16. The vast majority of our transactions- especially with residential customers- are conducted over the phone. However, your contact with us may take other forms. You can look at the products and services featured on our website at http://www.bt.com - and order online. And of course, there may be circumstances in which we, or third parties acting on our behalf, meet you face-to-face.
i) Telephone calls
17. If we call you, we will let you know at the outset of the call who we are, why we are ringing, and how long we expect the call to last. If you do not wish us to proceed, we will of course end the call immediately. In addition, we will take care not to abuse the trust of potentially vulnerable customers by pursuing sales presentations to them.
18. We will not call before 8.00am or after 9.00pm, unless you have asked us to.
19. We will give you accurate descriptions of the services we are promoting, explaining the main characteristics and the price (including recurring charges). In some cases, we may also refer to services offered by our competitors. If so, the information will be factual, and any comparisons we make will be fair and objective.
20. We will of course be happy to answer any queries you may have.
21. If you express an interest in any of the services we are offering, we will let you know about any cancellation rights that may apply. If you are a residential customer, you will be able to cancel without charge at any time up until we provide the service. If you are a business customer, you can usually cancel up until provision, but you may have to pay us any costs that we have incurred in preparing to provide the service. (In some circumstances, however, if you are transferring your service to BT, you will be able to cancel without charge.)
22. We will let you know when you are making a contract with us. There is no legal requirement for contracts to be signed (or even made in writing). So, in many cases, when you order a service over the phone and we agree to provide it, a binding contract is made there and then.
ii) Online at http://www.bt.com
23. You will be able to access the same range of information as described above, and if you order a service from us, we will quickly send you an acknowledgement.
iii) Face-to-face
a) Residential customers
24. If you are a residential customer, there may be some limited circumstances in which you have face-to-face contact with us for sales and marketing purposes. However, in the light of the current state of the fixed telecommunications market, the consumer protection measures available, and the lack of enforcement action taken to date in respect of mis-selling, BT is not convinced that it is appropriate for providers to routinely make unsolicited visits to consumers' homes for sale and marketing purposes. Accordingly, we are seeking to engage with the rest of the industry on this issue.
25. However, you can rest assured that if we do make any such visits, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that you can establish that the salesperson represents BT, and that they will deal with you in a courteous and professional manner. We will take reasonable steps to keep ourselves informed of any local authority or password initiatives that relate to doorstep selling. We will also take care not to abuse the trust of potentially vulnerable customers by pursuing sales presentations to them.
26. We will not visit you before 8.00am or after 8.00pm, unless you have asked us to.
27. Each of our representatives will have an identity badge displaying his or her name and the name of their company. The badge will also show a photograph of the representative and a unique identification number. This information will be displayed prominently (and can be provided in Braille on request).
28. If the timing of the visit is not convenient, or if at any stage you wish to end the discussion, we will of course leave your premises immediately.
29. We will give you accurate descriptions of the services we are promoting, explaining the main characteristics and the price (including recurring charges). In some cases, we may also refer to services offered by our competitors. If so, the information will be factual, and any comparisons we make will be fair and objective.
30. We will of course be happy to answer any queries you may have.
31. If you express an interest in any of the services we are offering, we will let you know about any cancellation rights that may apply. As a residential customer, you will be able to cancel without charge at any time up until we provide the service. However, you will also have an additional legal right to change your mind up until about seven days after we have visited you.
b) Business customers
32. For business customers, we believe that visits from other traders promoting their services are expected- and considered to form part of “business as usual”. Accordingly, we may routinely make unsolicited visits at customers' business premises to promote our services- but will apply the same standards of behaviour as we would for our residential customers .
33. As a business customer, you can usually cancel your contract up until provision, but you may have to pay us any costs that we have incurred in preparing to provide the service. (In some circumstances, however, if you are transferring your service to BT, you will be able to cancel without charge.)
