New rules?

These new rules are fine, but what do you do when they aren't followed?

"To keep track of switches, Ofcom's code stipulates that providers and service resellers have to obtain a three-digit reseller ID (RID) from Ofcom, which can then be used to monitor and protect the movement of services.

Companies also have to take measures to ensure consumers do not lose any service at any point during the switch."

Ofcom seem "toothless" and aren't contactable anyway.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/about/what-is-ofcom/contact-us/


It makes you wonder when they state "Ofcom cannot investigate individual cases"

I guess it is because they couldn't handle the volume of individual complaints that would head their way if that became part of their remit

ISPs know that very little (if anything) is ever done, so they drag their heels and the customer suffers as a result.

I understood all ISPs have to sign up to a 3rd party service that deals with escalated individual complaints. Ofcom are there to monitor and regulate not as an escalation path as they have put rules in place for where people should escalate issues to.

That doesn't stop people feeding back to Ofcom on where the process is failing so that Ofcom can then look to improve it - but that doesn't mean Ofcom have any involvement in the individual case.

The trouble is the process takes months and in that time the customer suffers and because of all these silly rules you can't just get an alternative provider for a few days/weeks/months.

Surely having rules, silly or otherwise, is far better than having none whatsoever. The rule causing problems is the time that can pass before a user can make a formal complaint to an ISP's nominated Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme.

Providers are expected to have their own internal complaints process and the adjudicators should only be used when the internal processes have failed.

I am not sure: sometimes rules just hinder rather than help.

It would appear that like many road plans someone at Ofcom is paid a fortune to analise problems and they just seem to bring in rules that make things worse!

That's a superbly applicable typo you have, instead of analyse.

Bob, surely you're not suggesting that Ofcom make an ass of the process?