- Introduction
- Universal Telecom
- Our Obligation
- How To Contact Universal Telecom
- Getting Our Service Installed
- Service Cancellation
- Repairs
- Pricing
- Billing
- Payment Options
- Credit Policy
- Complaint Handling and Dispute Resolution
- Resolution of Complaints
- Communication with Customers
- Special Needs
- Approval and Review of Code
1. Introduction
This code of Practice (COP) provides a statement of the services available from
Universal Telecom to residential and small business customers and those interested
in finding out more about Universal Telecom. It explains how we provide these services,
and the key support services and company policies that underpin them. It describes
your relationship with Universal Telecom – how you can, and should, contact Universal
Telecom when you need help or want to change the services you have, and how we will
respond. It also describes what you should do in the unlikely event of something
going wrong.
The COP is consistent with European and UK legislation covering such codes, and
has been approved by Ofcom, the UK Telecommunications Regulator.
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2. Universal Telecom
Universal Telecom / Timepiece, Lda was founded as an international company in 2001.
Today we primarily have customers in European countries, where the liberation of
the telecom market allows for free competition.
In countries like Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Belgium and The Netherlands thousands
of people depend on Universal Telecom to deliver fixed and mobile telephony as well
as Internet connections of high quality.
For the moment in the UK we only offer fixed telephony services, but we aim to expand
and later offer mobile and Internet solutions. Top ^
3. Our Obligation
Like all UK telecommunications operators, Universal Telecom has a number of obligations
laid down in UK legislation. These are aimed at providing customers with both choice
and consumer protection. Universal Telecom takes these responsibilities very seriously,
while aiming to deliver an excellent service and a range of products and services
to meet our customer’s communication needs.
The formal details of the general terms and conditions of our contractual relationship
with customers can be found on our website www.uvtc.co.uk. Top
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4. How To Contact Universal Telecom
Please click here
for our online form.
5. Getting Our Service Installed
You must be a B.T. customer / have a B.T. landline in order to qualify registering
for our service. By signing up with Universal Telecom, the line holder authorises
Universal Telecom to order pre-selection from the local loop operator to which the
client is connected. Upon implementation, we will re-route all local, national,
international and fixed-to-mobile calls at the cheapest rate to the user.
As a Universal Telecom's customer you will have access to UK's lowest prices on
all your international, national and mobile calls.
You only pay for the calls you make, there are no subscription fees or hidden extra
charges. Universal is committed to provide you with a good and friendly service.
Your only obligation is to save money and of course pay your bill.
If wish to take our service from B.T. – while staying at the same address – you
are generally able to keep your telephone number (termed number portability). If
you decide to move, whilst our customer please contact us in good time beforehand
and we will arrange to move your Universal Telecom service to suit your convenience.
Like many commercial organisations within the UK, we use credit-checking before
offering service to new customers. This follows widely recognised procedures, good
practice and relevant UK legislation.
Information acquired during a check may be passed to third parties (e.g. credit
vetting agencies) but will be managed strictly in accordance with the UK Data Protection
Act. The checking may require some form of identification confirmation, although
any customer documents provided as part of this will be returned promptly.
Our sales or customer services staff will be pleased to explain our service and
terms and conditions to you before the sign-up for service.
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6. Service Cancellation
You can terminate your contract with Universal Telecom at any time with 48 hours
notice. If you terminate the contract, we will charge you for the service up to
the date of disconnection. We reserve the right to disconnect you without prior
notice, or by giving notice to you at the last address you have given to us if:
You exceed the agreed credit limit and we have used reasonable efforts to contact
you without success,
You break any of the terms and conditions in your contract
You are declared bankrupt
If we have not been able to collect your payment for using the service and have
made reasonable efforts to contact you without success.
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7. Repairs
We will use our reasonable endeavours to fix all faults as soon as we can. Top ^
8. Pricing
Universal Telecom publishes its prices on our website www.uvtc.co.uk and in paper
form available from Customer Services. We may change these from time to time either
permanently or for limited periods (offers and promotions), and will provide at
least 7 days public notification of such changes to our customers.
Our intention is to be competitive with other leading communications providers and
to offer our customers excellent value for money. Our call charges may change from
time to time and our latest published price list will be available on our web site
at www.uvtc.co.uk. Charges for calls become due as the calls are made. Top ^
9. Billing
You will normally receive a bill the following month after registering for the Service,
however future bills may depend upon your use of our services after the registering.
Postal bills will be issued subject to the following criteria: If your balance account
is £13.00 or more in a calendar month you will receive a bill in the following month
at our normal billing period; or If you have not received a statement for two consecutive
months then you will receive a bill in the third month.
We or an appointed company by us (Intrum Justitia) will collect the amount shown
on your bill in line with the charges that apply to your service account. If you
are late in meeting a payment, we may charge you interest on the amount you owe
us.
We will charge you interest at a rate of 15 % of the outstanding debts. We will
calculate this interest on a daily basis over 365 days in the year.
A company dealing in receivable management services will handle bad debts.
Any call credit, or such similar incentive as offered by us from time to time at
our sole discretion, will be debited from the amount you owe us and shown on your
monthly bill as a call credit. Customer who had signed up by a "web pop-up" will
be accredited a discount on their first monthly bill.
We are pleased to deal with any queries you may have.Top ^
10. Payment Options
We invoice our customers monthly on one combined, itemised bill. We expect our customers
to pay their bills within seven days of receiving the bill. As a customer you are
responsible for any charges incurred on your account. You may pay your bill by using
any of the options listed below.
By Direct Debit: It’s easy to set up, just call Customer Services.
It saves the hassle of writing out a cheque every month. The date when we collect
the amount due will be clearly shown on the front of your bill.
By Debit / Credit card: You can pay your bill by Switch, Solo,
Delta, Master Card, or Visa by simply calling our Customer Services and quoting
your payment reference number and card details.
By Cash: Simply take your bill to any PayPoint outlet, or to a
bank.
By Cheque: Just complete the payment slip and either take it to
a bank, or send your payment in the post. Top ^
11. Credit Policy
We expect our customers to
pay their bills promptly;
inform us of any significant change in their circumstances – e.g. if you are going
to be away for an extended period which may effect bill payment;
be straightforward with us when providing personal information.
If a customer experiences problems in paying their bill, Universal Telecom has a
consistent policy to
help the customer manage their costs;
protect both Universal Telecom and customers in general;
help minimise debt and disconnection;
promote good customer service.
We offer a wide range of methods for customer to pay their bill (see above Billing
and Payment.) and a number of ways of helping customers minimise the risk of large
debts for their communications service.
Where customers do not abide by our payment deadline, then Universal Telecom may
chase payment by calling the customer and / or sending reminders.
If there is no response to the initial payment demand and / or full payment of the
arrears is not made, then the customer’s services may be restricted. The customer
may be reminded that continued non-payment will lead to full disconnection after
21 working days. We will follow this by debt recovery procedures, which will include
disclosure of relevant customer information to the appropriate credit vetting agencies
leading to a possible bad credit history.
Any debt recovery procedures will be carried out professionally and in accordance
with relevant UK legislation and best industry practice.
- If a customer is in genuine dispute with Universal Telecom and makes this know
to us, then the disconnection process may be invoked, pending the outcome of the
dispute resolution.
- We are aware that some customers can get into financial difficulties unintentionally,
and this is taken into account when dealing with instances of non-payment. We will
advise the customer of our processes to minimise debt and help them manage their
bills. Customer may of course wish to take advantage of help from external debt
counselling agencies.
Universal Telecom reserves the right to disconnect any customer without prior notice
if the company has reasonable grounds for suspecting that there is an unacceptable
credit risk, for example through suspected illegal behaviour (e.g. fraud) or a breach
of the contract with Universal Telecom.
Any customer must settle any all-outstanding Universal Telecom debts and may be
subject to credit checking before new service can be re-provided.
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12. Complaint Handling and Dispute Resolution
We take all complaints seriously and will do what we reasonably can to resolve the
issue speedily and to the satisfaction of the customer concerned. If you have an
issue with any aspect of our service, please contact customer service.
If at the end of this procedure you feel your complaint has not been addressed properly,
you can contact Otelo, our independent dispute resolution Service.
Otelo
PO Box 730
Warrington
WA4 6WU
Website: www.otelo.org.uk
Email: enquires@otelo.org.uk
Telephone: 0845 050 1614.
Otelo is an independent approved dispute resolution service and is empowered to
resolve customer disputes; we are committed to this process. The communications
regulator Ofcom approves Otelo. If your complaint has not been resolved by us or
our dispute resolution agency, or you require further information on the role of
Ofcom see www.ofcom.org.uk
or call them on 0845 456 3000 or 020 7981 3040. Top ^
13. Resolution of Complaints
If you are unhappy with our service please contact us and let us know. It is through
your feedback that we are able to review and improve the overall service we provide.
If you have a complaint our formal internal complaints procedure is outlined below.
We are fully committed to addressing all complaints, fully and fairly, and in a
reasonable time frame. We do try and resolve complaints by telephone. Should you
wish to receive a response in writing then please ask.
What to do if you are dissatisfied:
If you are unhappy we need to know about it as quickly as possible. To avoid delay
please contact immediately.
If a complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction you can ask to escalate the
issue to a manager. As it may be necessary for the manager to call you back, please
provide daytime and evening contact numbers. Or you can write to our headquarters
address. Top ^
14. Communication with Customers
We believe in effective communications with our customers. Customers can contact
us through the contact form on our website.
A copy of this Code is posted on our website. However, if you would like us to post
you a copy then please contact via email, phone, or post and we will happily send
you one. If you would like to receive it in a particular format (for example, a
larger font size) then specify this at the time of asking and we will endeavour
to oblige. Top ^
15. Special Needs
Where our customers inform us of special needs regarding their ability to use our
Service on an on-going basis, we will use our reasonable endeavours to satisfy those
needs.
For those Customers who have problems reading the terms and conditions of the contract
should ask a salesperson to explain them. Top ^
16. Approval and Review of Code
Ofcom has approved this Code of Practice, in accordance with criteria agreed with
the UK telecommunications industry.
All information and pricing are correct at the time of going to print. Top ^
Universal Telecom - May 2006
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