Consumer Law Relating to Broadband
This section looks at the some of the consumer law and regulation relating
to the broadband industry and how it might be useful to support your
arguments when you have a problem with your broadband provider.
Ofcom MAC Code Regulation 2007: As of February 14, 2007, the MAC code of
conduct is mandatory for all providers. This means that all providers must
adhere to the code's main principles:
-
If a customer asks for a MAC the provider must then issue the code
within five working days of request, regardless of any dispute. The
MAC is free the first time it is requested but a cancellation fee
for the service may still apply- if asked for more than once it may
incur a charge. Once issued, a MAC lasts 30 days before it becomes
out of date and unusable.
-
Once a customer has passed their MAC to the provider they are
switching to, the new provider must try to switch across their
service within 30 days. The new supplier will inform the customer
the exact date when they will be connected to the new service.
The aim of the MAC scheme is to reduce the number of customer complaints,
lower costs to BT, ISP’s and the consumer, and to make it easier to change
provider.
These rule changes will help many people change providers more easily but
it doesn't cover every possible situation that customers might face. If
you’re in dispute with a broadband provider over MAC codes our advice is to
refer to the MAC code of conduct and make sure that you are fully aware of
how it works and what effect it has on your case.
Communications Act 2003: Within the Communications Act it
states that all communications providers, (including broadband providers)
must implement and comply with a dispute resolution scheme. This means that
all broadband providers must be a member of either OTELO or CISAS in order
to comply with the Communications Act regulations.
This means that every consumer is protected in some form by one of the two
alternative dispute resolution schemes. Please be aware that an ADR is there
if you can’t get a problem resolved using the providers normal complaints
procedure and does not act as a replacement for it.
Sale of Goods & Services Act: Under the Sale of Goods Act
1979 and The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 retailers AND service
providers must sell goods that are:
- Of satisfactory quality
- Are fit for purpose
- Service is delivered as described
- Provide services to a proper standard of workmanship.
How this relates to broadband in the Act is that a consumer can claim a full
refund or compensation if they can prove that the service
was not delivered as described, was not fit for purpose beforehand, or is
not to a satisfactory level of quality or workmanship.
Using these points in an argument with your broadband provider may give you
some credibility but you would still need to find proof in an ADR meeting
or legal challenge against a broadband provider and this could prove tricky.
The only way to argue the case for the Act is by looking at the terms of
service within the broadband contract and seeing whether they have offered
the service as advertised or referring to the “deadlock letter” and what
the provider has done to resolve your problem. This may help you if you
take the matter to an ADR or court.
Unfair Contract Terms Act: The original Unfair Contract
Terms Act was in 1971, but has since been updated in 1995 to include a
section on Consumer Contracts, (broadband providers contracts fall under
this). What this means is that a consumer can submit a court action stating
that they think their broadband contract is unfair and cite the Act.
The Act says that a consumer is not bound by a standard term in a contract
with a seller or supplier if that term is unfair. This gives the Office of
Fair Trading and others powers to stop the use of unfair standard terms, if
necessary by obtaining a court injunction. Ultimately, only a court can
decide whether a contract term is unfair, but in many cases broadband
contracts are some of the most unfair terms of all, it’s useful to know
that there is a legal precedent to protect consumers from poor contract
terms.
Distance Selling Regulations: The Distance Selling
Regulations give consumers rights when shopping on-line or by mail order.
Under the Regulations, consumers shopping this way have the right to clear
information, a cancellation period of seven working days and protection
against fraudulent use of a credit card.
These rules are especially important if you have applied for a broadband
provider online and use a credit card to pay off your broadband fees.
Distance selling regulation may protect you from having a problem with
refunds, late payment fees or cancellation fees as well as when you remove
the provider’s monthly payment from your credit card when you change
provider.
