:
Business Customer Services: 0844 567 6777
Cancellation
For our cancellation policy please refer the section on termination of contract under our latest version of terms and conditions:
Business Customer - Terms and Conditions
All cancellations need to be notified in writing to Onebill Telecom, at the contact address given above.
Onebill Product Pricing
Onebill Telecom offers a unique Price Promise in their contract: Onebill promise to beat any tariff from a comparable supplier, for an equivalent product, at any point during your contract period.
Please contact our Customer Services team for our current price list for our services and products or visit our Website: www.onebilltelecom.com
Billing
We will normally bill you monthly at the beginning of each month. Our only payment option is by Direct Debit, which represents one simple monthly transaction. Protected by the safeguards of the Banks, you have complete peace of mind regarding the accuracy of your payment. If an error is made you will receive a full and immediate refund to your account.
We provide itemised bills as part of our service, we can also provide this in an electronic format by email if required. Please contact the customer service team for more information.
Disconnection Codes of Practice
Should you have difficulty paying your bill please contact us so that we can arrange a suitable alternative method of payment.
Please do not cancel your direct debit, as this will need to be in place for future payment collections.
We will not disconnect you from our service unless payment is defaulted on, or a direct debit is not in place to allow us to collect future payments. Prior to doing so we will contact you advising of the outstanding balance or the need for you to re-establish the direct debit instruction, allowing 7 days for this to be done.
After this period we may restrict your telephone service by way of call barring to prevent an increase in the debt.
Further reasons for which we may disconnect your service are viewable under our latest terms and conditions:
Business Customer - Terms and Conditions
Complaint Procedure
Should you have a complaint about our service, in the first instance please contact our customer support team on 0844 567 6777. All complaints are treated very seriously and we operate a complaint procedure in order to resolve issues as quickly as possible to everyone's satisfaction.
If you are still not satisfied the complaint has been addressed properly, and a letter confirming your complaint is closed has been sent to you, you are entitled to contact OTELO (Office of Telecommunication Ombudsman), the independent dispute resolution service:
OTELO, PO Box 730, Warrington, WA4 6VW. Phone: 0845 050 1614 Website: www.otelo.org.uk
Social Responsibility
Malicious calls cause annoyance, inconvenience and a great deal of anxiety. Onebill Telecom views this problem very seriously and works closely with the BT nuisance call bureau, the police and others in the Telecoms industry to tackle it.
Should you experience malicious or nuisance calls please call our customer services team for information on how to deal with the situation.
Business Customer Services: 0844 567 6777
Services for customers who are older or who may have a disability
We are committed to helping our customers to communicate easily.
Copies of this code are available free of charge in various formats upon request, including via our website www.onebilltelecom.com. The code has been prepared in line with guidelines published by Ofcom, the industry regulator, on 13 April 2005.
Should there be a conflict between these Codes of Practice and Terms and Conditions, the Contract Terms and Conditions will apply.
Sales, marketing, advertising and promotional activity
We make customers aware of and promote our services by various methods. In all cases, we act responsibly and try to comply with relevant legislation.
We will respect your wishes if you have registered with any relevant preference service, including the Mailing Preference Service, the Telephone Preference Service, the Fax Preference Service and the E-mail Preference Service.
All our advertising and promotion activity keeps to the principles of the British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion. In addition, we ensure that advertising and promotional literature is clear, unambiguous, accurate and fair, does not contain false or misleading information about price, value or service and does not denigrate other companies.
Recruitment and sales training
To ensure that our employees act responsibly at all times, we follow strict procedures in the selection and training of staff who have direct sales and marketing contact with customers. We also ensure that all our sub-contractors and agencies use equivalent selection and training procedures and remuneration (payment) systems.
When recruiting new sales staff, we take up references and carry out relevant background checks. We also consider whether applicants are suitable for this type of work, recognising that our sales people will be seen as the ‘public face’ of our company and the industry in general.
We train our sales and marketing employees to ensure they have a good understanding of our services and of industry practice generally and do not give our customers inaccurate or misleading advice.
We also ensure that our sales staff are familiar with the relevant aspects of consumer protection law, the content and interpretation of this code and the benefits it provides to customers.
Our remuneration systems for sales and marketing personnel are designed to discourage misleading or exploitative sales practices.
Customer contact
Our sales staff are given clear guidelines on contacting residential customers at home, particularly during the hours of darkness. They must not visit you before 8am or after 8pm, and must not telephone before 8am or after 9pm, unless you ask them to do so.
Representatives involved in face-to-face sales and marketing have identity cards or badges that clearly display our company name and the representative’s own identification number. The identity badge also displays the representative’s name and photograph and a date showing the validity of the card. Information on the card is clear and easy to read without close examination.
On making contact, our representatives will immediately identify themselves, state our company name, the purpose of the call and how long it should take. If visiting or meeting in person, they will show you their identity card.
Our representatives are trained to be courteous, to use appropriate language and to offer clear and straightforward explanations. They must offer only factual and accurate information about our services and contracts and must not misrepresent our services or those of other companies. They must check that if you enter into a contract you fully understand the terms and are sure that this is what you want to do.
Our representatives will cease contact with anyone who indicates that the contact is inconvenient, unwelcome, inappropriate or too long. At your request, the discussion will be ended immediately and, if making a doorstep call, the representative will leave your premises immediately.
Our representatives will not abuse the trust of vulnerable customers, for example people who are elderly or who have special needs, or whose first language is not English.
When visiting sheltered housing, nursing homes or residential care facilities, our representatives will make contact with the warden or other person in authority before approaching a customer.
We will not aim sales or marketing activity at people who are under the legal age for entering into contracts.
Entering into a contract
We check that the person entering into a contract with us is authorised to sign a contract for services and be responsible for bills at the premises in question.
Our order forms and contract forms are designed to ensure that you understand that you are entering a contract, and each document states this immediately next to where you sign.
If you select a Onebill residential product we will tell you that you have the right to change your mind during the switchover period and that there is no cost for cancellation during this period.
In all cases we will give you the following information:
- Confirmation of our company’s identity and full contact details;
- A description of the service you have chosen, including how it works, the cost and payment terms;
- Arrangements for providing the service, including how we deal with the order and, as accurately as possible, when it is likely to start;
- Your right to cancel and how to use it;
- How long the charges will remain valid; and
- The minimum period of contract, and minimum contract charges, if any.
Our representatives have a full summary of our tariffs, which you can ask to see.
Where our representative meets you in person, they will give you the information in writing. When you sign an order form, or enter into a written contract, you will also get a copy of the order form or contract, as well as information about any after-sales services or guarantees and arrangements for ending the contract.
You will get this information at the same time as you sign, or within 5 working days, unless you received it in writing before signing the contract.
Orders placed with us by distance-selling methods (such as phone, fax or internet) comply with distance-selling regulations. As with order forms, our telephone scripts are designed to ensure that you understand that you are entering into a contract and will be sent the information detailed above.
In the case of internet orders, a well signposted and easy-to-see hyperlink to this information is prominently displayed and the information is readily available for downloading and printing.
Regardless of our method of selling, you may cancel orders and end contracts by telephone, in writing, by fax or by e-mail to;
Onebill Telecom Ltd
PO Box 42177
London
SW8 1UE
Business Customer Services: 0844 567 6777
E: sales@onebilltelecom.com
Contract review
Our standard procedures minimise the risk of errors or mis-selling on our part when taking orders or making contracts during face-to-face or telephone selling.
We confirm orders by sending a notification of transfer letter to the customer in accordance with the industry-agreed process. The letter, which is clearly dated, gives details of the transfer, including the date of transfer, and information on any services and features which may be affected by the transfer. The letter also provides contact details for any questions.
We contact all customers entering into a new contract to confirm that you understand that you have entered into a contract, are happy to proceed with the contract and are content with the way in which we conducted the sales and marketing.
This check is generally incorporated into the order confirmation letter but is always completed not more than 5 working days after a contract is agreed. Where we contact you directly, this is done by a person not involved with our sales and marketing activities, who will tell you who they are.
The letter may be sent electronically if you have applied online and have confirmed online that you wish future correspondence to be sent electronically.
We keep our contract procedures under review and take steps to prevent the recurrence of any problem identified through audit (see below).
Audit
We carry out regular audits of the systems, procedures and documents we use in sales and marketing.
Status of this code
By law, all companies marketing services to customers must issue a code of practice for sales and marketing.
Compliance with this code does not guarantee that it complies with any other legal requirement.
Non-compliance with this code does not affect the validity of any contract between the company and the consumer, unless the law states otherwise.
Useful addresses
Your Chosen Approved Alternative Dispute Resolution Providers:
Otelo - Wilderspool Park, Greenall's Avenue, Warrington, Cheshire, WA4 6HL. Tel: 01925 430870 www.otelo.org.uk
CISAS - International Arbitration Centre, 12 Bloomsbury Square, London, WC1A 2LP. Tel: 020 7421 7444 www.cisas.org.uk
Ofcom - Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 9HA. Tel: 020 7981 3000/ 0845 456 3000. www.ofcom.org.uk
PhonePayPlus - London SE1 2BR. Tel: 0845 026 1060 www.phonepayplus.org.uk
Direct Marketing Association - DMA House, 70 Margaret Street, London W1W 8SS Tel: 020 7291 3308 www.dma.org.uk
Federation of Communication Services (FCS) – Burnhill Business Centre, Provident House, Burrell Row, Beckenham, Kent BR3 1AT. Tel: 020 8249 6363 www.fcs.org.uk
If you wish to find details of your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau or Trading Standards department you can search on the following websites:
Citizens Advice – www.citizensadvice.org.uk
Institute of Trading Standards Administration – www.tradingstandards.gov.uk
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[1] “Fixed line telecommunications services” means narrowband calls and lines services provided to small business customers by means of indirect access, carrier pre-selection, wholesale line rental or wholesale calls.
[2] “small business customer” means a customer or potential customer for the services who is an individual or an undertaking for whom fewer than ten individuals work (whether as employees or volunteers or otherwise).