Code of Practice

1.0 Introduction

1.1 eircom mobile Mission

1.2 Purpose

1.3 Changes to the Code of Practice

1.4 Code of Practice of the Irish Cellular Industry Association

1.5 Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland

1.6 Hotline Service

2.0 Scope

3.0 References

4.0 Definitions

5.0 Responsibility

6.0 Complaints Process

6.1 Lodging a complaint

6.2 Complaint Handling

6.2.1 Stage of the complaint

6.2.2 Categories of complaint

6.2.3 Response Times

6.3 Escalation

6.4 Customer Guarantee Scheme

6.5 Complaint Tracking

6.6 Disconnection

6.7 Retention of Records

6.8 Independent Advisory Bodies

1.0 Introduction

1.1 eircom mobile Mission

eircom mobile sims to help you get the most out of your busy life by offering you the very best service and Customer Care.

We are committed to developing and maintaining excellent relationships with our customers, our colleagues, our host mobile telephony provider, Meteor Mobile Communications Limited, trading as Meteor, and our community through ethical behaviour, fair dealing and creating an open environment.

1.2 Purpose

In line with our mission to develop and maintain excellent relationships with our customers, eircom mobile have devised a Code of Practice that meets and exceeds the needs of our customers. Outlined in this document is a minimum set of standards which our customers should expect in the treatment of customer complaints. Details of this Code of Practice will be made available to customers on the eircom mobile website (www.eircom.ie/mobile) and a full breakdown of the Code of Practice will be available on request.

Outlined in this document is eircom mobileâ??s minimum set of criteria for handling customer complaints. eircom mobile acknowledges the definition of "complaint" suggested by ComReg in their Decision Notice D13/01, as "an expression of dissatisfaction with the [telecommunications service provider] or the service it provides, received from a user or member of the public."

1.3 Changes to the Code of Practice

On implementation of significant changes beyond the Decision Notice D13/01 of ComReg dated 29th August 2001 - Codes of Practice for the Handling of Consumer Complaints by Telecommunications Operators - which impacts this Code of Practice, eircom mobile will notify customers of such changes.

1.4 Code of Practice of the Irish Cellular Industry Association

eircom mobile recognises, endorses and, where applicable, fully adheres to the Code of Practice of the Irish Cellular Industry Association ("ICIA") entered into by its host service provider, Meteor Mobile Communications Limited, trading as Meteor. The ICIA Code is available for review at http://www.meteor.ie/misc/ICIACodeofPractice.pdf or on request from eircom mobile, 4030 Kingswood Avenue, Citywest Business Park, Naas Road, Dublin 24. eircom mobile also draws your attention to the ICIA's useful Parents' Guide which is available for review at http://www.meteor.ie/misc/ICIA_Parents_Guide.pdf.

1.5 Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland

eircom Limited is a member of the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland ("ISPAI") which is constituted from the service providers providing internet related services in Ireland. It is the policy of eircom mobile to recognise and fully adhere to the Code of Practice and Ethics produced by the ISPAI and available for review at http://www.ispai.ie/news.htm.

1.6 The Hotline Service

eircom mobile supports and endorses the use of the Hotline Service operated by ISPAI which combats the existence of illegal internet content in society generally and on the Internet, in particular. Details of the service are available at www.hotline.ie.

The Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 makes it illegal for anyone to knowingly produce, forward, publish, send, show or possess any child pornography in Ireland. A child is defined in the Act as any person under the age of 17 years. Child pornography is defined very broadly and includes, amongst other things, visual and audio representations, of a sexual nature, of persons under 17 years of age and may include representations such as cartoon images.

If you have any reason to believe that a particular image you have received might be illegal, such as child pornography, you should report it immediately to the Gardaí. You should advise the Gardaí of the full details of any relevant information available to you such as the sender’s telephone number, etc.

Illegal images of this nature, particularly those encountered while web-browsing, should be reported to www.hotline.ie. This service is provided, in a secure and confidential environment, by the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland (ISPAI) for reporting any instances of child pornography on the Internet.

2.0 Scope

This Code applies to the departments within eircom mobile who have responsibility for receiving, tracking and resolving customer complaints.

3.0 References

Decision Notice D13/01: Decision Notice outlining the Code of Practice for the handling of Customer Complaints by Telecommunications Operators (available for review on www.comreg.ie).

4.0 Definitions

ComReg: Commission for Communications Regulation
eircom mobile: eircom mobile is a trading name of eircom Limited whose registered office is 114, St. Stephen's Green West, Dublin 2. Registered number 98789.

5.0 Responsibility

It is the responsibility of the Director of Customer Care to ensure that all guidelines as part of this Code of Practice are met. Responsibility is delegated through department managers and supervisors in the case of escalated issues the responsibility lies with other department heads.

6.0 Complaints Process

6.1 Lodging a complaint

eircom mobile provides customers with various support media in which they can lodge a complaint. They are as follows:

Telephone: eircom mobile has set up a customer helpline accessible via a freephone number, the details of which are published on the website and included with brochures and marketing communication. This freephone number is available to customers from 08:00am to 12:00pm, 365 days a year.

Letter: A postal address is available to customers and visible both on our website and in our ‘Welcome booklet’ should our customers wish to write in with their complaint.

E-mail address: An email address is available on the Eircom mobile website and on the ‘Welcome booklet’ for emailing complaints.

Outlined below are the available methods in which a customer can lodge a complaint. eircom mobile publishes Customer Care opening hours on customer literature and on the eircom mobile web site.

Customer Care Helpline: 1800 25 25 85

Email: info@eircommobile.ie

Postal address:
eircom mobile Customer Care
4030 Kingswood Avenue,
Citywest Business Park,
Naas Road,
Dublin 24

6.2 Complaint Handling

In order for the complaint to be handled in an effective and timely manner a transparent and traceable complaints process is in place within eircom mobile.

6.2.1 Stages of the complaint

The following are the basic stages of the complaint. Additional stages may be required in order to resolve the issue but these serve to indicate a top-level view of the process for resolution of complaints.

a) Contact by customer

b) Acknowledgement of the complaint

c) Investigation of the complaint

d) Notification of resolution

e) Internal escalation

f) Other

6.2.2 Categories of the complaint

Outlined below are the top-level categories used to identify the complaints. In order to glean a complete understanding of the issues, these categories are further broken down within eircom mobile's internal complaints handling procedure. Targeted timescales are provided to indicate minimum response times for resolution of an issue. Should an issue move outside these timescales, the customer will be informed periodically of the status of the issue and subsequently on resolution.

6.2.3 Response times

All complaints should be acknowledged or responded to within at least two working days. Where possible, eircom mobile will attempt to provide a timescale to the customer as to the expected resolution of the complaint. In the case of an ongoing issue, the customer will be notified that the issue has yet to be resolved with the revised expected resolution date. On resolution of the issue, the customer will be informed as such.

6.3 Escalation

eircom mobile have an internal escalation procedure which ensures that should a complaint become unable to be resolved at any stage in the process, the complaint is handed over to the next level for a resolution. This escalation procedure should serve to expedite the turnaround time of any complaint that is not being resolved within a reasonable timescale.

Please note, in the case of coverage issues where service is not currently available in an area, the customer will be given an estimated date of coverage rollout within that area.

The following are the points of escalation in relation to each area. Each complaint is dealt with on a case-by-case basis and the point at which the next escalation point lies is dependant on the nature of the issue.

Billing

Customer Care Agent
Customer Care Supervisor
Finance/Fraud Department
Director of Customer Care
Director of Finance

Network/Quality of Service

Customer Care Agent
Customer Care Technical Helpdesk
NOC
Technical Director
Director of Customer Care

Roaming

Customer Care Agent
Customer Care Supervisor
NOC
International Roaming Coordinator
IT Director
Technical Director
Director of Customer Care

Handset

Customer Care Agent
Customer Care Technical Helpdesk
Repair Centre
Marketing Department
Director of Marketing
Director of Customer Care

Other

In the event that you are still not satisfied after escalation to the Head of eircom mobile Customer Services, 4030 Kingswood Avenue, Citywest Business Park, Naas Road, Dublin 24.

Your letter will be acknowledged within 3 working days of receipt.

In your correspondence, you must state clearly the background and nature of the complaint and the redress sought by you. The head of eircom mobile Customer Care will endeavour to address your complaint within a reasonable period of time.

6.4 Customer Guarantee Scheme

If at any stage during the Complaints process that eircom mobile is found to be the responsible party you will be reimbursed as follows:

Complaints that do not fall into these designated categories will be dealt with on a case by case basis.

All reimbursements will be in the form of call credit and will be credited to your account within 48 hours of the complaint being upheld and the customer having been advised accordingly.

6.5 Complaint Tracking

A full history of customer contact is available on eircom mobile's Billing and Customer Database. eircom mobile have the facility to easily check the status of customer complaints by checking the history trail on their account. This account is accessible by MSISDN or client ID.

In the case of technical complaints a history is updated by the Technical Helpdesk and the ticket is placed as part of the daily helpdesk report using the MSISDN as the tracking identifier.

6.6 Disconnection

eircom mobile have set out a policy in relation to disconnection to ensure the needs of the customer are met. In the case of formal billing complaint being lodged by the customer and a dispute subsequently ensuing, the service will remain available to the customer while a legitimate dispute exists providing the undisputed portion has been paid. In the case of risk exposure of the company due to suspected fraud, the service may be disconnected pending conclusion of an investigation.

6.7 Retention of records

Details of complaints will be retained for minimum of one year following their resolution. For legal reasons customer information may be held for up to 7 years.

6.8 Independent Advisory Bodies

This Code of practice does not affect the statutory rights of the customers. Should eircom mobile's customers wish to seek independent advice they may contact any of the following:

Advertising Standards Authority:

IPC House
Shelbourne Road
Dublin 4
www.asai.ie
Ph: 01 660 8766

Office of the Director of Telecommunication Regulation (COMREG):

Irish Life Centre
Dublin 1
www.comreg.ie
Ph: 01 804 9600

Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs:

4 Harcourt Road
Dublin 2
www.odca.ie
Ph: 01 402 5555

Data Protection Commissioner:

Canal House
Station Road
Portarlington
Co Laois
www.dataprotection.ie
Ph: 1890 25 22 31

Internet Service Provider Association of Ireland (ISPAI):

Unit 24
Sandyford Office Park
Dublin 18
www.ispai.ie
Ph: 01 294 5280

Regtel:

3rd Floor Crescent Hall
Mount Street Crescent
Dublin 2
www.regtel.ie
Ph: 1850 741 741.

Small Claims Court:

Inns Quay
Dublin 7
http://www.courts.ie
Ph: 01 888 6000