Clampdown on dodgy phone-selling tactics announced

Er, are you sure you are old enough for a contract?
Er, are you sure you are old enough for a contract?

Purchasing a mobile phone in the UK is set to become that little bit easier, due to a new ruling out today that's set to weed out the mis-selling of handsets.

Ofcom has announced an 'own-initiative' which prohibits "providers from engaging in dishonest, misleading or deceptive conduct, aggressive conduct or contacting the customer in an inappropriate manner."

Points of view

The new ruling means that mobile phone sales people need to be totally clued up about the phones they are selling and, above all, honest about the handsets and the contracts which come with them.

Ofcom has outlined the following key points that need to be adhered to:

  • To give customers the accurate information they need when they buy the product
  • To check the customer is authorised to, and intends to, enter into a contract
  • To train staff appropriately
  • To carry out due diligence and a number of checks in respect of their retailers to ensure that they are fit and proper to sell the services on the MSPs behalf
  • To check that the terms and conditions of sales incentives offered by their retailers are not unduly restrictive

Action force

Anyone not taking the rules seriously will be investigated by Ofcom and relevant action will be taken.

Form more information, go to www.ofcom.org.uk and check out the bulletin section.

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.