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Ofcom launches Bulldog investigation

Graeme Wearden ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 02 Sep 2005 13:55 BST

Ofcom has launched an investigation into Bulldog, following widespread customer complaints.

The communications regulator announced on Friday that it is investigating allegations that Bulldog has billed customers for services that have not been provided, and failed to maintain proper complaints-handling procedures.

The charges are related to sections 11.1 and 14.2 of the General Conditions of Entitlement which telecoms operators must adhere to.

Ofcom said it had launched the inquiry after receiving complaints from members of the public. If Bulldog fails to cooperate with the regulator to address these issues then it could ultimately be fined 10 percent of its turnover, although this would be very unusual.

In recent months, hundreds of Bulldog customers have complained that they have not been supplied a broadband or telephony service they had ordered. Many also slammed Bulldog's customer support, saying they could not get through to the company to report their problems.

One frustrated user, Steve Collis, collated and sent over 130 complaints from Bulldog customers to Ofcom in an attempt to get the regulator to take action.

ZDNet UK was also flooded with complaints from irate Bulldog subscribers, some of whom savaged the company for its poor performance.

Bulldog's failings are particularly worrying as it is one of the few operators to use local-loop unbundling to offer its own services, rather than simply reselling BT's wholesale offerings.

Bulldog has blamed BT for some of its problems, claiming that BT had been struggling to hand over control of telephone lines.

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