12 October 2005
Onetel has agreed an out-of-court settlement with BT after complaints regarding the former's sales tactics.
The Daily Telegraph reports that BT showed its rival 50 witness statements claiming that salesmen for the company, owned by Centrica, had passed themselves off as BT employees.
This follows a case in August where Caudwell Communications came to a similar settlement with the telecoms giant after allegations of mis-selling. BT claims to receive around 21,000 complaints per month relating to the methods employed by rival sales staff.
Ian Livingston, BT Retail chief executive, explained that protection both of customers and the company's brand could not be taken lightly.
He said: "BT is delighted that a settlement has been reached. Our customers deserve as much protection as possible in this area. BT is making clear that we won't hesitate to take a stand where customer protection and our brand is at stake."
This agreement follows the news, announced last week by industry regulator Ofcom, that the country's leading 35 phone operators have released guidelines to combat, and avoid, mis-selling.
Onetel is currently up for sale as Centrica, which also owns British Gas, seeks revenue with which to concentrate upon its energy interests.
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