Free calls on Telkom Simple ADSL package? Yes indeed sir!

Jan Vermeulen

Jan Vermeulen is a technology journalist and web developer at MyBroadband. After receiving a Computer Engineering degree at the University of Pretoria he worked at...

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The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) recently released the outcome of a ruling on a consumer complaint against a Telkom Simple infomercial that was aired on M-Net.

According to the ASA, the ten minute long infomercial focuses to some extent on the fact that a subscription entitles one to “FREE landline calls” and “FAST internet”.

In essence the complaint argued that the advertising should state that the free landline calls are only applicable during “call more” times (weekends and 19h00 – 07h00 on weekdays).

Telkom told the ASA that the fact that the offer of free landline calls only applies at specific times is mentioned during the informercial on at least two occasions.

“If the complainant viewed the entire infomercial, she would have been aware that the offer of free landline calls only applies during specific times,” Telkom said.

The ASA reported that it found a reference to when the free landline calls apply eight minutes into the infomercial. According to the ASA, this caveat is mentioned twice.

“It appears that the complainant did not view the infomercial in its entirety to establish how the free landlines calls can be made,” the ASA said, dismissing the complaint.

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