Complaints Procedure

Within the ISPA Code of Conduct are provisions for customers of ISPA Members to make complaints about their ISP.

Please note that ISPA cannot become involved in complaints about ISPs who are NOT members of ISPA. ISPA strongly recommends that customers choose ISPs who ARE members of the Association. If you have a problem with an ISP which is not an ISPA member, we recommend that you contact your local Trading Standards office.

If you wish to make a complaint about an ISPA member, first read the text below.

8.3 Complaints Procedure

Where a Customer or other third party (a Complainant) makes a complaint to a Member that the Member has acted in breach of the Code (a Complaint) the following procedure shall apply.

8.3.1 Where the Complaint is made to the Member, the Member shall use its reasonable endeavours to resolve the Complaint within 10 working days of receipt, whether by email, letter, telephone call, or in person.

8.3.2 Where the Complaint is notified to the Secretariat, the Secretariat will direct the Complainant to contact the relevant Member direct if he has not already done so.

8.3.3 Where a Complainant informs the Secretariat that his Complaint has not been resolved to his satisfaction within the time-frame set out in Clause 8.3.1 above, the Secretariat will:

(a) ask that the online complaint form be used (or a letter sent to the Secretariat if the Complainant’s Internet access is restricted)

And

(b) forward the Complaint to the relevant Member’s contact (see 8.1.1).

8.3.4 The Member shall respond to the Complainant directly within 5 working days seeking to offer a solution to the problem. If the Complainant remains unsatisfied, or has not been contacted by the Member after the specified time, the Complainant will be instructed to file a second complaint with ISPA.

8.3.5 Once a second complaint has been made, the Member shall either offer a solution to the Complainant or advise the Complainant that deadlock has been reached and to contact the appropriate ADR scheme for adjudication.

8.3.6 Deadlock will be considered to have been reached if the Member and the Complainant have reached an impasse on the negotiations and no further progress can be made.

8.3.7 Deadlock will automatically be considered to have been reached when a complaint has not been resolved within 3 months from the date of the original complaint from the Complainant to the Member, as described in 8.3.1. However, Complainants should not be made to wait 3 months as a matter of course and Members should declare deadlock under 8.3.6 as soon as appropriate.

8.3.8 Prior to its resolution, the details of any Complaint to which the ISPA Complaints procedure has been applied shall be kept confidential by the Member unless published by the Complainant.

8.3.9 If the complaint is escalated to CISAS, the ISPA Member shall provide the Complainant with a CISAS reference number and direct the customer to complete the CISAS online application form. Additional guidance for users of CISAS, how to issue a CISAS reference number, and Rules for CISAS members are available from the ISPA web site.

8.4 Referral to third party

8.4.1 Where a Complaint appears to fall within the ambit of a particular regulatory or self-regulatory body (such as ICSTIS, Ofcom, or the IWF), the Secretariat or Council may refer the Complaint to that body.

When filling out the complaints form, please ensure to choose the correct name of the company you have a complaint with. If the name of the company is not listed, it is likely they are not a member of ISPA and we cannot process the complaint. Please contact ISPA for more details.

Proceed to Complaints form here.