Imagine's ad (at the top of thie site) claims R5.50 per gig. Does this really mean R16.50 for a 3 gig account? Think not. And everyone goes on about Telkom's false claims. Think all the isps in SA are pretty much a bunch of rip-off artists. They all moan about per gig billing but as soon as its in place they all take advantage anyway.
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Imagine ad
- Thread starter ssr
- Start date
ToAsTeD
Expert Member
ssr said:
This is true, but isp's still have to make money.. i wouldnt say they taking advantage.. i would say its more like they makin a little profit with what they got given...
i dislike the false advertising tho :/
nGAGEd55
Expert Member
allyoucaneat
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If they don't sell per GB, I don't think it is right to advertise a price per GB.
Turbo_Aspiration
Expert Member
allyoucaneat said:
Also, they are working it out using local GB caps... advertising is advertising but i feel sorry for sum1 with a shallow pocket reading that and thinking they can get adsl now
the ad says that its based on the 2GB/30GB (internation/local) account.. so the calculation looks correct. R165/30 = R5.5 .. I think a lot of ppl do give you an average price even tho they have a minimum level you have to buy.
Telkomhater
Senior Member
Report them to the ASA
I wonder what the ASA has to say about this........
I wonder what the ASA has to say about this........
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PostmanPot
Honorary Master
i don't think there is anything wrong with this ad. it's not as if they're lying about it.. just being clever 
stoke
Honorary Master
This ad is fine according to the current setup of the ADSL environment.
That's the problem, cos TELKOM's charges are not mentioned, and thus the ad should be viewed as misleading, but, it's no different from the rest of the adverts where thinks like:
- From/Starting at/As little as
- *conditions apply*
- New and Improved/Better than before.
- Up too.
- Garauntee'd.
- Free Gift
- and the new all time favourite ... ordering you the consumer to do stuff. Come in to our shop NOW, phone this number NOW, don't forget this.
are acceptable.
But ... it's our duty to com[plain about leaving out teklom's costs and thereby misleading.
I'll send in my complaint just now.
That's the problem, cos TELKOM's charges are not mentioned, and thus the ad should be viewed as misleading, but, it's no different from the rest of the adverts where thinks like:
- From/Starting at/As little as
- *conditions apply*
- New and Improved/Better than before.
- Up too.
- Garauntee'd.
- Free Gift
- and the new all time favourite ... ordering you the consumer to do stuff. Come in to our shop NOW, phone this number NOW, don't forget this.
are acceptable.
But ... it's our duty to com[plain about leaving out teklom's costs and thereby misleading.
I'll send in my complaint just now.
The majority of our users utilize mainly local bandwidth, which does indeed cost them R5.50 / GB (in fact, at the moment many users use up to 60gb of local bandwidth which means they are actually paying R2.25 / GB as they are not charged anything extra for going over 30GB). As a result, for their usage, we are by far one of the most cost effective routes available.
The advert clearly states on which package the pricing is based and is not misleading in any way. Note that we don't sell the Telkom ADSL line, we sell bandwidth, which the advert is for. Furthermore, not one of the other ADSL advertisers on this site include any Telkom line fee pricing.
We don't believe this advert is in any way disingenious, as the reality is this is what many of our subscribers to this type of account are paying per GB.
The advert clearly states on which package the pricing is based and is not misleading in any way. Note that we don't sell the Telkom ADSL line, we sell bandwidth, which the advert is for. Furthermore, not one of the other ADSL advertisers on this site include any Telkom line fee pricing.
We don't believe this advert is in any way disingenious, as the reality is this is what many of our subscribers to this type of account are paying per GB.
allyoucaneat
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matt156 said:
Really.
Telkomhater
Senior Member
matt156 said:
Hi Matt,
Thanks for contributing to the discussion. I presume you are from Imagine and therefore I applaud for you replying (at least you got more guts than the bunch from DSTV who refuse to partake in any forum discussion on their own website).
From my point of view, the advert catches my eyes because it says R5.50 per GB. As I subscribe to a 3 GB account with Axxess and pay R199, my mind says, "Hell thats cheap!" Then I go to your price page at http://www.imagine-ips.co.za/za/p27.html and I discover your 3 GB account costs R199 too. You even call it the "3GB ADSL Access Account".
So now I think to myself, "They are lying, the crafty buggers" (disingenious means crafty). So to me, your advert is misleading because to my mind no one advertises the cost of local bandwidth. When we talk about bandwidth everyone is referring to international bandwidth (irrespective of what your clients use).
The question we must ask then is, "Did you know this and so intentionally left out the word 'local'" in order to catch people's attention?" If so, then disingenious and misleading are both appropriate descriptions.
Why not just be honest and say "ADSL access from as little as R5.50/GB local bandwidth"?
Your small print could still say based on a 2GB/30GB account local bandwidth
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Telkomhater, thanks for the feedback (love the nick, btw!)
Glad to see the ad was eye-catching, will have to give marketing a pat on the back
The example that you mention is precisely the type of message we are trying to convey - that SAIX ISP's will hardcap you at 3gb, but our accounts offer local usage after your hardcap. Many users in the marketplace don't realise the difference.
I disagree with you here - a lot of users are more interested in local traffic. Business-critical internet applications such as banking, email, etc, are mostly local. Even torrenting works better to local sites. The advert states "FROM R5.50 per GB" i.e., a lower limit. On the other hand, some users may only use 1GB per month and will then be paying R199 per GB - we can't foretell exact usage. In fact, at the moment, you can still use limited international after your cap, and the accounts aren't capped at 30GB local. Therefore even if you do use international and exceed 30GB of local, you can probably get away with paying even less than R5.50 per GB. It depends on the user, which is why we gave an estimated lowest cost.
That would imply that the account didn't offer any international bandwidth at all, which is not the case. In fact, if you use 3gb international and 27gb local, you will still be paying R5.50 per GB, so it's not for local access only.
Telkomhater said:
Glad to see the ad was eye-catching, will have to give marketing a pat on the back
The example that you mention is precisely the type of message we are trying to convey - that SAIX ISP's will hardcap you at 3gb, but our accounts offer local usage after your hardcap. Many users in the marketplace don't realise the difference.
Telkomhater said:
I disagree with you here - a lot of users are more interested in local traffic. Business-critical internet applications such as banking, email, etc, are mostly local. Even torrenting works better to local sites. The advert states "FROM R5.50 per GB" i.e., a lower limit. On the other hand, some users may only use 1GB per month and will then be paying R199 per GB - we can't foretell exact usage. In fact, at the moment, you can still use limited international after your cap, and the accounts aren't capped at 30GB local. Therefore even if you do use international and exceed 30GB of local, you can probably get away with paying even less than R5.50 per GB. It depends on the user, which is why we gave an estimated lowest cost.
Telkomhater said:
That would imply that the account didn't offer any international bandwidth at all, which is not the case. In fact, if you use 3gb international and 27gb local, you will still be paying R5.50 per GB, so it's not for local access only.
Telkomhater
Senior Member
Ok Matt,
I hear what you saying. And because you actually took the time to debate this, the moment Axxess gives me any problems, I will come over to you.
You just earned a future customer.
I hear what you saying. And because you actually took the time to debate this, the moment Axxess gives me any problems, I will come over to you.
You just earned a future customer.