Code of Conduct
STM hereby nominate ISPA as my agent for the purpose of receiving take-down notifications in terms of section 75 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act.
The relevant details for ISPA are:
Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA)
Address: PO Box 518, Noordwyk, 1687
Telephone: 010 500 1200
Email: complaints@ispa.org.za
STM Comm. Cc. aims to provide its clients with superior service, quality products and unflinching ethical conduct. To this end, we commit ourselves to the code of conduct below. Should you believe that we fail to live up to our code of conduct, please follow the complaint procedure set out below: • Send an e-mail to info@stmgroup.co.za and/or • Call us on 0861 070 809 and ask for assistance with a complaint in terms of the code. • If you are not satisfied with the manner in which any complaint is handled then please escalate your complaint in the following manner: o Email helpdesk@stmgroup.co.za • If this does still not resolve any complaint you may have, you may contact the Complaints and Compliance department of ICASA. ICASA is the regulatory body of our industry and we are accountable to ICASA for all of our failings. Please see details below for more information about any complaints procedure.
1. Our Commitments to you as our customer a) Our customers are our business. We undertake to deal with you fairly, reasonably, honestly and in a commercially appropriate manner. b) We will treat you with dignity and respect and we trust you will afford us the exact same rights and obligations in the manner in which you treat us. c) We understand that when dealing with technology, failures happen. We will deal with them in a reasonable and expeditious manner. d) We understand that many failures
often result from the failures of third party agents such as Telkom, Vodacom, Neotel, MTN and the like. We will always attempt to deal with them on your behalf to the best of our abilities. e) We undertake to comply with all laws governing our license obligations f) Discrimination is an anathema to our business, we will not unfairly discriminate against or between anyone on the basis of race, gender, sex, age, religion, belief, disability, ethnic background or sexual orientation g) We will always quote you on any issue prior to you incurring any cost. However please remember that our time is valuable, if you make us do unnecessary work or require us to investigate and/or fix issues which re not of our making, you may incur a cost. h) We will upon request provide you with pricing for both products and services. i) We will always give you the best advice for your, rather than our needs. j) We will always keep your personal information confidential and will release such information about you only as required by South African law and/or as stipulated below. k) We will make sure that you always know how to take up any issue of support or complaint and how to escalate such complaint both within our own organization as well as to the regulator.
2. You have rights as a Consumer Your rights include, amongst others a) A right to be provided with the required service without any unfair discrimination, provided that it is commercially feasible. b) A right to choose the service provider of your choice, provided that it is commercially feasible. c) A right to receive information in your preferred language, provided that it is commercially feasible and reasonable under the circumstances. d) A right to access and question records and information held by us in accordance with South African law. e) A right to the protection of your personal data, including the right not to have your personal data sold to third parties without your permission. f) A right to port a number in terms of applicable regulations. g) A right to lodge a complaint as described in this document. h) A right to redress if your complaint is found to be valid.
3. Tariffs We understand that competitors are continuing to find out information about our pricing in order to attempt to undercut our business in the market. Once we have established that you are a legitimate customer, full pricing is provided to you together with tiered price breaks and a differentiation between infrastructure costs and product costs.
4. Service Contracts Our contracts are part of our proposal and accordingly provided to you prior to signature. We have attempted to write these contracts in a clear and unambiguous manner. Please feelfree to ask us any question or explain any part of the contract prior to signing. Our contracts always include a) The nature of the contract b) The Minimum duration of the contract – please remember that Telkom offer require a minimum 12 month commitment on infrastructure c) Any applicable payment for early termination – i.e. if a contract is terminated prior to any minimum duration d) The notice period for any termination e) The manner of notice of termination.
5. Confidentiality Your personal information is yours alone. Subject to the legal requirements of South African law, all of your information is treated with the highest level of confidentiality. Let us know what you consider your private information in order to ensure that we can protect it. Please note that we may use your information in certain circumstances such as briefing professional advisors, taking legal action against you, subject to a police subpoena or court order etc 6. Billing, credit and collections While we will endeavour to provide you a fantastic service, you need to pay your bill in full on time. That is part of your respect to us as a supplier. Your contract clearly states the payment terms and penalties for late payment. You will receive from us a bill at the appropriate time. We reserve the right to credit vet our customers and decline to do business with anyone who poses a credit risk within our discretion. We will always : a) Clearly communicate billing processes to you b) Set out procedures of how to pay us in our bill to you c) Our contract deals with the process of credit vetting. Remember, pre-payment is always an option as well as bank guarantees from an acceptable bank. d) As we are corporate rather than consumer facing, where necessary, we will provide a simple explanation to consumers of how the credit referencing system operates, in accordance with the provisions of the National Credit Act No. 34 of 2005 and any other applicable law and/or regulation Where you lodge a billing complaint, the complaint handling process will be guided by the following general principles: a) We will not disconnect the service of the consumer while investigating a legitimate dispute provided that you have paid the undisputed part of your bill and the disputed part of the bill appears to be logical and reasonable b) We will reach a determination regarding the billing complaint and communicate it to you within fourteen (14) working days c) We will communicate our finding to you and we require both you and ourselves to act in a reasonable manner thereafter. d) Provided the dispute is reasonable and logical and the undisputed portion has been paid, we will not charge penalties or interest on the outstanding portion of the account until the manner has been properly investigated by us and you informed of the outcome. e) We will ensure that you are informed well in advance about time for payment and the possibility of disconnection in the case of non-payment within a certain period before we disconnect you.
7. Complaints and dispute resolution General Dispute Resolution Please follow the procedure set out at the top of this document: In all disputes the parties shall attempt to resolve all disputes arising in a spirit of cooperation and with a problem-solving mind set, without formal proceedings and in accordance with the various dispute resolution procedures provided. In the event of the dispute not being resolved, please follow the general complaint procedure as stipulated by ICASA for all complaints except billing disputes: You are required to direct a general complaint to info@stmgroup.co.za The complaint is required to be accompanied by the following a) Your full particulars and contact details including phone number and e-mail address b) Your relationship to us and any customer reference which may be applicable including either account number or ticket reference number c) A statement of the reasons for the complaint with enough detail to allow us to assess the validity of the complaint and resolve the issue if necessary d) Any relevant evidence or documentation you wish to submit in support of your complaint. Under the ICASA Code of Conduct Regulations, we are required to: a) Acknowledge receipt of your complaint within three working days b) Determine an outcome for the complaint and communicate this to you within fourteen (14) working days. Referral of Complaints to ICASA If you are not happy
about the outcome of the Complaint you have the right to escalate it to ICASA. If ICASA are not able to resolve the matter it may be referred to the ICASA Complaints and Compliance Committee for adjudication. Please note that under the ICASA Code of Conduct Regulations 2008 you must give us an opportunity to resolve the matter within the 14 day period before you have the right to escalate your complaint to ICASA. ICASA can be contacted in the following ways: Telephone (011) 566 3000, Fax (011) 444 1919 or Email: consumer@icasa.org.za Any dispute, which cannot be so resolved, shall be subject to binding arbitration upon the written demand of either party. Arbitration shall take place in South Africa.
8. General Promotional Marketing, Advertising and Sales Practices We adhere to a general obligation to ensure that advertising and promotional material is not misleading and complies with the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) Code of Conduct and any other relevant codes. Defective products/services We undertake to resolve defective services or products in the following way: a) Through a first point of contact though our helpdesk b) An escalation to our technicians c) An escalation to an onsite visit d) Replacement product or service Languages The Code of conduct is printed in English, and will be made available in any official language if you genuinely require it. Implementation All our staff are trained in regards to the code of conduct, and copies are displayed on our website.