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A shipment coming from a country outside the European Union can be subject to a check and various duties and fees: VAT, import duties (also called “customs duties”) and excise duties (only on specific products such as alcohol, tobacco, etc.).

“Customs formalities” are administrative formalities concerning the collection of the various duties and fees.

Some Internet traders give an estimation of the customs duties and formalities beforehand as soon as the order is placed.

Some postal operators will ask a compensation for performing those customs formalities, payable in addition to the duties and fees; others have already integrated those costs in the fixed costs of their products/services.

Yes, provided that there is an interruption of at least 8 hours.

Operators are - in the case of a financial compensation - free to determine the way in which they grant the compensation (this can be a credit note for instance, or it can be in the form of a discount on the amount of the fee on the invoice).

They have to communicate the manner of their choice to the end-users in a transparent manner.

When operators wish to compensate the subscribers (or users of prepaid cards) affected in kind (e.g. a free movie), they have to communicate this clearly and give the end-users the choice between this form or a financial compensation.  

No.

Save the case of prepaid cards, end-users do not have to request the compensation. It is the operators who have to take the necessary steps.

For operators to be aware of the interruption, it is in the interest of the end-users to immediately report interruptions to their operators.

This is especially so for mobile services, in which case only those customers who have reported the interruption, will receive a compensation.

Yes, provided that the mobile service suffers an interruption of at least 8 consecutive hours at the known billing address.

When a mobile antenna is down, that does not automatically mean that there was no coverage during at least 8 hours. For a big part of the territory is covered by more than one antenna.

In case of a prepaid card, the end-user has to request the compensation himself.

There is no right to a legal compensation in case of force majeure or when the end-user himself is to blame for the interruption. 

Access to the examination room is only granted upon presentation of your ID card.

• The VHF examination consists of 20 multiple choice questions about the subject matter covered by the preparation manual for the examination to obtain the radiotelephone operator’s restricted certificate. To pass the exam one has to score 60%. No exemptions are granted on the subject matter.
  If you wish a printed version of the VHF manual, please transfer €5 on the account IBAN BE68 6791 7078 16 34 (BIC: PCHQBEBB) with the communication “VHF Manual” and send a copy of the proof of payment per e-mail to maritime@ibpt.be.
• The SRC examination consists of 33 multiple choice questions (23 SRC and 10 VHF) about the subject matters covered by the examination programme. To pass the exam one has to score 60% for each subject matter. No exemptions are granted on subject matters.

How to accurately measure the actual speed?

There are speed tests (either from third parties or from operators) to measure the ISPs’ actual speeds. Examples are: 

• https://www2.telenet.be/residential/nl/landingspaginas/speedtest
• https://www.proximus.be/en/id_cr_speedtest/personal/orphans/test-and-optimize-your-internet-speed.html
• https://www.orange.be/nl/opties-en-diensten/speedtest
• https://www.speedtest.net/
• https://www.test-aankoop.be/acties/internetspeed/test

You will find several others on the Internet. 

Once you have selected one, it is in your interest to obtain as accurate as possible evidence of the inadequate speed. 

The following conditions have a positive effect on the accuracy of the measurements:  

1. always use the same speed test (this avoids deviations caused by other speed tests); 
2. establish a fixed connection between the measuring device (laptop) and the modem (this avoids a speed that is too low due to the use of Wi-Fi restricted by walls or other electrical equipment);
3. make sure that other persons in the household do not use the Internet at the time of measurement (they also take up capacity that cannot then be used for the measurement and thus reduces the result of the measurement);
4. close all other programs (browser, gaming, music) on the measuring device (laptop) (even those programs use capacity which causes the measurement result to be too low);
5. measure your speed between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. several times and for several days (to prove continuous or frequent inadequate speed);
6. take screenshots of all measurements and save them along with the date and time of each measurement.