Tiscali at odds with the Advertising Standards Agency

PRLog (Press Release) – Aug 14, 2007 – The Advertising Standards Agency is currently dealing with complaints about several UK Broadband providers. Recently Sky has complained to the ASA about Virgin’s misleading advertising to consumers as well as a torrent of complaints about other Internet Service Providers (ISP’s). These complaints are with regard to advertising “unlimited” Internet access, which in reality in not unlimited because of the current policies related to fair usage.

One of the cases that the ASA is dealing with involves the ISP, Tiscali. The company ran a radio advertisement, which has drawn numerous complaints and criticism, not only from consumers, but from British Telecom. When the ASA investigated the complaints, it agreed with complainants, stating that Tiscali needed to be clearer about certain parts of the advertisements.

Tiscali advertised broadband for a cost of £9.99. The advertisement concentrated on the cost of the deal, but was vague on the terms and conditions associated with the offer. According to the advertisement, the initial cost of £9.99 was for the first three months of the subscription. After that period, the cost would rise by 50% to £14.99. Even though this information was included in the advertisement, the speed of the statement and the volume was lower, making it difficult for consumers to get an accurate picture of what Tiscali was actually offering.

The ASA concluded that there was a marked difference in the advertisement regarding the initial offer and the terms and conditions. It ordered Tiscali to make changes so that the volume and the speed of the statements remained the same throughout the advertisement so that consumers would be clear about what they were subscribing to.

Yvan Bamping of broadband comparison site http://www.broadband-expert.co.uk stated “a number of broadband companies, including Tiscali and BT, are advertising packages at low initial costs only for the price to rise after a number of months. Consumers should look at the total cost of the package over the length of the contract including installation costs to get a true idea the best value package.