Resolving a Problem with your Broadband Provider
It is important to remember that most broadband providers do not set out
to mislead their customers, they want to deliver a service to you that you
are happy with so you will stay on with them. Many disputes usually arise
from the customer not reading the small print of their contract, (55% of
users surveyed admit to this) and this can often create situations where
customers feel misled by their provider when being hit with a charge,
which is usually outlined in the contract.
Other problems stem from specific policies around technical support,
billing or other issues related to the terms of service within a broadband
contract itself: (for example: 'I’m not happy with the speed I get').
Problems around the kind of service a provider gives a customer is extremely
tricky because there are extenuating circumstances, many of which are
not the fault of the provider as they are reliant on other organisations to
deliver the service to you.
Most problems can be resolved with your ISP one way or another as long as
you are friendly, open and upfront about your concerns. Nearly all broadband
providers use the same internal procedures to deal with problems.
Below is an outline of the steps you need to take to get a matter resolved
with your broadband provider:
Normal Support Channels
The first step is to contact the relevant department within your broadband
provider, so if you have a technical problem then you need to contact
technical support, billing is the accounts department and so on. You can do
this by phone, web-based customer enquiry pages or by email.
If you're not happy with the time it has taken to respond or how they
have tried to resolve the problem, then you need to escalate the matter
internally by asking for an acknowledgement of when you will receive a
satisfactory response.
The broadband provider is contractually bound to deliver a service you
agreed to pay for so they have to take your request seriously if you don't
think they're keeping up their end of the agreement.
They might say it’s the fault of a third party supplier beyond their
control, and this could limit their ability to resolve the issue quickly.
However as your service provider, it is still their responsibility to
deliver that service to you and they should still be able to give you a
realistic timeframe and course of action to get the matter resolved for
you.
TIP:
Go back over your contract and read the section that relates to the "Service
Level Agreement" or "Level of Service". This section is a description of the
specific services that your broadband provider is bound by contract law to
fulfil. If you don’t think your provider is meeting this service
agreement adequately then you should have good grounds for your complaint.
Internal Complaints Procedure
If you reach a point where your attempts to get a problem resolved via
normal support channels have not been successful, you need to ask your
broadband provider for information about their internal complaints
procedure.
Every reputable broadband provider will have an official complaints
procedure and many of the larger broadband providers have a department
dedicated to it. Some broadband providers have a two-stage complaints
procedure, (i.e. low level and high level complaints) so that if a problem
can’t be resolved at a low level it will be passed on to the high-level
complaints department.
High-level complaints are usually dealt with more effectively because the
people who work there can make more direct decisions about your case, such
as removing money owed to your account, paying compensation or influencing
the actions of third party suppliers.
Ask your broadband provider to give you details of the complaints procedure
that leads to a “deadlock letter” – this is where your provider has
exhausted all possible methods at their disposal to resolve the issue with
you. By asking for a “deadlock letter” you are asking for evidence that may
be used by you at a later date if the dispute continues and you have to go
to arbitration or court.
Once you have details of their complaints procedure, write a letter formally
asking your broadband provider to investigate your complaint. Every reputable
broadband provider will acknowledge your letter and tell you when they will
get back to you. If there is a delay they should tell you after a reasonable
time the reasons why and inform you when you will get a response.
TIP:
From this stage onwards, keep a record of all correspondence with your
broadband provider, no matter how small. Try to avoid phone calls, use
email and letters via recorded delivery.
Dispute Resolution or Court Action
If you have reached the stage where you’ve exhausted all possible options
in trying to resolve the matter directly with your broadband provider then
at this point you may want to consider alternative dispute resolution or
court action.
In 2003 the communications regulator Ofcom drafted The Communications Act.
The act sets out that all communication providers, (including broadband
providers) need to subscribe to an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
scheme that offers access to impartial and free arbitration. There are
currently two such schemes and each of these provide lists of their
members:
Otelo – Office of the Telecoms Ombudsman, their job is sort out problems
with communications providers and consumers –
http://www.otelo.org.uk/membercompanies.php
CISAS – Communications and Internet Service Adjudication Scheme, offers
the same service except they work in a slightly different way -
http://www.cisas.org.uk/Members.asp
Technically you can still take your broadband provider to court after an
ADR has looked at your case but most people tend to accept the decision
of the ADR, especially since an ADR can force a broadband provider to pay
compensation.
Taking your broadband provider to court should not be taken lightly. Our
advice is do not proceed with court action if you do not think you have a
strong case against the broadband provider. At this stage you can lose your
dispute against your provider in court and it may cost you money in fines
and fees if you lose, (i.e. for claims less than £5,000).
If you still want to proceed with court action, it’s a good idea to seek
legal advice first. If you want free legal advice, Citizens Advice Bureau
and Consumer Direct are both government-backed organisations that can help
you.
Citizens Advice Bureau:
http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk
Consumer Direct:
http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk
Which? offer a very cost effective legal service. For £12.75 for 6 months
you get unlimited legal advice on consumer law. We think this is by far the
best value and most effective method to get some good quality legal advice,
quickly for a good price.
Which? Legal Service:
http://www.whichlegalservice.co.uk
You may want to seek professional representation in the form of a solicitor,
or you can even start the process of seeking court action online yourself
without any support by visiting the HM Court Service site and submitting a
claim online for the Small Claims Court, but you may need to go to court if
the broadband provider wants to defend the claim.
HM Court Service:
https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp
Going to court might seem over the top resolving a problem with your
broadband provider but if the problem has given you a lot of worry and
pain it might be the only way to get some kind of resolution. The court
process is consumer-friendly - it is not designed to punish you or the
broadband provider.
It is important to remember a court is there to enforce the law, not to
just look at whether you've been treated badly. You need to have a specific
claim for a specified amount you have lost to take court action this way.
Filing of a case can cost as little as £30, although you may be liable for
other charges throughout the case.
TIP:
Before proceeding with alternative dispute resolution or court action, ask
for a “deadlock letter” that specifies what your broadband provider has
done to try to resolve your problem(s). This letter confirms that your
provider has tried to resolve the matter using all possible methods at
their disposal and can be used as valuable evidence in arbitration or in
court.
If you intend to pursue alternative dispute resolution or legal action
against a broadband provider, write to them first warning them that you
will be doing this. For many broadband providers the cost of presenting a
case for an ADR or for Small Claims Court is usually larger than the cost
of the claim so in many cases they will want to settle before reaching ADR
or court anyway.
Other Options
Complaining to Senior Staff: There are a few people on our forums that have
tried to contact senior representatives of a broadband provider, such as
the Managing Director or CEO to get their problem resolved.
In a few cases this has been hugely successful and the problem has been
resolved quickly, but this is rare. In the majority of cases when several
broadband customers target a senior member of staff to resolve their problem
it creates fear rather than resolution.
This approach may still work with smaller ISP’s but it is now highly
unlikely that a senior member of staff from a broadband provider will be
willing to take on a customer’s case, unless there are other motivations
for resolving the problem.
Trading Standards: Some users on our forum have complained
about their broadband providers to Trading Standards. Their argument is that
they have been mis-sold a broadband product because they did not receive
the service they expected.
Trading Standards is there to make sure that consumers are protected when
buying goods and services and ensure that businesses adhere to laws and
regulations around the buying and selling of goods and services.
It is highly unlikely that Trading Standards would take action for you
against a broadband provider unless they wanted to use your problem as a
test case against that broadband provider. Our advice is it’s better to go
through the provider’s complaints procedure and then use alternative dispute
resolution or court action because it’s quicker and more effective.
Use Forums / Ask Experts: One of the best ways to begin
the process of resolving a problem with your broadband provider is to use
online forums to share experiences with other customers. Not only will this
reassure you that you’re not alone in having problems with your provider,
but it may give you some useful insight into ways in which you might be
able to get the problem resolved without needing to escalate the problem.
The
Broadband Forum
of Moneysupermarket.com is a good starting point, but there are several
other forums also worth checking out, (Thinkbroadband.com and
Moneysavingexpert.co.uk both have excellent forums about broadband) you
might find people on these who can offer you some useful insight.
You can also ask our resident broadband experts a question in relation to
your problem.
Ask the Experts
is available in a separate section of the forum where you can post a
message they will respond to in 48 hours, they are also available via a
freephone number, (open Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm).
Visit Broadband Forum
Visit Ask the Expert Forum
Call our Broadband Experts on 0800 298 5770
