21 December 2006
Ofcom has announced that it is investigating allegations that the Post Office's fixed-line telecom arm, HomePhone, has been mis-selling its services to consumers.
The Post Office has been accused,, by the telecommunications regulator, of breaching its code of practice on marketing home phone services, although it refused to divulge further information on how HomePhone had misled consumers.
Telecoms analysts believe it could include aggressive sales tactics with sales staff phoning people at home, or approaching them in a Post Office, according to the Daily Mail.
The practice of 'slamming', where a customer is switched to a third party provider without their prior consent, is also an action which may have been carried out by HomePhone.
If Ofcom finds that HomePhone has mis-sold its product, it could face fines of up to 10% of its annual sales.
Alan Cook, managing director of HomePhone, said: "The Post Office has worked alongside Ofcom in recent months to implement a number of new measures to improve its HomePhone sales processes.
"As a result of this vigorous action, which includes a validation call to each customer before the service goes live, we have seen a significant reduction in the number of mis-selling complaints."
"We are therefore disappointed to learn of Ofcom's decision but we will of course fully assist with its investigation," he concluded.
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