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If you experience problems with your telecommunications you should proceed as follows:
The first step is to get in touch with the telephone company concerned. Their address can be found on top of the bill or on the web. If the problem is to do with the amount of the bill, the company will check the meters and report back to you. To make a formal complaint to your telephone company about the amount of your bill, you should contact the phone company's Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme to try to sort out the problem. More on this process can be found below.
The ADR scheme acts as an independent middleman between the company and the customer. If the company is found to be at fault, the ADR scheme can order the company to fix the problem and pay compensation if it decides this is necessary.
It is important to bear in mind that you should only take this step, after you have taken the first steps listed above and made a formal complaint to your telephone company and you have received an unsatisfactory response. By unsatisfactory response, one of two things is meant, either that you made the formal complaint against your company and twelve weeks have passed without response, or that your company has replied to say that they are not going to proceed any further with your complaint.
If this is the case for you and you would like to make use of the company's ADR scheme, you can find their details on the back of your phone bill or from the company's customer service personnel.
Should you not get the results you were looking for from the ADR scheme, then you may take your complaint to Ofcom.
Ofcom has the power to force the telephone company to reply to a complaint and to justify an amount charged on the bill. They can also ensure that the telephone company does not break any of their regulations.
If Ofcom is unable to resolve your dispute with the telephone company, you must choose between taking the matter to court or put it before the Communications Ombudsman.
