Code of Practice
Code of practice for complaints handling
OFCOM requires that providers of Electronic Communication Services have a transparent, accessible and effective Code of Practice for Complaints Handling with appropriate access to the Alternative Dispute Resolution process (ADR). The ADR service is free of charge for you to use.
If you require a paper copy of this code or require the code in an accessible format such as large print, we can provide one free of charge.
Our aim is to provide a high-level of customer service and support. However, we recognise that problems can occur and this page outlines what we will do to put things right as quickly as possible.
Step 1
Contact our customer service team with your complaint. You can do this by phone, email or letter. Our contact details are at the bottom of this page. Please ensure you supply your account details and as much information as possible regarding your complaint. We will acknowledge your complaint and aim to provide an initial response within 2 working days.
A team member will take the details of the complaint and investigate it with the intention of resolving it as quickly as possible.
In most cases, they will be able to resolve your complaint directly and reply to you accordingly. If not, they will escalate the complaint internally to a manager. If at any stage you are unhappy with how your complaint is being handled or if you believe it requires escalation, you may ask for it to be raised to a manager (step 2).
Step 2
The manager will work with the team member to identify the cause of the complaint. You will receive an initial response within 2 working days including, where relevant, a summary of what we are doing to investigate the complaint and estimated time to resolve.
Step 3
If you are not satisfied with this response, you may ask the team member or manager to escalate your issue to our Senior Management Team. This team will give you a response within 10 working days.
Alternative Dispute Resolution process
If you are not satisfied with the progress of your complaint, you may ask us to issue a "Deadlock Letter" so that you can take the complaint to our Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme which is operated by the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is an independent arbitrator who will assess cases for consumers, small businesses (up to 10 employees), and not-for-profit organisations (where up to 10 individuals work) and make a judgement for resolution of the issue.
We may decline to issue a "Deadlock Letter" if we have reasonable grounds to consider that we can resolve your complaint in a timely manner and are taking steps to do so; if the complaint can be considered vexatious; or if the subject matter of the Complaint is outside the jurisdiction of the ADR scheme.
If 6 weeks have elapsed since the complaint was first raised and you are still not satisfied with our response, you have the right to take your complaint to the Ombudsman using the contact details below.
Ombudsman Name
Communications Ombudsman
Website
Phone
Email Address
Post
Communications Ombudsman
P.O. Box 730
Warrington
WA4 6WU
Our contact details
Phone
Post
Customer Service Team
National Broadband
3 Phoenix Park
Apsley Way
London
NW2 7LN