COMPANY > CODE OF PRACTICE

The purpose of our code of practice is:

  • To outline the main services we offer
  • To provide information on how to contact us
  • To ensure we deal with any complaints reasonably
  • To provide contact details for other relevant organisations

This Code of Practice meets current UK and European legislation and has also been approved by OFCOM. Our Code of Practice is regularly reviewed and updated where necessary to ensure it continues to meet the requirements of legislation and that it still meets our client's requirements. Cavendish is a member of the Office and Telecommunications Ombudsman (OTELO) that in turn has been approved by OFCOM to assist in the speedy and satisfactory resolution of disputes between Telecom Service Providers and their clients.

Nothing in this code detracts from your common law rights nor does anything it contains form any contract between Cavendish and you as the customer, unless expressly stated.

Hardware Services

  • Cavendish offers a range of industry leading telephony equipment for businesses
  • Cavendish offer comprehensive Structured Cabling services to all recognised standards
  • Cavendish offers an installation and maintenance service for our products and services supplied

Network Services

  • Cavendish offers direct telephone call routing including, delivered over reliable and resilient carriers at competitive prices
  • Cavendish offers rental of BT lines including analogue lines, ISDN 2, ISDN30 and other services at competitive prices

Sales

All Sales staff are rigorously selected by our HR department and undergo at least two interviews to ensure that we are as sure as we can be of the applicants integrity and honesty. It is made clear at interview that the company expects good sales practices that respect our clients and our Code of Practice. References are taken out and checks are made prior to employment to prevent unsuitable people being employed.

All our Sales staff undergo extensive product and technical training but we are equally aware of our legal and moral responsibility to present fair and accurate information to our clients before a commitment is made to buy. All staff are trained to ensure we do not exaggerate the benefit of any product or service we offer and to ensure integrity in all our dealings with clients.

There have been some well publicised sales practices, especially within Network Sales, where unscrupulous companies will switch clients to their network without proper authority and we have lost clients to this practice. Cavendish do not operate or condone these practices.

Cavendish is committed to responsible selling practices with no misrepresentations.

The terms and conditions that we base our business on are provided on the relevant Order/maintenance forms our clients sign but these can also be viewed via our website.

Repairs

All clients receive maintenance support in line with BT's standard response times and in accordance with our terms and condition of sale found on the reverse of our Orders Forms, Maintenance Agreements and via our web site. We can offer extended maintenance support for all our products (at additional cost) and if you would like further information on this please contact our Customer Support team on the number below;

All faults can be reported during normal opening hours to: Customer Support 01273 615622

Pricing

Please contact our sales team for current pricing information.

We undertake to provide clear and detailed quotations of any product or service you request and ensure that any services required from a third party is made clear in this quotation. We are committed to ensure that our quotes are unambiguous and that where technical language is required, that this is explained as clearly as possible.

We offer detailed call information via the web for all clients although paper copies are available on request.

Should a client not be in a position to honour an outstanding invoice, we can assist with deferred payment terms in certain circumstances but only if the client is maintaining a reliable and honest dialogue with our Finance Department. We will do everything reasonably possible to avoid suspension of service but we do ask that any issues or problems that prevent payment are made clearly known to us so we can assist wherever possible. Should your service be disconnected for non payment we will not reconnect you until payment is received in full and any re-connection charges are paid. Recovery of debts through the courts is our very last resort as we would rather help our clients with a problem than simply issue legal proceedings with the inevitable loss of the client whatever the outcome.

Billing

Invoicing for Network services is monthly with payment via Direct Debit Mandate for all our Network Services. This represents a simple, safe, single bill for both line rental and call costs. We can use the Direct Debit facility for other services provided but would seek client authorisation beforehand.

Our commitment

Our commitment to our clients is to provide quality products and services at competitive prices.

Privacy

We know that privacy is important to our clients and we take the legal and moral responsibilities very seriously. We will hold contact information we gain from our clients on our files but this is used exclusively within Cavendish and will only be used to enable us to provide a better level of service to our clients or market our own range of services. We assume that clients are happy with this unless they write to us at the address given in the Contact section. The only other exception is if we have reasonable belief that a client is using our services fraudulently or with criminal intent.

In some circumstances we may need to work with other companies to facilitate the product or services the client has requested. This may require that they access the information we hold, however, these companies must:

  • act with the instructions we give them
  • only do things they are entitled to do
  • meet the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 to keep the information secure

Complaints

Thankfully we receive very few complaints but we do have a documented complaints procedure to deal with this eventuality.

  1. Basic queries can be answered via one of the numbers provided. If you are not satisfied with any aspect of our service you can report your complaint to a member of staff (see contact list) and they will try to either resolve the matter over the phone or agree a course of action with you.
  2. If the query remains unresolved satisfactorily within 14 days, a letter should be sent to Leslie Collins - Customer Support Manager. Our aim is to provide you with a written response in answer to your query within 14 days of receipt of your communication.
  3. If you are not satisfied with our response you can contact the Managing Director (Andrew Walker) in writing for a final review of your complaint. He will respond in writing to you within 14 days of the receipt of your communication.

If you complaint falls within the remit of OTELO (Office of Telecommunication Ombudsman) and is still unresolved after 3 months or once deadlock has been reached, you may refer your complaint to independent arbitration at OTELO. Please see the 'Links' section for contact details.

We believe it is in both of our interests to try and resolve any dispute without outside assistance and assure you that we will do all we can to resolve any disputes in the unlikely event that a problem may arise.

How to contact us

There are a number of ways you can contact us and we will be able to answer your questions and explain our services to you:

For General and Sales Queries - 01273 615600
For General Account Queries - 01273 615600
For Telephone Network. Network Billing & BT Line Queries - 01273 615625
For Telephony faults and maintenance Queries - 01273 615622
You can fax us at: 01273 615605

We are available to discuss your enquiry during normal business hours
Monday to Friday 8.30 am - 5.30 pm.

You can write to us at: Cavendish Group, Cavendish House, New Road, Newhaven, East Sussex, BN9 0ES

You can e-mail us at: info@cavendishcoms.co.uk

Useful links

Office of Telecom Ombudsman
Wilderspool Park
Warrington
WA4 6HL
Telephone: 0845 050 1614
Fax: 0845 0501615
E-mail: Enquiries@otelo.org.uk
Or you can visit: www.otelo.org.uk

OFCOM Contact Centre
Riverside House
2a Southwark Bridge Road
London
SE1 9HA
Telephone: 0845 456 3000
Fax: 0845 456 3333
E-mail: contact@ofcom.org.uk
Or you can visit: www.ofcom.org.uk