External Reality Limited
Part 1 – Code of Practice for Domestic and/or Small Business Customers
Introduction to our Company and Services
External Reality Limited is an independent company that delivers communications services to domestic and small business customers. While we may not provide all the component parts of our services ourselves, we do take responsibility for the services delivered to you, so we will liaise with our suppliers to ensure that any problems with their services are resolved promptly.
Purpose of this Code of Practice
This code informs you about our products, services, customer-care policies and where to find information about our charges and terms and conditions. This Code of Practice is published on our website https://externalreality.co.uk/cpcode . Additional copies are available on request and free of charge to any domestic and small business customer. It is also available in large print format.
In addition to this Code of Practice, we also comply with the Ofcom General Conditions on Switching and Sales and Marketing available at:
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0029/129197/General-Condition-C7-Switching.pdf
How to Contact Us
Please contact our Managing Director, Richard Allan, using one of the following:
By Phone: 0333 043 8676
Opening Hours 0900 – 1730 Monday – Friday
By Email: richard@externalreality.co.uk
By Letter: Richard Allan, External Reality Limited, 27 Evan Barron Road, Inverness IV2 4JE
Or via our website: https://externalreality.co.uk/
Our registered office address is: 27 Evan Barron Road, Inverness IV2 4JE
Our Commitment to You
We are committed to giving you the highest quality of customer service. When we purchase our services from wholesale providers, we choose those providers carefully to ensure that you get a high-quality service. We make every reasonable effort to supply services that satisfy your requirements. We work to all relevant laws and regulations.
Our Products and Services
- WLR – Wholesale Line Rental
- Broadband access
- VoIP & IP telephony services
- Internet and cloud services
- Mobile data services
- Wireless and microwave fixed links
- Equipment and maintenance service
For more details on any of our products and services, or to place an order immediately, please contact our Customer Service Team on 0333 043 8676.
Marketing
We work to the principles in the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing, which are set out on the website www.cap.org.uk.
Terms and Conditions
When you subscribe to a service from External Reality Limited, we will send you our Standard Terms and Conditions and ask you to sign a contract, if applicable. If you have any questions, please phone our Customer Service Team on 0333 043 8676. We may carry out a credit check as part of our assessment procedures.
Where applicable the minimum contract term for our services will be 12 months. We aim to provide services within ten working days of your original request, subject to the availability and installation of any equipment and, where appropriate, lines to your premises. If we need to carry out a survey of your premises or lay additional cabling, we will inform you of the revised timescales as soon as we can.
Cancellation
If you decide to cancel your order or agreement before we have provided the services, you may do so without charge within ten working days of your order being placed. For cancellations after ten working days we will charge you an administration fee as set out in your contract. If you wish to terminate your contract within the minimum term of 12 months, please call our Customer Service Helpdesk on 0333 043 8676. We will charge you a fee as set out in your contract. After the minimum term you can cancel any service by calling our Customer Service Helpdesk on 0333 043 8676, giving us 1 months’ notice.
Faults and Repairs
Please call our Fault Service Team on 0333 043 8676 if you experience a fault with any of our services. For domestic customers we aim to have this investigated and repaired within five working days.
For SMEs, if required we will discuss operational service levels for the following on a case by case basis:
activation of a new service
restoration following loss of service
keeping a pre-agreed engineer appointment
Compensation and Refund Policy
We do not offer automatic compensation payments in cases where the service level targets are not met and will assess any claim for compensation on a case by case basis. Any payment made will be on a purely discretionary basis.
We do not feel that fixed level compensation payments are appropriate for business customers, who we advise to seek other ways, such as insurance, to protect themselves against the impact of any loss of service.
Price Lists
Our pricing structure is available from our Customer Service Team on 0333 043 8676. We will write to you in advance if we change the pricing structure on your products and services.
Billing
We will bill you monthly.
You can choose to pay us via a range of options including bank transfer and direct debit. These are agreed at the start of your contract. If you wish to change your method of payment at any time, please call our Customer Service Team.
We provide itemised bills as part of our service to you.
If you have difficulty paying your bill, please contact us on 0333 043 8676 and we will try to arrange a different method of payment. We will do all we can to help our residential and small business customers to manage their bills and avoid disconnection. In any event, you will be given 48 hours notice of any decision to disconnect your services.
Moving Home or Office
Please call our Customer Service Team on 0333 043 8676 no later than ten days before your move date. We will amend your account and billing requirements as necessary. We will endeavour to offer you the same telephone number to minimise disruption but please note that for geographic numbers this is not always possible.
Number Porting
External Reality Limited recognise that keeping your existing telephone numbers may be important to you. If you move your business to us and wish to keep the number that you have with your old provider, we will arrange it if you ask us. We will work with you to ensure that the services are switched over at a convenient and appropriate time. For more information, please call our Customer Service Team on 0333 043 8676.
If we fail to allow you to move your number away from us, we will pay you compensation at a rate of 1/365th cost of number per day of delay.
Directory Entries
You are entitled to a Directory Entry listing (including an entry in the Phone Book) for both your fixed and mobile telephone numbers. If you do want your details included, please contact our Customer Service Team on 0333 043 8676.
Complaints
We make every effort to ensure that our customers are happy with the level of service, and the products and service they receive from us. However, despite our best efforts, things can go wrong. We take customer complaints very seriously and aim to resolve them quickly and efficiently.
Our Code of Practice on Complaint Handling and Dispute Resolution explains how customers can complain. The code also provides information on how we deal with complaints and your right to take unresolved complaints to Alternative Dispute Resolution. You can find a copy of our Complaints Code https://externalreality.co.uk/cpcomplaint Alternatively, copies are available free of charge and on request from our Customer Service Team on 0333 043 8676.
Services for People with Special Needs
We are committed to helping all our customers to communicate easily. We offer the following additional services on request for customers who are older or who may have a disability:
- Priority access to the Customer Service Team
- Priority fault repair and assistance
- Text Relay Service
- Mobile SMS access to Emergency Services
- Third party bill management
- Access to a free Directory Enquiries service for people who are unable to use the printed phone book
- Copies of bills, contracts and this Code in an accessible format
Data Protection
We comply fully with our obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018.
Part 2 – Code of Practice for Premium Rate Service Calls
Purpose of this Code of Practice
This code informs you, our domestic and/or small business customers, about our policies on providing information about Premium Rate Service (PRS) calls and on our charging policy for calls to PRS numbers.
Premium Rate Services
Premium rate services (PRS) are telephone numbers that offer some form of information or entertainment that is charged to your phone bill. UK-based PRS numbers are normally prefixed by “09” or “118”. Numbers starting 087 are also designated as Premium Rate numbers and subject to PRS regulation when they cost 7p per minute or more. Typical services include TV votelines, mobile ringtone downloads, technical helplines, charity fund-raising and adult entertainment.
Charges for these services are made up of two parts, a service charge and an access charge and the total is added to your telephone bill. You will see the service charge advertised by the company providing the service alongside the number and this can be between 7p and £3.60 per minute, or £6 per call or per text (including VAT) for 08 and 09 prefixes. Calls to 118 services can cost up to £15.98 per call plus a £7.99 per minute charge (including VAT). The access charge is kept by us, your phone company. Our access charge for calling these services is shown in our price list, which is available on request from our Customer Services Team and via our website.
If you have a problem with PRS, we can help. We can provide advice on checking the telephone number of any PRS charges that appear on your bill and will try to help you identify the premium rate service provider. We can use call barring to restrict access to “09” numbers. Please call our Customer Service Team on 0333 043 8676 for advice on this. We can give you a factsheet on PRS.
You can also ask for help from the Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA) which is the industry-funded regulatory body for Premium Rate Services. PSA operates a Code of Practice that sets out standards for the operation of PRS. You can use the PSA website at www.psauthority.org.uk to check PRS numbers direct and find contact details for the company in question or to submit a complaint. PSA has the legal powers to require a provider of PRS to amend its service or promotional material (or both) and can also order refunds and impose penalties on service providers for breaches of the PSA Code. For other ways to contact Phone-paid Services Authority, see the “Useful addresses” section below.
If you are unhappy with the help you have received from us on a problem with PRS, please contact Richard Allan, Managing Director on 0333 043 8676 and\or by email at richard@externalreality.co.uk who has responsibility for compliance with our code of practice for PRS. You may also complain using the complaints procedure set out in our complaints code including, ultimately, referring your complaint to Ombudsman Services.
The Telephone Preference Service
If you don’t want to get sales and marketing calls you have not requested, you can add your details to a list run by the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). If your number is on the list, it is illegal for a company to call you for marketing purposes. You can contact the Telephone Preference Service via www.tpsonline.org.uk or by telephoning 0845 070 0707.
Useful Addresses
The Ombudsman Services
3300 Daresbury Park, Daresbury, Warrington, WA4 4HS
T: 0330 440 1614
(CP questions can be directed to osaccountmanagers@ombudsman-services.org )
Ofcom
Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Road, London, SE1 9HA
T: 020 7981 3040 or 0300 123 3333
Phone-paid Services Authority
40 Bank Street London, E14 5NR
T: 0800 500 212 or 020 7940 7474
Telephone Preference Service
DMA House, 70 Margaret Street, London W1W 8SS
T: 0845 070 0707
Federation of Communication Services (FCS)
Provident House, Burrell Row, Beckenham, Kent BR3 1AT
T: 020 7186 5432