A trader, (i.e. those associated with Comnames.net) who is a supporter of the Which? Web Trader - Code of Practice agrees to follow these guidelines.

It does not mean that Which? or any of its associate companies has any association whatsoever with that trader neither does Which? recommend the products that are being offering or the customer services that are made available.

The Comnames sites (and the sites to which comnames is associated or linked) are not (unless directly indicated on a site) "which? web traders".

"Which?" have merely said that we can use their guidelines as our own policy.   Therefore any communication about any of the sites to which we are affiliated (unless the site itself is a Which? trader) should be made to manager@comnames.net

For technical reasons (we do not trade directly) we are not a Which? Web Trader but we do take this code VERY seriously. So please inform us if you have any problems with our network of sites or any of the sites to which we are associated or affiliated.

This is the version of the Code of Practice last updated on Wednesday, April 24th, 2002.

The Code states:

You must provide clear and adequate information about your products and services to enable consumers to make informed decisions.

1. Website

• Your full contact details including your phone and fax numbers, postal and e-mail addresses for complaints
• The price of your goods or services must be easily found and clearly shown. You should display the actual price the consumer will be charged with extras such as tax, packaging or delivery not hidden and easy to find
  
• Clear ordering instructions
  
• A description of the different ways of paying
  
• A customer services phone number, the times when the service is available and the costs of the calls. Any customer service staff must be aware of your obligations under this code.
  
• The right to cancel the contract and how to exercise this right
  
• Any restrictions including how long the offer remains valid and any cooling off periods
  
• The terms and conditions of your contract displayed clearly and plainly. They must be easily found on your site. You must state that the terms of the contract do not affect consumers' statutory rights.
  You should obtain the consent of your customers to receive marketing email from you or from others.

2. Advertising

Your advertising must aspire to the standards or the advertising authorities like the British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion. In particular, it must be legal, decent, honest and truthful. You must also aspire to the rulings of the ASA which you can see at www.asa.org.uk..

You must take care not to create a demand which cannot be met.

3. Returns and refund
If you have a returns and refunds policy which gives consumers more rights than they have under the law or this code, you should inform the customer clearly, with easy to follow instructions.

4. Guarantees
If you are providing a guarantee or warranty, you must make the following clear:

• what is covered
• for how long
• that the guarantee or warranty is in addition to consumers' statutory rights.

The Sale

Confirmation
Before the contract, you must confirm the price the consumer will pay.
After the contract, you must confirm the order by e-mail or post, immediately after the order is placed. The confirmation must include:

• your name
• an order or reference number
• the total price
• instructions on how to cancel the contract including whom the cancellation notice may be sent to and whether the customer must pay for the cost of returning the goods.

Cancellation
Unless the law permits otherwise, you must give consumers the right to cancel the contract within 7 working days without reason.

• In the case of goods, the 7 days start the day after the goods are received
• In the case of services, the 7 days start when the contract was made

When the consumer cancels, you must return their money within 30 days of the cancellation. The consumer may have to pay the cost of returning the goods.

Delivery

You must deliver the goods within 30 days, unless the consumer has agreed to a longer time. If you cannot deliver the goods within this time you should tell the consumer immediately and agree on another time for delivery. If you cannot agree on another time, you must offer the consumer a refund.

Receipts

You must provide the consumer with a receipt.

Mistakes, complaints, and disputes

You must meet your obligations under the consumer protection laws currently in force.

2. Faulty Goods

If the goods turn out to be faulty or different from those the consumer ordered, you must offer the consumer a full refund. You must give the refund as soon as possible and at the latest, within 30 days of agreeing to give the refund.

3. Mistakes in bills, receipts or payments

You must correct any mistakes in bills, receipts or payments as soon as possible, and at the latest within 30 days of agreeing to do so.

4. Complaints

You must have an effective system for handling complaints. Your complaints procedure must be available on-line, easy to use and confidential. You must:

• acknowledge complaints within 5 working days
• advise the consumer how long it will take to resolve the complaint
• keep the consumer informed throughout the process
• You can find more details about good systems here

5. Disputes

You must provide details about any dispute solving scheme you belong to including any Ombudsman scheme or regulator.

6. Privacy and security

Data Protection Act

You must meet your obligations under Data Protection good practice and Data Protection legislation.

Privacy policy

You must have a privacy policy and implement it effectively. If you do not have one, you can use this one, making any changes you need to suit your business.

Your policy must include the following:

• you must provide the consumer with the option to withhold personal information which is not needed for the transaction
• you must not collect sensitive personal information (see DPA for definition) without the explicit consent of the consumer - for example, health or ethnic origin
• you must allow consumers easy access to their own personal information
• you must ensure that personal information is accurate and up to date
• you should only hold personal information for as long as it is needed for the purpose it was collected
• you must tell the consumer if you are going to transfer personal information outside the countries in which that you and they trade.

You must not send the consumer e-mail without first obtaining their consent.

Security policy

You must have an effective security policy that you review regularly.

Your policy must include the following:

• you must ensure that your web site is secure so that consumers' personal information and transactions remain confidential and cannot be interfered with
• you must ensure that the content of your site cannot be interfered with
• any subcontractors or third parties involved in the transaction must follow these principles and maintain a similar level of security

You should provide information about the type and level of security being used on your site and:

• regularly review the security of the system
• make sure that any changes to the system are made in a secure way
• make sure that you follow the security guidelines of the system supplier.

1. Unsolicited commercial email

You must not send untargeted mass-marketing emails to people you've never had any contact with before.

2. Children

Any communications aimed at children must be appropriate to their age and must not exploit their credulity, lack of experience or sense of loyalty.

You must not accept an order from someone you know or suspect to be a child without the consent of the child's parent or carer.

If the child is under 12, you must not collect any personal information without the consent of their parent or carer. If the child is over 12, you should only collect information necessary to send them appropriate communications as long as the child understands what is involved.

You must not disclose information collected from children to anyone else without the consent of their parent or guardian.

You must not ask the child for personal information about other people. You must not entice the child to give personal information by offering them a reward or a prize.

Although we EXPECT all sites associated with us to follow this policy WE HAVE NO WAY OF VERIFY that they do UNLESS WE RECEIVE A COMPLAINT or feedback from those trading with them. If you feel any of the sites associated with us have not, or are not, following any of these policy guidelines   -   please let us know IMMEDIATELY email us

If you have any questions/comments about privacy, or if any of the sites to which we are affiliated is not adhering to the SPIRIT of this policy you should contact   -      Comnames.net     -  

Monitoring

We agree to monitor the effectiveness of this code on Comnames network sites and the sites to which Comnames is affiliated through feedback, complaints and comments.

Enforcement

If we discover that sites to which Comnames is affiliated have not complied with this code, we will take enforcement action. We will investigate and if appropriate, ask you to take action to resolve the problem. You must agree to take this action. If the breach is serious, we will end our affiliation with you.

Contact us:
e-mail: manaager@comnames.net
phone: 44 (0)208 771 5589

post:
COMNAMES.NET
Rochdales.co.uk
24 Rochdale
Harold Road
London S.E.19 3TF