ASA Ruling

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guest2013-1

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Received the ruling from ASA, here's a short excerpt I found amusing :

as it was the result of apparent misuse by consumers and inability of the respondent to control such misuse
Click to expand...

In short, (because it only affected 4% of the users apparently) it was a service related issue and not a advertising related issue.

Ah well :D
 
what was this one in relation to again (there have been a few of these and i get confused :s)
 
yea well, i guess some of their sphincters spasmed when they received the enquiry
 
You should have worded your complaint differently noone. The fact is that nowhere in their product description does it say that you are forced to buy more bandwidth after reaching the 3G cap. Instead, what it says is that you will have 64k access, which, apparently, is/was not the case.
 
TheRodent, that is exactly what I complained about. Their whole rebuttle was about that it only happened to 4% of the user base. In it they even admitted that they didn't have the controls in place to throttle bandwidth and that some users were suspected of abusing this fact, so everyone over a 100% of their allotted bandwidth got disconnected and forced to buy more bandwidth.

Because the figure of users that was disconnected was so low, and WBS responded with what they did, ASA ruled that it was service related and that 96% of the users received what they paid for at the time.

At least WBS admitted that they were in the wrong re: not having the proper systems in place, but they never really justified why they chose to disconnect people with 100% over their bandwidth limit.

Ah well
 
hey noone, remember the exact same thing happened with sentech. the first asa ruling was in favour of sentech and the second one nailed them big time...

atleast you got off your ass and did something and i am sure wbs must have got nervous realising that their customers can bite back.
 
Something to consider if there is time to appeal the ASASA ruling...

Ok, but what proof did WBS provide that affected customers only amounted to 4%, where is the proof [beyond Mtshali & Sasan allegations to the press] that the number of affected customers was not a much higher percentage...?
 
Typical. Sentech used to play the "2%" game too. Then "2% became "6%", and look where it landed them eventually.

The Sentech forums must be the quietest forums on this planet.
 
Noone, if you still have time to appeal, then methinks it is worth it - even if to just annoy WBS.

Grounds for appeal: what proof is there that affected customers only amounted to 4% of the WBS iBurst customer base? Will WBS supply ASASA with a complete list of customers as at the date when customers were suspended...:rolleyes:...I doubt it, but why not use WBS' own response to ASASA against WBS...:D
 
Yup - wanna egg you on, noone - go for it! At the end of the day the WBS/I-bust forums will become like Sentech's, as TheRodent notes - Sentech must be berating themselves for the day they decided to treat their clients with disrespect and utter disregard, and the same must apply to WBS...
 
TheRoDent said:
You should have worded your complaint differently noone. The fact is that nowhere in their product description does it say that you are forced to buy more bandwidth after reaching the 3G cap. Instead, what it says is that you will have 64k access, which, apparently, is/was not the case.
Click to expand...

When I applied for iburst I was made sure to ask the sales rep at sharedirect if after the 3gig cap is up can I still use iburst but at a slower 64k access and he said yes and that is was the reason that I bought iburst.
 
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Noone, if you decide to appeal, why don't you point out that the fact of 4% of the userbase being disconnected does not necessarily mean that there was no misleading advertising. ASA should concentrate on the following facts:
1. What was the advertising message - what were the promises. And those were 64K after cap - no additional restrictions!
2. What was delivered.

It is irrelevant whether all users were interested (it is up to the user - some prefer to download 100GB, others - 1 GB of browsing) in utilising the iBurst package to its full advertised potential, i.e. 1 mbps to 3 GB and 64 kbps until next billing.

I think you should appeal as ASA apparently didn't comment on the core matter of the case.
 
Good that you did this, noone. I agree that what WBS did was wrong. But I don't see the point of an appeal. What is it going to achieve?

When WBS took the action, I and many others here who were not big downloaders had an immediate improvement in our connections and service. Yes, they went about it the wrong way, in that their bandwidth software failed to function properly, but their actions in rectifying it, while ham-fisted, was ultimately for the greater good.

WBS have stated this was a once-off action, never to be repeated. Right now, I'm getting what I was promised. Fast, trouble-free, 24/7 internet. There's just no point in resurrecting those suspensions, given that the circumstances that gave rise to the incident are no longer in place.

The things I'd like to see now are price reductions and greater package choices in response to lower Telkom ADSL pricing and the many ISP options currently available for ADSL. It would be much more useful focusing our energies on getting a better, more competitvie service rather than obsessing over WBS's past mistakes.
 
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Do wbs still suspend your account after you reach a 20 gig usage....also does anyone here have the 9 gig package, if so what bandwidth restrictions are placed on you....
 
The problem is that most of the complaints I've read so far [on asasa.org.za] are not structured in such a way as to address each of the ASASA criterea for false/misleading advertising, and complaints tend to stray into areas which ASASA simply ignore, i.e. non-delivery of service issues, which are not part of ASASA's mandate - they can only look at what service is being delivered and compare it to what was advertised, and rule whether there is/isn't a match...

AFAIK WBS have not yet advertised iBurst on TV, but it has been on radio & iburst.co.za, itweb.co.za [i.e. quotes from the truth as-Sasan-ator], etc. I assume WBS have also advertised in the newspapers [which I never read since I prefer trees to paper].

No disrespect to those that have submitted complaints to ASASA for MyWireless, *.Telkom.* and now Noone with iBurst, but we need to remember that ASASA are only concerned with false/misleading advertising, and have specific criterea against which they have to evaluate & decide. That said I have not been privy to Noone's complaint & wording - I did look for it on asasa.org.za but couldn't find the ruling, and nothing comes up in Google...:(...with the exception of this...

A collaborative forumite effort to carefully word the actual complaint(s) before submitting them to ASASA, would IMO have a 90% chance of getting a ruling in favour of forumites...we should have a separate thread to focus & refine every advertising related complaint prior to submitting to ASASA, I'd suggest collecting these threads in the Active Campaigns & Consumer Watch forum...

Comments...? [please]
 
theone said:
Do wbs still suspend your account after you reach a 20 gig usage....also does anyone here have the 9 gig package, if so what bandwidth restrictions are placed on you....
Click to expand...
No they do not, but the way in april they suspended if you hit 6 or more, not 20.

Now they don't suspend at all, I did about 80 GB last month and I was fine this month is more conservative, about 28 and its fine
 
slimothy said:
No they do not, but the way in april they suspended if you hit 6 or more, not 20.

Now they don't suspend at all, I did about 80 GB last month and I was fine this month is more conservative, about 28 and its fine
Click to expand...

Which package are you on?
 
9Gb but i believe rebel is on the 3gb and he's about the same usage as me this month and he's fine too
 
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