Our service delivery ethos is about much more than providing you with a service and leaving it to manage itself. We have always been committed to delivering quality throughout every aspect of our operations - from initial phone contact to pre- and post-sales support. This continued commitment is reflected in Pipex achieving registration to ISO 9001:2000 by the British Standards Institute after an assessment visit in December 2003. The purposes of these commitments are:

• - To provide you with a standard of protection over and above that provided by law;
• - To ensure that our sales and marketing activities are practiced in a responsible manner and deliver good practice;
• - To help you understand more about our services and the quality of service you should expect in every contact with Pipex;
• - Our commitments within these Codes deal with any concerns arising before, during and at the point of sale, with particular emphasis on the avoidance of mis-selling and misrepresentation. Our main aim is to ensure that you understand the services offered and the key terms of any contracts you are entering into.

Pipex believes in providing the highest levels of customer service and satisfaction. We are constantly reviewing our services and processes in order to provide our customers with the best internet service available today. Should a customer require any assistance, Pipex has dedicated technical support and customer service teams that are staffed by highly trained, friendly people who are there to help. Your wishes will be respected where you have registered with any relevant preference service, including the Mailing Preference Service, the Telephone Preference Service, the Fax Preference Service and the E-mail Preference Service. We will retain all sales and marketing campaign records for six months, including the date and the approximate time of any contact, in order to deal with any complaints or queries that arise about our activities.

Our advertising and promotions will comply with the British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion. All our advertising and promotional literature will be clear, unambiguous, accurate and fair, containing no false or misleading information about price, value or service. We will not denigrate other Providers. We will carry out regular audits of systems, procedures and documentation to ensure that we are acting compliantly with all the commitments in this Code.

All our Sales representatives will be recruited and trained in a manner consistent with the procedures set out in this Code. As a responsible Company, Pipex follows the guidelines of the UK Communications Industry Regulator OFCOM.

Office of Communication
Riverside House
2A Southwark Bridge Road
London
SE1 9HA
Website: www.ofcom.org.uk
Telephone: 020 7981 3000
Fax: 020 7981 333


In addition to the above, Pipex Business is also a member of the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) and abides by their Code of Practice. Please visit their site for more information: www.ispa.org.uk

In recruiting sales agents involved in direct contact with you, we will ensure they have been carefully selected with due care having regard to the following:

• - Behaviour and appearance, recognising that the sales person may be seen as the 'public face' of the industry;
• - Security - references and relevant convictions for criminal offences to be checked and taken into account;
• - Evidence of mis-selling or lack of integrity in any previous selling employment.

For UK sales employees the following requirements will need to be observed:

• - the applicant must provide proof of NI number, proof of address and two references;
• - referees cannot be related to the applicant;
• - business referees must not both be from the same company;

If a sales person transfers to another company, a copy of his or her records will be retained for a minimum period of three years. The identification badges of staff leaving the company should be returned. For sales-staff not based in the UK, equivalent procedures are applied.

We will ensure that all sales agents in direct contact with consumers undertake training courses to ensure that any relevant advice given by such person about our services is not misleading. Topics covered will include:

• - arrangements for competition in the supply of telecommunications in the UK;
• - the services we offer and how these differ from other competitive telecoms products;
• - the process for ordering our services;
• - the relevant principles of consumer protection law;
• - the prices charged for our services and our terms and conditions of service and, in particular, methods of payment, duration of contract and any termination fees;
• - the nature, and cost, of any additional services on offer;
• - the process for cancelling the contract both during the cooling-off period and at any time following commencement of the services
• - our complaints process

All sales agents will be regularly monitored for quality purposes. In the case of call centre sales staff, a minimum of one call per month will be reviewed. Monitoring records must be maintained to record the results and corrective action, if any, arising from the process. The way we pay our sales agents will not encourage poor sales practice and non-compliance with the commitments in this Code.

6.6.4.1 General

• - Sales representatives must clearly identify the business (Pipex Internet) and the purpose of the contact at the beginning of the conversation.
• - Sales Representatives must be courteous, use appropriate language and offer clear and straightforward explanations. Representatives must cease contact with any person who indicates that the contact is inconvenient, unwelcome, inappropriate or too long.
• - Sales Representatives must take care to ensure that customers entering into contractual agreement understand all details and information provided to them.
• - Sales representatives must not sell to vulnerable individuals. Calls to individuals who clearly do not understand or are confused by the call must be politely ended.
• - Sales representatives must not direct sales to those who are under the legal age for entering into contracts, being under aged 18
• - Sales representatives must ensure that the person agreeing to the sale is authorised to do so by being the account holder or confirming that they are an authorised decision maker for that household.
• - Sales representatives must ensure they don't give out false or misleading information about price, value or service or denigrate or make false allegation against other provider
• - At the customers' request, full written information about tariffs must be made available.

• - No telephone to new customers should be made outside the hours of 08.00 to 21.00, unless this is specifically requested by the customer. Telephone calls at weekends must be limited to 09.00 to 17.00 on Saturday and should not be made on Sunday.
• - Sales representatives must immediately identify themselves, the company they represent (Pipex Internet) their purpose and the expected duration of the call.

• - The sign up process via the website must be through secure web pages.
• - The website should provide a clear hyperlink to the Pipex Internet Privacy Policy and to all relevant information about the service, including full Terms and Conditions.

If you order our services, we will send you a Welcome Pack and notice of transfer letter in accordance with the industry-agreed process. This will inform you of the full details of the transfer including:

• - phone numbers affected;
• - expected timing of switchover;
• - our contact details.

You have a ten day 'cooling-off' period during which you can cancel your agreement with us before your services are transferred from your current supplier. We will not apply any charges for such cancellations.

Pipex customers may choose to cancel their service at any time, subject to the Pipex Terms & Conditions applicable to their contract. Depending upon the type of service purchase, and the length of time for which the account has been open, a cancellation charge and/or a charge for any unexpired remainder of the contract period, may be payable. 30 days notice of all cancellations is required

We will review the procedures by which contracts are agreed and take appropriate steps to prevent recurrence of any problem identified.

Although we pride ourselves on our standard of service, we may occasionally get it wrong. If you're unhappy with the service you've received, please tell us and we will do all we can to resolve the matter quickly and satisfactorily.

We will always try to resolve the matter during your first telephone call but if we can't; we will give you an approximate timescale and return your call.

If you're not satisfied with the way we've handled your complaint, please ask to speak to the manager of the customer services team.

If you feel your complaint has not been resolved and you remain unhappy please refer to our Complaints Code of Practice.

Scott Marshall
Head of Legal
Pipex Business
Customer Relations
PO Box 14303
Birmingham
B46 9BD

Disclaimer: Pipex take every care to ensure that the content of this document is correct at the date of publication, but accepts no liability for any error or omission therein. Pipex products and services are continually under development, and for this reason published information may sometimes not be fully up to date.