Telecommunications

The homepage of the website listed two broadband products, a 1000Mbps and a 500Mbps. The 1000Mbps product was advertised as:

“FROM €29.95 p/m
1000Mbps Siro Broadband”

A button underneath stated “Join Now Pay Later”

The complainant objected to the advertising on the homepage on the grounds that it was misleading as it had not stated that the advertised price was only for 4 months and that after 4 months it would increase to €54.95 per month.

The advertisers stated that the headline price point displayed on the home page had clearly stated that it was “from” €29.95. They said that on clicking through to the actual product, the €29.95 price point was accompanied by an asterisk which had pointed to the pricing terms and conditions. They said that due to the nature of the telecommunications market, it was quite normal that broadband plans had introductory price points for a number of months. They said that should a customer opt to place an order through their website, before processing the order, they always ensure that a customer is contacted by a sales representative who would talk them through the product and monthly price points in detail as part of the order validation process.

Complaint Upheld.

The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response.

The Committee noted that the Code did not restrict the use of introductory offers, as long as they were in compliance with the requirements of the Code. While the advertisement had stated that the price was a ‘from’ price, there was no indication on the home page that the price was an introductory price for 4 months. In the absence of any such indication on the homepage, the Committee considered that the advertisement was in breach of Sections 4.1, 4.4, 5.5 and 5.16 of the Code.

ACTION REQUIRED:
The advertisement must not reappear in its current form.