 Print this page |
Orange Home Phone Sales & Marketing Code of Practice
Orange Home UK Limited and Orange Personal Communications Services Limited are Service Providers and part of the France Telecom group. The Member Services will be provided to you by Orange Home UK Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 3014367); whose registered office is: St James Court, Great Park Road, Almondsbury Park, Bradley Stoke, Bristol, BS32 4QJ.
The purpose of the Home Phone Sales and Marketing Code of Practice for fixed line telephony
This Code provides a clear summary of the sales and marketing policies for our fixed-line telephony products. It will also provide you with contact points should you wish to learn more about us or raise issues with us or organisations with whom we are associated.
This Code does not affect your rights as a consumer and is not contractually binding on you or Orange. A copy of this Code is available to customers at www.orange.co.uk/terms/5594.htm. If you would like to obtain printed copies of this Code, or a copy in large print, please let us know at the address below.
Contact details
You can find out more about our service at www.orange.co.uk.
If you wish to speak to one of our Sales or Customer Care representatives, you can reach them all day, every day (except public holidays) by calling 0844 873 8586 . Calls are charged at up to 5p a minute from a BT line and may be monitored for training purposes.
Sales, marketing, advertising and promotion
We approach customers in many ways - by TV, radio or press advertising, promotions in shops or shopping centres, post, fax, electronic mail, telephone or in person. In all cases, Orange employees and representatives must act responsibly and comply with this Code, any other relevant codes of practice (including advertising codes such as the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing), laws and regulations.
We aim to ensure that our advertising and promotional literature is clear, unambiguous, accurate and fair, containing no false or misleading information about price, value or service. We will not denigrate other service providers.
We will respect your wishes 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.
Recruitment and sales training
We have strict procedures for the recruitment and selection of all staff (or any sub-contractors) who have direct contact with customers. This includes identity and security checks. All applicants must provide proof of National Insurance number, proof of address and two references. Referees must not be related to the applicant. Business referees must not both be from the same company. If a sales person leaves Orange for any reason a copy of his or her sales records (including all recordings and notes on sales) will be retained for a minimum period of six months. We will try to retrieve the identification badges of staff leaving Orange.
When we recruit sales staff we consider the applicant’s behaviour and appearance, recognising that sales persons may be seen as the “public face” of the industry. We will also take into account evidence of mis-selling or lack of integrity in any previous selling employment.
We endeavour to have adequately trained sales staff able to give accurate and clear information about our fixed-line telephony services to potential customers. Our staff are aware of the industry practices in the UK that allow customers to change provider and the conditions which apply.
Our staff understand the various packages and services offered as part of Orange and how they compare to competing products. They will be able to explain the ordering process, our prices, the terms and conditions which apply and the process for cancelling a contract during the cooling-off period or at any time following commencement of the service.
Our remuneration system for sales staff is documented and does not encourage misleading or exploitative sales practices.
We ensure that all our sub-contractors and agents have equivalent selection and training procedures in place.
Customer contact
Our sales staff do not make face-to-face contact outside the hours of 8am - 8pm and do not telephone outside the hours of 8am - 9pm, unless you ask them to.
All of our staff who are involved in face-to-face sales and marketing are issued with identity badges that display the name Orange and an employee number. These identity badges also state the name and display a photograph of the staff member as well as an expiry date for validity of the card. Our staff will identify themselves and confirm that they are representatives of Orange. They will also state the purpose of their visit and the expected duration of either the call or the sale. We expect our salespeople to be courteous and offer clear and straightforward information and explanations at all times.
Our staff will not continue contact with any person who indicates that the contact is inconvenient, unwelcome, inappropriate or too long. If a customer requests it, the discussion will be ended immediately or, if making a doorstep call, our representative will leave the premises immediately.
We will not abuse the trust of vulnerable customers, for example those who are elderly or whose first language in not English. Where there is sheltered housing, nursing homes or residential care facilities contact will be made with the warden or other person in authority before any approach is made to residents. We will not intentionally target sales or marketing activity to those who are under the legal age for entering into contracts.
We will keep suitable records of its sales and marketing activity for a period of six months. These records will contain sufficient information to enable us to identify the salesperson involved and to assist in the dealing with any query or complaint.
Entering into a contract - information, order forms and contracts
We will check that the person signing our contract for fixed line telephony services through our internet package is responsible or authorised to order those services for their home.
Customers will be given the following information in writing or during the sales call in a clear comprehensible prominent and accurate manner:
• our company name, address and contact details
• a description of the service chosen and how it works, including the cost of any standing charges
• details of the payment terms
• the process for provision of the service
• details of the right of cancellation and the process for exercising it
• the period for which the charges remain valid
• the minimum period of contract and minimum contract charges, if any
Where you have signed an order form following face to face contact or have entered into a written contract you will be given a copy of the contract and details of arrangements for the termination of the contract, either at the time you enter into the contract or within 5 working days, unless this has been previously supplied in writing prior to contract.
Customers signing-up for our services by other methods will receive information confirming the Orange Home Phone package that they have agreed to take in addition to information about cancelling the order or terminating the contract. Where relevant, sales conducted in this way will comply with the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000.
For internet orders, links to the terms and conditions of the agreement and the information referred to above will be clearly displayed and the information will be available to be easily downloaded and printed.
You can cancel orders by telephone, in writing by post, fax or e-mail. Where you cancel an order within the relevant cancellation period, you will not be charged for cancellation.
We will send to all customers a letter setting out details of the transfer and the following information:
• date of notification
• CLI(s) affected
• list of services affected/unaffected, e.g. IA call barring
• date of switchover
• the sender’s contacts details for any queries
This may be sent electronically if you have applied online and have confirmed online that you wish all future correspondence to be sent electronically or have asked by written correspondence that all information be sent electronically.
We will contact all Customers to confirm that they understand that they have entered into an agreement, are happy to proceed with the agreement and are content with the way in which the sales and marketing activity was conducted.
We keep under review the procedures by which contracts are agreed and take appropriate steps to prevent recurrence of any problem identified.
Making a complaint
Any complaints in relation to our sales and marketing activity follow our normal complaints procedures. All our customer facing staff and representatives are aware of these procedures. These procedures can be found in our main Code of Practice. This can be found at www.orange.co.uk/terms/5594.htm
Consumer protection and other legal requirements
Orange’s procedures have been drafted in accordance with guidelines produced by Ofcom on 13 April 2005 and to comply with all applicable legislation and any relevant amendments to such legislation.
Responsibility for compliance with this code of practice
We carry out regular audits of its systems, procedures and documentation to ensure that we act in compliance with all aspects of the Code. We are committed to ensuring all of our representatives comply with this Code of Practice. Our Sales and Marketing Director has responsibility for monitoring compliance with this Code.
If you feel that any Orange representative has breached this code in anyway please contact the Sales and Marketing Director at Orange Home UK Limited, St James Court, Great Park Road, Almondsbury Park, Bradley Stoke, Bristol, BS32 4QJ.
Distributing the Code: creating awareness
Orange makes the Code available to customers via the internet.
