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Telecom Terms Of Service For Residential Customers 1. These Terms These are our standard terms for residential customers and apply to all agreements and dealings between you and us as a Residential Customer. A residential customer means a customer who uses our service from a place of residence for private use only. The terms do not apply to customers who carry out commercial activities or operate non-profit organisations. Customers who carry out commercial operations from their place of residence should consider the benefits of taking up the Telecom Business Service Agreement. In these terms we have used "we" for Telecom Cook Islands Limited, "you" for our customer and "services" to cover all goods and services of any kind we provide and anything else we do. 2. Other Terms Further terms apply to some of our other services. For example additional terms apply when we provide Oyster Internet services, Cellular Mobile (KokaNet), CPE Lease Equipment products from the Telecom PhoneShop, special promotions on services, and Directory listing services for you as a residential customer. If we provide these services for you, we will send you a copy of the additional terms that apply. For further information about this, please call us free on 123. 3. Our Commitment to You Providing new connections We will provide a new connection within 1 working day so long as there is a telephone in your home, a live Telecom telephone line connecting your home to our network and any credit arrangements required under these terms are in place. Just call us free on 123. If we need to visit your home, we will arrange a time that is convenient to you. If there is no live Telecom telephone line connecting your home to our network, we will discuss with you what needs to be done to provide you with a live line, how long that is likely to take and what our charges will be. Fixing Faults We will fix within 3 working days at no charge all faults on our network outside your home and in any telephone or other equipment you rent from us. Our standard Line & Wiring Maintenance service covers faults in the telephone sockets and wiring inside your home. (Please see clause 5.) If either your connection to our network or the network connections serving you are provided by overhead cable, repairs of the fault will take longer; we will fix a fault in overhead cable as soon as is reasonably practical. To report a fault call us free on 120, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If we need to visit your home, we will do our best to arrange a time that is convenient to you. We will fix all faults during normal business hours. If you require a fault to be fixed outside of this time, a charge is applicable. Correcting telephone book listings Please tell us if your telephone book listing is incorrect by calling us free on 123. We will list you correctly on Telecom Directory Assistance. If we do not meet any of the commitments set out above, you can claim compensation from us - please see clause 14 for details. Replacing Faulty Phonecards and DebitCards If you have a Telecom Phonecard which appears to be faulty, just fill out the complaint form available from any Telecom Phonecard retailer and send the form with the faulty phonecard to Telecom Cook Islands. We will check the card and if it is faulty send you a replacement card. If you cannot get a form from a Telecom phonecard retailer, please call us free on 123. Answering our queries about bills If you have any queries about any part of your Telecom bill, call us free on 123. We are available from Monday to Friday 8.00am - 4.30pm (excluding public holidays), and can answer most queries on the spot. If there is a problem, you do not need to pay the queried portion of your bill until we investigate it and let you know whether or not there has been an error. Our services We will always do our best to provide our services but we do not guarantee they will be continuous or fault-free. 4. Our Network Our network consists of all the communications facilities owned by us, which we use to provide our services for you and our other customers. Acquiring our services does not give you any rights to any part of our network. Our network normally ends where our cable enters the outside wall of your home. If you have no live Telecom telephone cable connecting your home to our Network or if your line is a sub-surface line, you may be requested at any time to provide at your own cost a trench from the roadside to your house, or as directed by TCI. This is required in order for TCI to lay telephone cable in order to provide your telephone service. TCI will provide the telephone cable at the standard installation charge, but you will be responsible to arrange and to pay for any costs associated with digging the trench. 5. Our Line and Wiring Maintenance Services Our standard service We provide a standard line and wiring maintenance service which covers the cost of fixing, during our normal fault service hours, most faults in the telephone sockets and wiring inside your home which are covered by the service. Sockets and wiring covered by our standard service The standard service covers telephone sockets and wiring, which meet and are installed to our specifications. For example:
The standard service covers telephone wiring inside your home, not external cabling between your home and another building on your property such as a separate garage. Telephone sockets and wiring does not include equipment attached to sockets such as extension cords or socket adaptors. A copy of our Codes of Practice is available from Customer Services. Please call us on phone 123. Faults covered by our standard service We will fix all faults in the sockets and wiring covered by our standard wiring maintenance service unless:
Moving, adding to or changing sockets and wiring which are not faulty is not covered by our standard wiring maintenance service. Replacing sockets not in our product range If we need to replace a decorative or other item from our product range (such as a socket with a wood, metal or coloured faceplate) to fix a fault we will replace it with something from our product range which performs the same function. If you have a replacement item not from our product range which you want us to install instead, we will install it if it complies with our standards. 6. Your Responsibilities to Us General responsibilities You agree to meet these general responsibilities:
Responsibilities relating to our network and equipment supplied by us You also agree to meet these responsibilities relating to our network and the equipment you rent from us:
Responsibility for other people You agree to make sure everyone you are responsible for also meets the responsibilities set out in this clause. 7. Your Responsibilities for Services you acquire from other Suppliers Responsibility for your own equipment We have responsibilities under these terms only for equipment connected to our network which you rent from us. If equipment supplied to you by someone else does not work properly, you need to contact the equipment supplier or manufacturer, rather than us, about the problem. Any responsibilities we may have for equipment you acquire from us other than by renting it will be covered by a separate agreement. Responsibilities for your own sockets and wiring You are responsible for any telephone sockets and wiring that you privately install inside your home and for fixing any faults in them not covered by our standard line and wiring maintenance service. You are also responsible for any other wiring or equipment in your home, such as alarm systems connected to our network or cable television wiring. If any of it interferes with the equipment you rent from us or with any part of our network, we have no responsibility to pay you compensation if we have to temporarily disconnect the other wiring or equipment so as to restore our services to you. Our standard line and wiring maintenance service does not cover fixing faults in such other wiring or equipment. Transmitting data The Telecom telephone line into your home is designed principally for transmitting speech. If the line into your home is used for transmitting data to and from equipment such as computers connected to the Internet or home fax machines, we do not guarantee that it will be suitable for all the kinds of data you want to transmit or receive. 8. Telephone Numbers We will allocate one or more Telecom telephone numbers for you to use. This is a Telecom service. The numbers always remain our property even if we are no longer providing any other services for you. We may change any number we have allocated. For example, we may allocate you a new telecom telephone number. We will give you reasonable notice before making any change but we do not have to pay you anything if we change a number. If a dispute arises between two customers about a telephone number, TCI reserves the right to decide the outcome. Preference will normally be given to the first user of the telephone number. Please call us free on 123 if you want to change your Telecom telephone number. Charges And Billing 9. Your Responsibility for Paying our Charges You agree to pay for the services we provide for you no matter who uses them. For example, you are responsible for the charges for anyone else's use of your telephone. We have services to help customers control the use of their telephone. Call us free on 123 for more information about the availability of these services on the telephone line to your home. The standard charges for all our commonly used services are set out in the Cook Islands Telephone & Business Directory and a document called the Telecom List of Charges, or you may call 123 for details. Charges begin from the time you are connected to our network. A one month minimum rental charge is payable if you give up any service within the first month after we begin providing the service for you. We may change our charges from time to time. Where we change the standard residential line rental, we will write to you and put a notice in major daily newspapers and local television at least one month before the change takes effect. We will give you reasonable notice of any other changes. 10. Our Normal charges to you Our charges to you will normally include:
Examples of other charges for commonly used services include charges for:
11. Credit Arrangements When you become a telecom residential customer and request a Telecom Call Account, or request national and international direct dial services, we will require you to arrange a $50 bond. This bond is refunded to you when you close your account with us, or if you do not require direct dial services any more, so long as you have paid all charges incurred to your account. If required, we may request you to pay a higher bond in order for us to provide you some of our services. We will tell you how much we require before we agree to provide you any of these services. We may also set a credit limit for your account with us and we may change the credit limit from time to time after giving you reasonable notice of the new limit. If the total charges on your account exceed your credit limit, we will do our best to contact you to tell you the amount you need to pay to get back within your credit limit. You must pay that amount within 24 hours after we contact you. This applies whether or not we have sent you a bill for charges. 12. Billing We will send you bills for our charges. The bills will include any charges for calls made from your telephone or charged to your Telecom Call Account. They may also include any other amounts you owe for any reason to us for other non-telephone services such as Yellow Pages Advertising, Cellular and Internet. You must pay each bill by the due date for payment set out on it. Call us free on 123 to ask about the different ways you can pay. Our bills are based on our records. Please let us know before the due date for payment if you think there is a mistake in your bill. We will investigate the matter straight away. If we agree there is a mistake, we will adjust your next bill. If you do not pay a bill by the due date for payment, we may:
13. Withholding, Suspending or Restricting Services If you are becoming a telecom residential customer, or if you ask us to provide additional services, we may restrict the services we provide for you until a satisfactory payment history is established. For example, we may put a toll bar on your telephone. If you do not meet a responsibility you have to us, we may withhold, suspend or restrict any service at any time. We would always do our best to contact you before doing this. Where we suspend a service for any of these reasons, we may require you to pay a reconnection or suspension charge before you can use it again. We may also suspend or restrict any service in other circumstances if we think it reasonable or necessary. We will always do our best to contact you before doing this. In most cases, normal charges continue to apply during the suspension or restriction of any service. Please call us free on 123 to request removal of a suspension or restriction. Compensation And Liability 14. Your Rights to Compensation from us Providing new connection We have given you a commitment to provide a connection within 1 working day so long as there is a telephone in your home and a live telecom telephone line connecting your home to our network, and that credit arrangements required under these terms are in place. If we do not meet this commitment, or if we miss an arranged visit, then call us free on 123. You can choose either a credit to your telecom account of one month's worth of our telecom residential line rental or $20 worth of phonecards. Fixing faults We have given you a commitment to fix at no charge all faults on our network or to equipment you rent from us. We have also agreed to fix faults in the telephone sockets and wiring covered by the Standard Line & Wiring Maintenance service. If you are still without a telecom service because of a fault in any of these things more than 3 working days after you tell us about the fault, or if we miss an arranged visit, call us free on 123. You can choose either a credit to your telecom account of one month's worth of your telecom residential line rental or $20 worth of phonecards. The credit or phonecard benefit is available just once for each fault you report. Incorrect telephone book listings If your telephone book listing is incorrect, call us free on 123. You can choose either a credit to your telecom account of one month's worth of your telecom residential line rental or $20 worth of phonecards. A credit or phonecard benefit is not available where any of the above events occurs because we are not given correct information or through other causes beyond our reasonable control. For example, if there is a tropical storm, cyclone, storm surge, or other event which causes widespread damage or disruption our response times will be slower; we are however committed to doing our best in the circumstances. Property damage Where we do work on your property and damage it through not taking reasonable care, we will pay the reasonable costs of repairing the damage up to a maximum of:
15. Exclusion of all other Liability We have set out your rights to claim compensation from us. We now exclude all other liability we may have to you. This exclusion applies for the benefit of these people:
None of these people is liable to you or has to pay you for anything else caused by or resulting from anything any of them does or does not do or delays in doing, whether or not it is contemplated or authorised by any agreement you have with us. This exclusion applies whatever you are claiming for and however liabilities might arise if it were not for this clause. This exclusion does not prevent you getting a court order requiring us do anything we have agreed to do for you. 16. Limitation of Our liability We have set out your rights to claim compensation from us and exclude all other liability we or any of the other people listed in clause 15 may have to you. If we or any of the other people listed in clause 15 are ever liable to you and, for any reason, cannot rely on the exclusion of liability set out in clause 15, then this clause applies. Where this clause applies, the maximum combined amount we and all the other people listed in clause 15 (together) will have to pay you and anyone else who uses the services we provide for you (together) is:
General 17. Information About You Collecting information While you have an agreement with us, you agree that we may collect information about you. The information may be obtained from you and others or generated within our network when you or anyone else uses our services. You may decide whether to provide any information any of us seeks from you. However, if you do not provide it, we may not be able to provide services for you. Under no circumstances will we record your voice or data transmitted without a court order or other legal authority. You may ask to see information any of us holds about you and ask for any details that are wrong to be corrected. Holding and using information We may hold the information and share it with each other, with telecom employees and contractors and with credit reference agencies. This enables us to provide services for you and others, send you bills, recover money you owe, and keep you informed of services available to you. We may:
We may occasionally monitor telephone calls between customers and our personnel so as to help train our personnel to provide better customer service. Restricting access to information You may prefer to restrict access to your name, address and the telephone numbers allocated to you. Please call us free on 123 if you want to know about the ways you can do this. You are responsible for keeping confidential your telecom account number and any personal identification number or password used by or allocated to you. We may assume that a request or instruction we receive is authorised by you if it is accompanied by suitable verification (for example, your Telecom account number, personal identification number or password). 18. These Terms apply at all times These terms continue to apply for as long as the agreement you have with us remains in place, no matter where you live and whatever telephone numbers we allocate for you to use from time to time. These terms do not apply to anything other network operators agree to do for you under any agreements between you and them. 19. Changing these Terms We may change these Terms by changing or removing existing terms or by adding new ones. Changes may take the form of completely new terms. We must always tell you about any changes at least one month before they come into effect. We will never change this requirement. We will tell you about any changes via a flyer with your monthly account. The notice will set out the actual changes or explain their general nature. Please ask us at any time for a free copy of our current terms. 20. Sending bills and notices We will send bills and other notices to the last address you have given us. We can assume any bill or notice we send by post has been delivered two days after we post it. Please tell us if you change your address by calling us free on 123. 21. Meeting our responsibilities through agents We may have any telecom company or telecom approved agent perform and have the benefit of any part of our side of the agreement you have with us. 22. Transferring our responsibilities We may transfer to someone else all or any part of our side of the agreement you have with us. We will tell you if we do this. 23. Each term separately binding If for any reason any term of the agreement you have with us cannot be enforced or relied on by you, us or any of the other people listed in clause 15, all other terms of the agreement remain binding. 24. Giving up or ending services You may temporarily or permanently give up any service (for example, call waiting or call diversion) by calling us free on 123. If you wish, you may give up all services temporarily (for example, if you are not sure whether you might want services from us in the future). Either way, the agreement you have with us will remain in place unless you end it by writing to us. If you give up a service and later want it reconnected, you may have to pay a reconnection charge. We may decide to stop providing a particular service. If we do this, we will tell you at least one month before we stop providing it. We will also tell you about any substitute services we are able to offer you. The agreement you have with us will remain in place. 25. Ending the agreement you have with us If you want to end the entire agreement you have with us, please write to us at PO Box 106, Rarotonga. The agreement will end and charges will stop one month after we receive your letter unless we agree that charges will stop earlier. You may not transfer your responsibilities or your rights under the agreement to anyone else. We may end the agreement at any time if you do not pay our charges or meet your responsibilities to us. We may end the agreement for any other reason by giving you at least one month's notice. If the agreement is ended, we will stop providing any services for you as a residential customer. Unless we agree otherwise, any telecom telephone numbers previously allocated for you to use will no longer be available to you and we may remove those numbers from the next telephone book. The ending of the agreement does not affect any rights and responsibilities which are intended to continue or come into force afterwards. These include the rights and responsibilities under clauses 4,6, to 9, 11,12,14 to 18, 20, 23 and 25 of these terms. |
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