Complaints to Advertising Standards

hmmm

Stumbled onto the advertising standards website just now (www.asai.ie). When Eircon try to produce bogus figures or quotes to justify their 'services', we should all make an effort to highlight this. Write to info@asai.ie detailing your complaint (but have a read of the website first). I've just sent the first in to complain that 'download limits' are not a 'usual feature' of most adsl suppliers. If we win any complaint I suppose it'll provide a small but useful bit of publicity for us.

Kix

I've had a look at the code and possible areas of infringement might be:

2.10 If there is a significant division of informed opinion about any claim made in an advertisement it should not be portrayed as universally accepted.

2.40 Except in advertisements addressed exclusively to the trade, prices quoted should include VAT. It should be immediately apparent whether any prices quoted exclude other taxes, duties or inescapable costs.

2.46 Advertisers should not use the technique of switch selling, where sales staff criticise the advertised product or suggest that it is not available and recommend the purchase of a more expensive alternative. Advertisers should not place obstacles in the way of purchasing the product or delivering it promptly.

Once again, I'm not suggesting that Eircom are guilty of code breaches in any or all of these areas but these are the areas I feel are most worth looking at.

K

SkepticOne

Eircom are claiming that out of all their triallists, only one went over the 3 gig limit.

I am suspicious that they did not use typical broadband business customers for their trial.

Take for example here:

The modem looks a bit like a turquoise sting-ray or summat You
get 512k down and I think 128k up but I didn't really bother pushing
anything over it. It's just a pity that I don't live there anymore.
At least it might convince my mother to use the net now that it's
not costing her per minute!

and here:

I had an ADSL line installed in my mum's house today, as part of Eircom's ADSL trial. She lives in Ranelagh. (They sent her a package in the mail about two weeks ago, to ask if she wanted to participate. I rang back, and got an appointment within a week.)

I thought these packages were for aimed at businesses. I would like to see the criteria Eircom used.

Mountjoy Mugger

Did any of the ADSL triallists have to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement? If not, it would be interesting to hear how much they managed to download over a month - i.e. was it over the 3 GBs?

I'd be bloody amazed if there was just the one. Does anyone know how many triallists Eircom had - was it just the 400?

Kix

There are two posters (RentZ and kaids)here in Nets/Comms who claim to have been on the trial and to have gone well over the cap on a regular basis.

Seems strange the trial involved, as far as I can see, residential customers but Eircom are telling the Irish Times that the service's aimed at businesses.

K

pete

Well? As suggested in another thread, are Eircom guilty of false advertising for pushing "instant" emails as a benefit of ADSL?

The thing is, it's not up to you and me to decide - that's what we have those nice Advertising Standards people for - to ensure that all advertisements are "Legal, Decent, Honest and Truthful".

Me, I'd be taking a hard look at a couple of sections of the code of advertising standards:

2.21 Advertisers should not exploit the credulity, inexperience or lack of knowledge of consumers.

2.23 An advertisement should not mislead by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration, omission or otherwise

and not forgetting:

2.40 Except in advertisements addressed exclusively to the trade, prices quoted should include VAT. It should be immediately apparent whether any prices quoted exclude other taxes, duties or inescapable costs.

Maybe the Committee would consider lodging a complaint on behalf of the members?

pete

obviously i am an idiot for not noticing that someone else had posted almost an identical thread here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32177

someone delete / close / merge this one please

[ Done! - Bard ]

pete

I'm with Kix on this one - i just opened a new thread with the following post (before i spotted this one - i've asked that my one be deleted or closed):

Well? As suggested in another thread, are Eircom guilty of false advertising for pushing "instant" emails as a benefit of ADSL?

The thing is, it's not up to you and me to decide - that's what we have those nice Advertising Standards people for - to ensure that all advertisements are "Legal, Decent, Honest and Truthful".

Me, I'd be taking a hard look at a couple of sections of the code of advertising standards:

2.21 Advertisers should not exploit the credulity, inexperience or lack of knowledge of consumers.

2.23 An advertisement should not mislead by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration, omission or otherwise

and not forgetting:

2.40 Except in advertisements addressed exclusively to the trade, prices quoted should include VAT. It should be immediately apparent whether any prices quoted exclude other taxes, duties or inescapable costs.

Maybe the Committee would consider lodging a complaint on behalf of the members?

Dangger

I hear you pete....

Maybe the Committee would consider lodging a complaint on behalf of the members?

Have a look at the thread at ....

Help needed for complaint

I will undertake to get a hard copy together and submit it.

pete

(Isn't one thread for ASAI matters sufficient though?)

i think there's plenty of material at http://www.adsl.ie

For starters:

With eircom i-stream, e-mail is as instant as a conversation. You can send an e-mail to a customer and be certain that it will be delivered immediately. Instant e-mail adds that extra, professional touch, which can make a good impression with new customers - right from the start.

Creates the impression (by implication) that "normal" non-ADSL email is somehow delayed.

Neglects to mention factors such as delays beyond the ADSL end of things that can/will delay delivery - delays which a customers use or non-use of an ADSL connection could not possibly affect.