Code of Practice for Business Customers

Part 1 – Code of Practice for Business Customers

Introduction to our Company and Services

COMMS UK LTD is an independent company that delivers communications services to business customers. While we may not provide all the component parts of our services ourselves, we do take responsibility for the services delivered to you. So we will liaise with our suppliers to ensure that any problems with their services are resolved promptly.

Purpose of this Code of Practice

his code informs you about our products, services, customer-care policies and where to find information about our charges and terms and conditions. This Code of Practice is published on our website www.comms.uk.com Additional copies are available on request and free of charge to our business customers. It is also available in alternative formats, large print.

Purpose of this Code of Practice

Please contact our Customer Service Team using one of the following:

By Phone: 01202 823400
Opening Hours: 8:30am to 5:00pm Monday -Friday.
By Email: helpdesk@comms.uk.com
By Fax: 01202 823423
By Letter: COMMS UK LIMITED, 8 Victory Close, Woolsbridge Industrial Park, Wimborne, BH21 6SX
Or via our website: www.comms.uk.com

Our Commitment to You

We are committed to giving you the highest quality of customer service. When we purchase our services from wholesale providers, we choose those providers carefully to ensure that you get a high-quality service. We make every reasonable effort to supply services that satisfy your requirements. We work to all relevant laws and regulations.

Our Products and Services

  • Landline telephones
  • Landline calls
  • CPS – Carrier Pre-Selection
  • WLR – Wholesale Line Rental
  • ISDN – digital telephone lines
  • Broadband access
  • VoIP & IP telephony services
  • Non-geographic numbers
  • Intelligent Call Routing
  • Internet
  • Lease Lines
  • Domain Registration
  • IP services
  • Wi-Fi services
  • Mobile telephone and data services
  • Equipment and maintenance service
For more details on any of our products and services, or to place an order immediately, please contact our Customer Service Team on 01202 823400.

Marketing

We work to the principles in the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing, which are set out on the website www.cap.org.uk.

Terms and Conditions

When you subscribe to a service from COMMS UK LTD, we will ask you to sign a contract that will advise and direct you to our Standard Terms and Conditions which are available on our web site
If you have any questions, please phone our Customer Service Team on 01202 823400. We may carry out a credit check as part of our assessment procedures.
Where applicable the minimum contract term for our services will be 30 days unless otherwise agreed. We aim to provide services within fifteen working days of your original request, subject to the availability and installation of any equipment and, where appropriate, lines to your premises. If a survey of your premises is required for the installation of additional cabling, we will inform you of the revised timescales and charges as soon as we can.

Cancellation

In the case of small businesses if you decide to cancel your order or agreement before we have provided the services, you may do so without charge within ten working days of your order being placed. For all other customers cancellation of an order you must pay and/or costs we have incurred for any work we have done. For cancellations after ten working days we will charge you an administration fee as set out in your contract. If you wish to terminate your contract please call our Customer Service Helpdesk on 01202 823400.

Faults and Repairs

Please call our Customer Service Team on 01202 823400 if you experience a fault with any of our services. We aim to have this investigated and repaired within 2 working days.

Service Level’s Compensation and Refund Policy

Our policy is to assess each claim on a case by case basis. We aim to investigate any claims and respond within 7 working days. Any refunds that are due will be credited to the next month’s invoice. We do not set any operational service levels in respect of:
  • activation of a new service
  • restoration following loss of service
  • keeping a pre-agreed engineer appointment
We do not offer automatic compensation payments in cases where the service level targets are not met and will assess any claim for compensation on a case by case basis. Any payment made will be on a purely discretionary basis.
We do not feel that fixed level compensation payments are appropriate for business customers, who we advise to seek other ways, such as insurance, to protect themselves against the impact of any loss of service.

Price Lists

Our pricing structure is available from our Customer Service Team on 01202 823400. We will notify you in writing in advance if we change the pricing structure on your products and services.

Billing

We will bill you monthly for your network services and call charges. The installation of hardware will be invoiced upon commissioning.
All network services and call charge invoices will be collected by direct debit under the terms of the Direct Debit Scheme. These are agreed at the start of your contract. If you wish to change your method of payment at any time, please call our Customer Service Team.
We provide itemised bills as part of our service to you. If you request a more detailed printed report we reserve the right to make an administration charge for this service, which we will agree with you in advance.
If you have difficulty paying your bill, please contact us on 01202 823400 and we will try to arrange a different method of payment. We will do all we can to help our business customers to manage their bills and avoid disconnection. In any event, you will be given 48 hours notice of any decision to disconnect your services.

Moving Home or Office

Please call our Customer Service Team on 01202 823400 no later than 45 days before your move date. We will amend your account and billing requirements as necessary. We will endeavour to offer you the same telephone number to minimise disruption but please note that for geographic numbers this is not always possible.

Number Porting

COMMS UK LTD recognise that keeping your existing telephone numbers may be important to you. If you move your business to us and wish to keep the number that you have with your old provider, we will arrange it if you ask us. We will work with you to ensure that the services are switched over at a convenient and appropriate time. For more information, please call our Customer Service Team on 01202 823400.

Directory Entries

You are entitled to a Directory Entry listing (including an entry in the Phone Book) for both your fixed and mobile telephone numbers. If you do want your details included, please contact our Customer Service Team on 01202 823400.

Complaints

We make every effort to ensure that our customers are happy with the level of service, and the products and service they receive from us. However, despite our best efforts, things can go wrong. We take customer complaints very seriously and aim to resolve them quickly and efficiently.

Services for People with Special Needs

We are committed to helping all our customers to communicate easily. We offer the following additional services on request for customers who are vulnerable or who may have a disability:
  • Priority access to the Customer Service Team
  • Additional help and support if you have difficulty paying your bill
  • Copies of bills in large print, on computer disc for customers who have difficulty reading their bill
Copies of this Code are available in larger print on request.

Data Protection

Our Code of Practice on Complaint Handling and Dispute Resolution explains how customers can complain. The code also provides information on how we deal with complaints and your right to take unresolved complaints to Alternative Dispute Resolution. You can find a copy of our Complaints Code here www.comms.uk.com . Alternatively, copies are available free of charge and on request from our Customer Service Team on 01202 823400.

We comply fully with our obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Part 2 – Code of Practice for Premium Rate Service and Number Translation Service Calls

Purpose of this Code of Practice

This code informs you, our small business customers, about our policies on providing information about Premium Rate Service (PRS) calls and on our charging policy for calls to PRS numbers.

Premium Rate Services

Unbundled Tariff Numbers are non geographic numbers starting with 084, 087, 090, 091, 098, or 118 which are used to provide a range of information and entertainment services and are charged to your telephone bill.
Charges for these services are made up of two parts, a Service Charge and an Access Charge and the total is added to your telephone bill. You will see the Service Charge advertised by the company providing the service alongside the number. Depending on the type of number called, the Service Charge can be up to £3.60 per minute, or £6 per call or per text (including VAT). The Access Charge is retained by us, your phone company. Unbundled Tariff numbers in the 084, 087, 090, 091, 098, or 118 ranges are not included in your monthly call minutes allowance.

Personal Numbers

Personal Numbers are numbers starting with 070. Calls to Personal Numbers are charged at the same rate as for mobile numbers. Calls to Personal Numbers are/are not included in your monthly call minutes allowance.

Controlled Premium Rate Services

Controlled Premium rate services (CPRS) are Unbundled Tariff numbers which cost 7p per minute or more. UK-based CPRS numbers are normally prefixed by “09” or “118”. Numbers starting 087 are also designated as Premium Rate numbers and subject to PRS regulation when they cost 7p per minute or more. Typical services include TV vote lines, mobile ringtone downloads, technical helplines, charity fund-raising and adult entertainment. Calls to 118 services are capped at £3.65 for a 90 second call (including VAT) plus our Access Charge.
If you have a problem with Premium Rate Services, we can help. We can provide advice on checking the telephone number of any PRS charges that appear on your bill and will try to help you identify the premium rate service provider. We can use call barring to restrict access to “09” numbers. Please call our Customer Service Team on xxxx for advice on this. We can give you a factsheet on PRS.
You can also ask for help from the Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA) which is the industry-funded regulatory body for Premium Rate Services. PSA operates a Code of Practice that sets out standards for the operation of PRS. You can use the PSA website at www.psauthority.org.uk to check PRS numbers direct and find contact details for the company in question or to submit a complaint. PSA has the legal powers to require a provider of PRS to amend its service or promotional material (or both) and can also order refunds and impose penalties on service providers for breaches of the PSA Code. For other ways to contact Phone-paid Services Authority, see the “Useful addresses” section below. If you are unhappy with the help you have received from us on a problem with PRS, please contact Sally Marshall on 01202 823400 and/or by email**sally.marshall@comms.uk.com **who has responsibility for compliance with our code of practice for PRS. You may also complain using the complaints procedure set out in our complaints code including, ultimately, referring your complaint to Ombudsman Services.

The Telephone Preference Service

If you don’t want to get sales and marketing calls you have not requested, you can add your details to a list run by the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). If your number is on the list, it is illegal for a company to call you for marketing purposes. You can contact the Telephone Preference Service via www.tpsonline.org.uk or by telephoning 0345 070 0707.

Number Translation Services

Number translation services (NTS) are based on numbers that are normally prefixed “08”. For example, 0800 and 0808 are used to provide freephone services (some freephone services are also provided on 0500 numbers). Numbers starting 084 are normally used for customer service helplines. 087 numbers are used for information services, technical helplines and telephone banking. They are also used by organisations to help them provide call-management features such as intelligent call routing and fax-to-email services. Numbers starting 087 are also designated as Premium Rate numbers and subject to PRS regulation when they cost 7p per minute or more. Personal numbers prefixed 070 are also used for providing NTS such as “follow me” type services.
Charges for calling services on NTS numbers are made up of two parts, a service charge and an access charge and the total is added to your telephone bill. You will see the service charge advertised by the company providing the service alongside the number and this can range from free up to 13p per minute or per call (including VAT). The access charge is kept by us, your phone company. Our access charge for calling these services is shown in our price list, which is available on request from our Customer Services Team and via our website. We can also give you a factsheet on NTS.
If you are unhappy with the help you have received from us on a problem with PRS or NTS, please contact Steve Leach on 01202 823400 and/or by email steve.leach@comms.uk.com who has responsibility for compliance with our code of practice for PRS and NTS. You may also complain using the complaints procedure set out in our complaints code including, ultimately, referring your complaint to Ombudsman Services.

Internet diallers

If you use the Internet via a dial up connection, it is possible for software to be placed on your computer without you knowing – using the same methods as for computer viruses. This type of software (known as Internet or rogue diallers) can then make calls to PRS and NTS numbers without your knowledge. Software is available to detect this activity and we can help you to access this – please contact our Customer Services Team for details. Phone-paid Services Authority has been given responsibility for policing this type of activity and you can contact them via www.psauthority.org.uk to ask for help or to report examples of this type of abuse. For other ways to contact Phone-paid Services Authority, see the “Useful Addresses” section below. We can also help by barring calls to 09 numbers.

The Telephone Preference Service

If you don’t want to get sales and marketing calls you have not requested, you can add your details to a list run by the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). If your number is on the list, it is illegal for a company to call you for marketing purposes. You can contact the Telephone Preference Service via www.tpsonline.org.uk or by telephoning 0845 070 0707.

Useful Addresses

The Ombudsman Services
3300 Daresbury Park, Daresbury, Warrington, WA4 4HS

T: 0330 440 1614
E: osenquiries@os-communications.org
W: www.ombudsman-services.org

Ofcom
Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Road, London, SE1 9HA

T: 020 7981 3040 or 0300 123 3333
E: contact@ofcom.org.uk
W: www.ofcom.org.uk

Phone-paid Services Authority
40 Bank Street London, E14 5NR

T: 0800 500 212 or 020 7940 7474
E: info@psauthority.org.uk
W: www.psauthority.org.uk

Telephone Preference Service
DMA House, 70 Margaret Street, London W1W 8SS

T: 0345 070 0707
W: www.tpsonline.org.uk

Federation of Communication Services (FCS)
The Grainger Suite, Dobson House, Regent Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE3 3PE

T: 020 7186 5432
E: fcs@fcs.org.uk
W: www.fcs.org.uk

Licence Number C-002275 Correct at the time of printing, published April 2017