Vodafone's new ads = dodgy?

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nzbnw

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#38010 8-Jun-2006 22:37

I Guess what I was trying to say was I am disappointed in the way the complaint was made. Although one might not have success, I would have thought it would have been a good Idea to raise concerns with the company itself before running off to Government bodies such as the ASA or the Commerce Commission.

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#38012 8-Jun-2006 22:45

Both Telecommunications companies will have extensive marketing departments and surely those departments have some fact-checkers.

While contacting them first would be possible be the 'right thing' (tm) to do, this is something they should have picked up before launching web advertisements (on their own site), tv advertisements, newspaper advertisement, bus stop advertisement and the list goes on...

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#38013 8-Jun-2006 22:46

Although I do have relationships with both VFNZ and TNZ (commercial because of my accounts and because of Geekzone) we know that raising concerns with the companies sometimes is just met with a blank stare from the CSR, which has no idea what people are on about.

And even when escalating the issue we know that things are not solved all the time (some problems are solved on the spot though, as my experience with TNZ showed today).

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#38016 8-Jun-2006 23:37

If you look thru the decsions on there site, most of them are related to things being misrepresented, like 20% off sales that are n etc.

The ASA is paid for by advertisers to investigate these, they have the direct hookups with people that can make a change and there decisions are published for all to see, if I was to go to vodafone themselves chances are nothing would happen for a considerable investment in my time.

I strongly object to these adverts because I feel they do misrepresent the deal that is being offered and falsely making operating a mobile cheaper then it is. It is confusion to sell products which is a hot topic at the moment thanks to a certain video.

I have hopes that they at least end up having to amend there advertising to reflect the true plan you are buying, but anything that comes out of it has to be better then doing nothing, there is no downside to lodging a complaint since its free.

{edit} take a look at this one, very simalar concerns and upheld... http://203.152.114.11/decisions/06/06091.rtf

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lokinz

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#38022 9-Jun-2006 07:52

Man, I must be thick or something, I still don't see an issue. The ad on the VF website says "TXT from 1c....TXT to VF mobiles for $9.95" I'm not at all confused about that.

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#38024 9-Jun-2006 08:10

lokinz, the text says "Calls from 15c per minute nights and weekend for $14.95". This gives a 100 minutes credit on your mobile.

When I read this it means that if I call 100 minutes then I get the 15c/min. If I call 50 minutes then it's actually 30c/min. If I only place one call of one minute it will be $14.95/minute.

While it's clear in the website, people are complaining that this is not clear in the ads on TV. Makes sense now?

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#38025 9-Jun-2006 08:15

Had Deaf friend tell me that VF now have 1c text and he was going to have a look at it.
I showed him what it actually meant on the website.
He decided it was a rip-off.
So the ad worked. It drew his attention to VF. Even if he went to sign up (without talking to me first) he would have seen that it was not going to suit him and decided he was still better on $10 text with TC.

I think the ad's are doing their job - to draw attention to VF.

Whether it is going to suit or not is up to the customer.

lokinz

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#38026 9-Jun-2006 08:19

Ok, I'll be quiet now, I don't watch tv, so havent seen them.

Do they not use the word "from" on their tv ads?

nzbnw

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#38030 9-Jun-2006 08:33

richms: if I was to go to vodafone themselves chances are nothing would happen for a considerable investment in my time.

While I do agree that this may come to nothing, I do believe it would have been ethical IMHO to attempt contacting someone within Vodafone about these ads.

Cheers

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#38059 9-Jun-2006 12:31

riahon:I think the ad's are doing their job - to draw attention to VF.

Whether it is going to suit or not is up to the customer.

Thats besides the point. The ads are making a misrepresentation.

First you have to use exactly that amount to qualify for "1c" text and "15c/m" calls (additionally you have to do a balancing act with the minutes as 1:01 minutes:seconds is billed as 2 minutes.) ... and secondly they don't factor in the base plan.

Its like me putting up a sign for a car saying "Drive this car for/from 5c a kilometre" and then saying that you'd have to drive it one million kilometers ($50,000)and the costs excludes the fuel costs. Regardless of the cost of fuel, you have to have pay for it and if you don't drive it for one million kilometers, instead only drive it for maybe 100,000 kilometers - its fifty cents per km.

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#38060 9-Jun-2006 12:45

freitasm: lokinz, the text says "Calls from 15c per minute nights and weekend for $14.95". This gives a 100 minutes credit on your mobile.

When I read this it means that if I call 100 minutes then I get the 15c/min. If I call 50 minutes then it's actually 30c/min. If I only place one call of one minute it will be $14.95/minute.

While it's clear in the website, people are complaining that this is not clear in the ads on TV. Makes sense now?

It's a little like those Harvey Norman "Interest Free" deals, but $70 booking and $50 admin fee applies.

I'm looking to buy a fridge, and on $1000 those charges add 15% to the cost.

On the other hand, LV Martin say 12 months interest free, cash price over 12 months but credit criteria apply.

Much easier and not misleading....

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#38087 9-Jun-2006 18:55

riahon: Had Deaf friend tell me that VF now have 1c text and he was going to have a look at it.

I don't know if it's still the case or not but I knew a deaf guy who going back a few years ago had a special plan with Vodafone that gave him dirt cheap SMS. Apprently this was some sort of special plan that you were eligible for if you were deaf. I have no idea if any such plan exists these days but it certainly wouldn't hurt to ask.

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#38095 9-Jun-2006 23:11

Are you sure it was harvey norman doing that deal? and was it GE finance?

the annual fee is $25, and the booking fee is $45, $35 or often free,,,,

their Qcard is something different though and I highly reccommend avoiding them at all costs!

paradoxsm

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#38097 9-Jun-2006 23:18

This advertising might be detrimental to Vodafones reputation, Notice that Telecom are now a lot clearer with advertising than say 4 years ago where almost everything had a catch. Vodafone will learn this lesson and annoy a pile of people who will get over it in a day or two, some may even leave. oooh!

It's not too bad as it is called a "bait and trap" advertising which everyones uses, a catchy line to get people interested then when they investigate it, along comes the sales push in abundance,,,, if you commit to 24 months on You Choose.

now things would be different if Vodafone puched this AND ALLOWED PREPAY TO TAKE THEIR NUMBER ON ACCOUNT

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#38103 10-Jun-2006 09:53

lokinz: Ok, I'll be quiet now, I don't watch tv, so havent seen them.

Do they not use the word "from" on their tv ads?

In all of their 15c calling signs (plastered on every bus stop in Wellington) the from is only in the fine print. At least the 1c TXT sign says FROM in big letters.

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