ASA dismisses Vodacom data ‘false advertising’ complaint
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) recently decided on a case between Vodacom and a customer who claimed that an SMS sent by the company was false advertising.
The SMS in question promotes Vodacom’s 50MB data internet bundles, and reads:
“You have no active internet bundles. To save, buy 50MB data bundle for R4 (8c per MB). To buy now dial *111*96#. To opt out SMS END to 100”.
However, the customer said that the SMS ad didn’t mention that the data bundle is only valid for an hour and said that that Vodacom deducted R5 and not R4 as advertised.
This was a clarified in a follow up SMS which read:
“You bought a 50MB data bundle, available for the next 1hr. R5.00 has been deducted from your airtime”.
The story
Advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg, on behalf of Vodacom, said that the operator sends offers to its prepaid customers who do not have data bundles but are nevertheless making use of data at much higher rates than in-bundles charges would be.
Due to space limitations in SMSes, it said that the full advert was split into two phases – the first, as mentioned by the complaining customer, and a second, which was not fully laid out in the complaint.
The first phase lets the prepaid user that he or she has no active internet bundles; and that they could save cost by buying a data bundle. The second phase is activated once the prepaid user chooses to accept the offer, in which the terms are expanded on.
The first SMS is as follows:
You have no active data bundles, To save, buy a 50MB data bundle for R4 (8c per MB). To buy now dial 111*96#. To opt out SMS END to 100”.
The second SMS communicates to a prepaid user that he/she has selected a 50MB data bundle valid for the next hour at a specific rate; that terms and conditions apply; and that the prepaid user can chose to accept or reject the offer by dialling “1” or “2”.
This second SMS was not mentioned by the complainant.
The third SMS is reflected in the complaint as follows:
“You bought a 50MB data bundle, available for the next 1hr. R5.00 has been deducted from your airtime”.
What happened?
Upon investigation Vodacom said that the price change for the 50MB data bundle was not updated and reflected in the first and second SMSes received by the customer.
The group said that it would ensure that the error would not be repeated in future communications.
Nevertheless, Vodacom said that even in the third SMS, a customer still had to option to accept or reject the offer, and in this case it reflected the right price.
It argued that the first, second and third SMSes make up the ad in its entirety, and that the ad should be read in the context of that whole.
The judgement
Both Vodasom and the ASA highlighted a previous case which dealt with exactly the same situation, and in which the complaint was dismissed.
In that matter, the ASA said, “At this point in time the customer is adequately informed and can elect to continue with, or cancel the offer with no added inconvenience or cost.
“It must be added, however, that a customer who opts to proceed with the purchase without bothering to read the message does so at his/her own peril. The Directorate is not convinced that a hypothetical reasonable person would commit to purchase without checking to make sure that the purchase accords with his/her expectations.”
However, the ASA has a long-standing rule that it will consider a matter resolved where an advertiser provides to withdraw or amend its advertising in a manner that addresses the concerns raised.
Because of this, Vodacom promised to ensure that the error is not repeated in future communications.
Read: MTN announces new pre-paid data bundles and VAT increases
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