Code of Practice
Including our Code of Practice on Complaint Handling and Dispute Resolution and our Code of Practice for Premium Rate Services and NTS calls
Part 1 - NORTHWAY COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES (UK) LTD. Code of Practice on Complaint Handling and Dispute Resolution for Domestic and Small Business Customers
Introduction to our company and services
NORTHWAY COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES (UK) LTD. is an independent company that delivers communications services to domestic and 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
This code informs you about our products, services, and customer-care policies. Our code of practice on complaint handling and dispute resolution has been approved by Ofcom, the independent regulator for the UK communications industries for the purposes of section 52 of the Communications Act 2003. This Code of Practice is published on our website at (https://www.northway.net/legal/code-of-practice/). Additional copies are available on request and free of charge to any domestic and small business customer. It is also available in large print format.
How to contact us
For residential, small business, corporate customers and accounts, please contact our Customer Service Team
By phone: 01684 878 060 (from 9am until 6pm Monday-Saturday and bank holidays)
By email: helpdesk@northway.net
By letter: Northway Communications Services (UK) Ltd, Unit B1 The Courtyard, Tewkesbury Business Park, Glos, Gl20 8GD
Response times
For contact made via phone or email, responses will be given withinn 2 working days.
For contact made via letter, responses will be given withinn 4 working days upon reciept. It is advised the all postal corresponce is sent with proof of delivery.
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 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
- 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.
You may also purchase our services from local dealers and retailers around the UK.
Marketing
We work to the principles in the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing, which are set out on the website http://www.cap.org.uk
Terms and conditions
When you subscribe to a service from NORTHWAY COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES (UK) LTD., we will send you our Standard Terms and Conditions and ask you to sign a contract, if applicable. If you have any questions, please phone our Customer Service Team. We may carry out a credit check as part of our assessment procedures.
Where applicable, the minimum contract term for our services is 12 months. We aim to provide services within three working days of your original request, subject to the availability and installation of any equipment and, where appropriate, lines to your premises. If we need to carry out a survey of your premises or lay additional cabling, we will inform you of the revised timescales as soon as we can.
Cancellation
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 after your order is placed. After ten working days we will charge you an administration fee as set out in your contract. If you wish to terminate your contract within the minimum term of 12 months, please call our Customer Service Team. We will charge you a fee as set out in your contract. After the minimum term you can cancel any service by calling our Customer Service Team, giving us 3 months’ notice.
Faults and repairs
Please call our Fault Service Team on 01684 878 060 if you experience a fault with any of our services. We aim to have this investigated and repaired within 2 days.
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 10 working days. Any refunds that are due will be credited to the next month’s invoice.
Price lists
Our pricing structure is available from our Customer Service Team. We will write to you in advance if we change the pricing structure on your products and services.
Billing
We will bill you monthly unless we tell you otherwise.
You can choose to pay us via a range of options including direct debit, PayPal, cheque and BACS. 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. We only charge for customisation of this bill, should you require this.
If you have difficulty paying your bill, please contact us and we will try to arrange a different method of payment. We will do all we can to help our residential and small business customers to manage their bills and avoid disconnection. If you fail to make a payment with us, we will contact you before we disconnect your service explaining what has gone wrong and how you can update your details or make payment to us.
If you are moving home or office
Please call our Customer Service Team no later than 30 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
We 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.
Directory Entries
You are entitled to a Directory Enquiry listing (including an entry in the Phone Book) for both your fixed and mobile telephone numbers. If you do want your details included, please advise us.
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.
Our Code of Practice on Complaint Handling and Dispute Resolution explains how customers can complain. The code also provides information on we deal with complaints and your right to take unresolved complaints to Alternative Dispute Resolution. You can find our Complaints Code on our website at www.northway.net/legal/complaint-handling. Alternatively, copies are available free of charge and on request from our Customer Service Team.
Nuisance calls
We take the problem of nuisance calls and malicious communications very seriously. We tackle it by working closely with the police and others in the communications industry. If you have been a victim of this activity, please call our Customer Service Team to report the incident and for information on how to deal with it.
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 older or who may have a disability, including:
- Priority fault repair and assistance
- Copies of bills in large print for customers who have difficulty reading their bill
Copies of this Code are available in larger print and other formats on request
Data protection
We comply fully with our obligations under the GDPR and Data Protection Act 1998. You can find our Privacy Policy on our website at www.northway.net/legal/privacy-policy.
Part 2 - NORTHWAY COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES (UK) LTD. Code of Practice for Premium Rate Services and NTS Calls
Purpose of this Code of Practice
This code informs you about our policies on providing information about Premium Rate Service (PRS) calls and on our charging policy for calls to NTS and PRS numbers.
Premium rate services
Premium rate services (PRS) are telephone numbers that offer some form of information or entertainment that is charged to your phone bill. UK-based PRS numbers are normally prefixed by “09”. 0871 is currently designated as a Premium rate number and subject to PRS regulation. Typical services include TV votelines, mobile ringtone downloads, technical helplines, charity fund-raising and adult entertainment.
Charges for these services are added to your telephone bill. Calling a PRS number generally costs between 10 pence and £1.50 per minute, per call or per text (incl. VAT). Calling these services from, for example, mobile phones, cable networks or public payphones will generally cost more than the advertised rate. Our charges for calling these services are shown in our price list, which is available on request from our Customer Services Team and via our website.
If you have a problem with Premium Rate Services then 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 for advice on this. We can give you a factsheet on PRS.
You can also ask for help from PhonepayPlus (formerly ICSTIS), which is the industry-funded regulatory body for Premium Rate Services. PhonepayPlus operates a code of practice that sets out standards for the operation of PRS. You can use the PhonepayPlus website at www.phonepayplus.org.uk to check PRS numbers direct or to download a complaint form. PhonepayPlus has legal powers to require a provider of PRS to amend its service or promotional material (or both) and can also impose penalties on content service providers. For other ways to contact PhonepayPlus, see the “Useful addresses” section below.
Number translation services
Number translation services (NTS) are based on numbers that are normally pre-fixed “08”. For example, 0800 and 0808 are used to provide freephone services (some freephone services are also provided on 0500 numbers). 0844 and 0845 numbers are used for dial-up pay-as-you-go Internet access and customer service helplines. 0870 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.
Charges for calling services on NTS numbers are added to your telephone bill and standard prices range from free up to 5p per minute or per call (incl. VAT). Calling these services from, for example, mobile phones, cable networks or public payphones will generally cost more than the advertised rate but communications providers must publish prices for calls to 0870 numbers where these are higher than for calls to geographic numbers. Our charges for calling these services are 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 Richard Bartlett (telephone 01684 878 060 or email support@northway.net), responsible for compliance with our code of practice for PRS and NTS. You may also complain using the complaints procedure set out in this code including, ultimately, referring your complaint to CISAS.
Internet diallers
If you use the Internet, 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. PhonepayPlus has been given responsibility for policing this type of activity and you can contact them via www.phonepayplus.org.uk to ask for help or to report examples of this type of abuse. For other ways to contact PhonepayPlus, 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 their website www.tpsonline.org.uk, or by telephoning 0845 070 0707.
Useful addresses:
Cisas
24 Angel Gate, City Road, London EC1V 2PT, Tel: 0845 1308 170 or 0207 520 3827, Email: info@cisas.org.uk, Website: www.cisas.org.uk
Ofcom
Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 9HA. Tel: 020 7981 3040 or 0300 123 3333, Email: contact@ofcom.org.uk, Website: www.ofcom.org.uk
PhonepayPlus (formerly Icstis)
Clove Building, 4 Maguire Street, London, SE1 2NQ. Tel: 0800 500 212 or 020 7940 7474, Email: info@phonepayplus.org.uk, Website: www.phonepayplus.org.uk
Telephone Preference Service
DMA House, 70 Margaret Street, London W1W 8SS Tel: 0845 070 0707, Website: www.tpsonline.org.uk
Federation of Communication Services (FCS)
Burnhill Business Centre, Provident House, Burrell Row, Beckenham, Kent BR3 1AT. Tel: 020 8249 6363, Email: fcs@fcs.org.uk, Website: www.fcs.org.uk
This code has been licensed by The Federation of Communication Services Limited 2010.
Licence number C-002461