Complaint filed with ASASA, for what its worth....... if anybody is interested, you can send complaints to
complaint@asasa.co.za
Don't think it will amount to much but who knows.
Nature of complaint:
The complaint is against Telkom SA in regards to their Broadband offering. Telkom SA advertises and offers their lower-end broadband services as having NO LIMIT in regards to data usage and state that the services are all 'uncapped' meaning that there are no upper limits on data usage. The image below was taken from Telkom SA's website, see link below the image.
Above taken from
http://www.do.co.za/broadband/offerings/telkom-internet-plans/
It can be noted however that they do have a clause pertaining to the No Limit which refers to their 'fair use' policy which can be found on the following link:
http://www.telkom.co.za/general/termsandconditions/downloads/TelkomInternetAUP.pdf
I as a consumer believe that this form of advertising should be stamped out. This is nothing more than 'baiting' in so far as certain claims are made only to be excluded again in the terms and conditions. The new Consumer Act specifically states that facts may not be hidden in the terms and conditions which in my opinion is being done here.
You cannot advertise a service as being 'UNCAPPED' and having 'NO LIMITS' only to state in the terms and conditions that actual limits do apply. The terms 'Uncapped' and 'No Limit' in this case is nothing more than an advertising ploy to state that TelkomSA offers an UNLIMITED broadband service in order to compete with the other ISP's out there while in actual fact this is not the case as they are in actual fact applying what they refer to as 'soft-capped' caps on the limits.
Other service providers offer a true unlimited service where there are no caps and or any terms and conditions. Telkom SA cannot compete with these providers and seems to now have resorted to what in my opinion is nothing more than false advertising in an effort to create the impression that they do offer a similar 'unlimited' or 'uncapped' service.
The services on offer by Telkom SA are not unlimited and or uncapped as stated but in actual fact a service which carries limits.
By hiding this fact in the terms and conditions and or in the small print is not in the spirit of the Consumer Protection act and or in the spirit of honest marketing and as stated, is nothing more than a ploy to lure consumers in to taking up their service offerings as they, the consumers, believe that the services are really uncapped and or unlimited.
It is asked of ASASA to investigate this form of 'bait' advertising and to make a ruling that companies, like Telkom SA in this case, may not hide the actual facts of their service in the small print but rather that they explicitly tell the consumer upfront and in clear language what it is that they are actually offering, which in this case is either a capped service and or a limited unlimited service.
As stated, this is nothing more than false advertising, no matter how you look at it. If not false advertising then at the very least a brilliant effort to pull the wool over the eyes of the consumer in so far as the actual nature of the service they are offering.
Please do not hesitate to contact the writer hereof should you require any additional information.
Regards
xxxxx