MF COMMUNICATIONS UK LLP CODE OF PRACTICE
Including our Basic Code of Practice and our Code of Practice for Premium Rate Services and NTS calls
Part 1 - MF Communications UK LLP Basic Code of Practice on for Domestic and Small Business Customers
Introduction to our company and services
MF COMMUNICATIONS UK LLP 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, customer-care policies and where to find information about our charges and terms and conditions. This Code of Practice is published on our website at (URL). Additional copies are available on request and free of charge to any domestic and small business customer. It is also available in alternative formats, large print.
How to contact us
Please contact our Customer Service Team:
By phone: 01892 514687 - (From 8am until 6pm Monday-Friday)
By fax: 01892 511764
By letter: MF Communications UK LLP, 30 Chapman Way, Tun Wells, Kent, TN2 3EF
Website: www.mfcomm.co.uk
Line faults: 0844 824 8747 (out of normal hours 6pm to 8am) *Care Level 4 customers only. Charges apply for non Care Level 4 customers
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
- Directory enquiries
- Mobile telephone and data services
- Public/private/business two-way radio mobile radio services/ Common Base Station Services
- Wide area/local paging 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 01892 514687.
Marketing
Terms and conditions
When you subscribe to a service from MF COMMUNICATIONS UK LLP, 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 on 01892 514687. 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
i) Line Rental
You may terminate your contract by giving written notice to MFC no less than 60 days before the end of your contract term. If no notice period is given then your contract will automatically renew for one year at the end of your original term. Should you terminate your contract early or move provider before the end of your contract term you agree to pay 25% of the remaining line rental and special services in full up to the end of the agreed term.
ii) Call Spend
You may terminate your contract by giving written notice to MFC no less than 60 days before the end of your contract term. If no notice period is given then you will automatically agree to a one year rollover contract at the end of your original term. Should you terminate your contract early or move provider you will be charged 25% of the average monthly call spend for every additional month remaining on your term. This is calculated by taking the average call spend from all previous monthly bills with MFC.
Faults and repairs
Please call our Fault Service Team on 01892 514687 if you experience a fault with any of our services. We aim to have this investigated and repaired within 5 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 7 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 on 01892 514687.
Billing
We will bill you monthly
You can choose to pay us via a range of options including credit card, cheque and direct debit. 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 at flat rate as part of our service to you.
If you have difficulty paying your bill, please contact us on 01892 514687 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. Please refer to MF COMMUNICATIONS UK LLP's company Code of Practice for Billing and Disconnection.
If you are moving home or office
Please call our Customer Service Team on 01892 514687 no later than 60 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
MF COMMUNICATIONS UK LLP 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 01892 514687.
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 contact our Customer Service Team on 01892 514687.
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 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 on our website at www.mfcomm.co.uk Alternatively, copies are available free of charge and on request from our Customer Service Team on 01892 514687.
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 the Customer Service Team on 01892 514687 to report the incident and for information on how to deal with it.
We encourage parents to register the mobile phones of their children, and take responsibility for all customer care enquiries.
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
- 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 and other formats on request
Data protection
We comply fully with our obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998.
Part 2 - MF Communications UK LLP - 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 now also 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 8.51 pence and £1.2766 per minute, per call or per text (excl. 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 PRS, 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 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 4.2p per minute or per call (excl. 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 Fraser Young on 01892 514687 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 Otelo.
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 www.tpsonline.org.uk or by telephoning 0845 070 0707.
Code of Practice on Complaint Handling and Dispute Resolution
MF COMMUNICATIONS UK LLP 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.
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.
If you have a complaint about any part of our service, please contact our Customer Service Manager using one of the following:
By phone: 01892 514687 - (From 8am until 6pm Monday-Friday)
By letter: MF Communications UK LLP, 30 Chapman Way, Tun Wells, Kent, TN2 3EF
If you telephone, our advisors will ask you about your complaint and seek to resolve the problem while you are on the line. During any discussions we will protect the privacy of the information that we hold on you. To do this we may have to ask you questions to confirm that we are speaking to the right person.
If you make your complaint by email or in writing, we will acknowledge receipt, advise how and when we will next respond and provide you with a contact point for checking progress on the resolution of your complaint.
We will try to resolve your complaint quickly and efficiently, and to keep you informed at all times. We normally aim to resolve complaints within 10 working days but, depending on the nature of the complaint, this is not always possible. However, If you are not happy with progress in resolving your complaint you can ask the person to whom you are speaking to escalate the matter to their manager, and ultimately to the Managing Director. If we cannot resolve the problem, we will write to you to say so.
If it has been more than 8 weeks from the date you first contacted us to complain or you have received a letter from us saying that your complaint has reached "deadlock", then you may ask for help from:
Otelo
PO Box 730, Warrington, Cheshire, WA4 6WU
Tel: 01925 430870 or 0845 050 1614
Email: enquiries@otelo.org.uk
Website: www.otelo.org.uk
(OTELO) is an independent organisation which is approved by Ofcom to provide an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) service. Ofcom-approved ADR services sort out disputes between communications providers and their consumer and small business customers. Their job is to investigate complaints fairly by listening to both sides of the story. They look at the facts given to them before recommending any action that may be needed to put things right.
Alternatively, if at any time you are not satisfied with the progress of your complaint you can ask us to agree an early referral to ADR (i.e. that we issue a deadlock letter). However, we may decline to do so if we do believe we will shortly resolve your complaint and are taking active steps to do so.
Useful addresses
Otelo
PO Box 730, Warrington, Cheshire, WA4 6WU
Tel: 01925 430870 or 0845 050 1614
Email: enquiries@otelo.org.uk
Website: www.otelo.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-001998-025
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