Customer Information - Slamming

The CISAS Panel of Adjudicators sees consumers' complaints about slamming from time to time.

It is not a frequent problem but it certainly is a regular problem.

Ofcom describes slamming as an extreme form of mis-selling where a consumer is simply switched from one provider to another without their express knowledge and consent.

Forms of slamming can include:

• Where a provider makes no consumer contact at all. e.g. the forging of customers' signatures on contracts.
• Where representatives of a company claim to represent a different provider from the one they are actually working for.
• Where a consumer is told they are just signing for information and are then switched from one provider to another.

The CISAS Panel of Adjudicators general view on the problem is that:

• The reputable providers have a major role to play in stamping out poor practices at the fringes of the industry as they have power to control access to the network and the flow of money.
• It should be mandatory with any offer made by a provider that the consumer is provided with a copy of the contract and a full package of information not just those parts which sound attractive.
• Consumers are by and large quite astute and quick to complain. It is up to each consumer to be very careful and very aware not only about what they are signing up for but also that they are within a competitive market place where some less reputable companies may adopt sharp practices.
• It is up to the main providers to disassociate themselves from those operating on the margins of the industry who jeopardise their good name.