Legal handling disputes
In the unlikely event of a dispute we are always keen to resolve the dispute promptly. We try to be honest and fair. We do make our contact terms very clear to avoid any confusion. We think it is fair that if you have suffered an outage in a service because of something we did wrong you should get your money back. However, we also think it is fair that you understand that things can break (usually because of matters outside of our control) and so have to take your own precautions against this. For this reason we offer at most your money back for the period a service was unusuable because we did something wrong. Please do read the terms carefully before considering any sort of formal dispute.
Step 1: Talk to us
The first step is to talk to us. If you have an issue and are in touch with any of our staff, ask them to resolve the problem for you. You can email or call as you wish. Our staff will be frank and honest with you and will try and help resolve your dispute if at all possible.
Step 2: Team leader
If you get nowhere with a member of staff then ask to speak to or be referred to a team leader. All of the departments have a team leader who can help resolve any dispute. Our team leaders have some discretion to offer credits in some cases, and will try and be reasonable.
Step 3: Escalations
If you are still having a problem you can email our escalations department at escalations@aaisp.net.uk. We recommend that you email us, and include the whole story in the email. Please feel free to simply quote the ticket number of previous emails as we can look up the conversation to help deal with your matter. The escalations department will took in to the matter, and if necessary involve a company director in making a decision. We will reply by email explaining our decision and reasoning.
Step 4: ADR
If you are still unhappy and we have reached a deadlock, or a period of 6 weeks has passed with no resolution, please ask us for details of the ADR process using otelo. ADR is an Alternative Dispute Resolution process allowing a dispute to be resolved without going to courts. The arbitrator will not consider trivial or frivolous claims. They will also not handle any dispute once court proceedings have started. We cannot use ADR if we have a dispute with you (i.e. you owe us money) so the courts would be the next step in such cases.
Step 5: Court
There is a long standing, perfectly good, simple and cheap system for resolving civil disputes in the UK - the county courts. They are easy to use, fair, and have the legal power to enforce a decision. We are happy to resolve a dispute via the county court if you wish. If you plan to take us to court, do ensure you follow procedures including sending us advance notice of your intentions. In any case, please try to resolve the dispute via steps 1 to 3 first.
In over 12 years trading we have never had a customer take a case to ADR or county court against us.
Resolutions
There are many ways a dispute can be resolved, but at the end of the day if we are unable to work together to provide the service you need then you always have the option to stop taking service from us (subject to notice periods and minimum terms). We also have the option to stop providing service to you if we wish. Neither of us has to have any reason for stopping the service. It may be that the simplest resolution to a dispute is that we simply stop dealing with each other. We would obviously prefer to resolve the matter amicably and continue to provide services to you if we can.
Whilst we have never had a case go to ADR we know of other ISPs that have. We do not understand why OFCOM insist on ADR. The county courts are cheap and are easy to use. There is even a web site to issue a county court claim on-line. The loser pays, but the costs are limited and lawyers are not involved. ADR on the other hand means us paying even if we were right, which is clearly unfair. If we are right, the arbitrator cannot compel you to adhere to their ruling either, which is clearly unfair. In light of the significant costs of ADR, if your dispute with us involves you wanting us to pay you money then we will consider threatening us with ADR to be duress (in effect, blackmail). In that case we may settle the payment under duress and issue a county court claim against you to reclaim it. Once the court is involved you cannot use ADR. If the dispute is one we have with you (e.g. you owe us money) then we cannot use ADR and we take you to court for what you owe. Please do bear this in mind before making any threats of ADR and consider how we can resolve the dispute amicably first. We would far rather resolve disputes fairly and amicably. Remember, whether we are right or wrong will often depend on what the contract says so please read it carefully. Even if we have done something wrong the contract limits our liability. Above all, talk to us first so we can avoid disputes.
