Mobile Phone Advertising

[Chris116]

How is it that adverts for mobile phone networks can splash UNLIMITED usage in big letters all over the place but when you look at the small print it says that Unlimited usage is restricted to reasonable usage?

 

If it is unlimited then surely it should be just that and if it is limited to reasonable usage then surely it breaks advertising standards rules calling it unlimited?

 

How do they get away with it?

 

Chris

[Ragtag]

Same is often true of internet service providers. Unlimited downloads subject to reasonable use.

[Chris116]

Same is often true of internet service providers. Unlimited downloads subject to reasonable use.

I have seen those as well. I have now e-mailed the Advertising Standards Authority to ask them the question on how legal such adverts are.

 

I will let you know their reply as soon as I have it.

 

Chris

[big jim]

i had unlimited mobile internet access when i was with orange, then i got a bill for £1150 for the month!!

 

at the time i was using my nokia as a modem as we didn't have a broadband connection at home, assured by orange a number of times that i was unlimited before i used it, they claimed they had informed me there was a fair useage policy and i had been told about it in the calls and they would be going back through my calls to prove themselves right.......got a call back a few weeks later, "er actually we didn't tell you did we, we will be refunding you next month, got just over £1100 credited to my bill the following month but it took 4 months to get the bills correct

[Leicester Thumper]

im using an orange Mobile modem set up here and it's pretty fair tbh, it depends what you expect. i mean my phone contract has 'UNLIMITED' texts on vodaphone, but in reality its a fair use policy of 3000 texts and 600 minutes (and i still dont get through all of that)

[edcayton]

Yes, but the fact that YOU don't get through your allowance is not relevant to the OP. My son had a bill of over £1000 from Orange and they took it straight from his bank account (good old direct debit) and it took a lot of effort to sort out. Good news is that he DID eventually get it sorted with all bank charges etc repaid. Don't know if this will affect his credit rating though.

 

Ed

[JZ]

It is either limited or unlimited. I looked the definitions in a dictionary and I suggest the phone and internet companies do the same. The moment they add the clause 'subject to fair use' it becomes limited. A friend of mine had similar with a local hirecar company. Hired a car for three days, drove up to the north of Scotland to look at a couple of houses. Dropped the car back and was told there was an excess to pay as he had exceeded the 300 miles a day average limit of the 'unlimited' milage. A quick call to his brother, who happened to be not only a solicitor but the car hire owner's own solicitor, and said brother turned up with a dictionary and pointed out the difference between limited and unlimited. The owner was told that claiming it was unlimited and hiding away in the small print that it was in fact limited is false advertising.

[big jim]

Yes, but the fact that YOU don't get through your allowance is not relevant to the OP. My son had a bill of over £1000 from Orange and they took it straight from his bank account (good old direct debit) and it took a lot of effort to sort out. Good news is that he DID eventually get it sorted with all bank charges etc repaid. Don't know if this will affect his credit rating though.

 

Ed

 

i was lucky, i stopped the direct debit in time!!

[Chameleon]

Always read the small print, especially with the likes of mobile phone contracts. Pretty much ALL of them will put clauses into the contracts. It saves them from spending money on upgrading their systems and bandwidth. One of your first questions is about their "fair use" policy...

Virgin broadband is a good case in point. If you download over a certain amount in a set time, your speed gets throttled to about 25% or less.

 

Only truly unlimited deal I have seen is with O2 on the Iphone. You really do get unlimited downloads n browsing. Kinda have to really as the main point of the Iphone is its internet access.

[big jim]

i switched to a t-mobile contract with web and walk and i've never gone over the monthly contract amount (apart from when i send picture message cost as they aren't in the unlimited texts), infact when i renewed the contract they reduced my monthly bill from £45 to £30 a month for unlimited internet, 700 mins and unlimited texts