Vodacom apologizes for false claim
According to Pieter Uys, Vodacom’s Chief Operations Officer this reduction in tariffs means that Vodacom customers could pay as little as 39c per meg – making their mobile internet more affordable and accessible to everyone.
“The proposed reduction in tariffs excludes 3G HSDPA tariffs and includes all standard in-bundle 3G contract and bolt-on tariffs,” Uys pointed out.
This new price reduction first hit the headlines on Sunday when Vodacom advertised the 20% reduction, along with the claim “Lowest mobile data tariffs in the world”.
Vodacom customers not involved in the broadband industry may have fallen for this marketing line hook-line-and-sinker but knowledgeable broadband users on MyADSL were quick to point out that Vodacom is far from the cheapest in the world.
After this blunder became public Vodacom did its own investigation, and ascertained that they were indeed far from the cheapest in the world. A subsequent apology from Vodacom was released.
“Vodacom would like to apologise for any incorrect information apparently reflected by its latest advertising campaign launched last week claiming that Vodacom’s mobile data tariffs might soon be the lowest in the world,” they said.
Vodacom will also pull their ads with immediate effect, and has promised to do their best to avoid similar incorrect statements in future.
But somehow this promise look inadequate when you consider that hundreds of thousands of South Africans are now working on the false assumption that Vodacom’s tariffs are the ‘cheapest in the world’.
“Vodacom reassures its customers and the public that it takes the greatest care in researching competitive market offerings and that whilst there might currently be interpretation problems regarding competitive international offerings, at the time of launching the campaign Vodacom was of the opinion that its offering is the lowest in the world,” the company continued.
What is of great concern is that a company of Vodacom’s stature can make a mistake of this magnitude. The company proudly claims that they take ‘the greatest care in researching competitive market offerings’, but it took MyADSL only a few minutes to find various international offerings cheaper than their proposed rates.
Vodacom could not say how it was possible that such a mistake could slip through.
With mobile and broadband pricing being a hot topic in both the media and regulatory circles any claim by a telecoms company to supply local consumers with the cheapest rates in the world must be backed up by solid research.
Vodacom was quick to criticize ICASA when they released inaccurate mobile call rates in their recent investigative documentation, stating that it is in the interest of the South African public to be issued with correct and factual information.
It is however regrettable that it does not apply the same strict governance of its own advertising that the cellular company requires from ICASA.
After the ICASA errors Vodacom’s CEO, Alan Knott-Craig, said “Vodacom has gone to great lengths to address these issues and to present the facts to the public at large, as this kind of confusion only damages the public image of the telecommunications industry as a whole and the regulator alike.”
Vodacom’s recent false claim about ‘being the cheapest in the world’ falls within the same sphere as ICASA’s incorrect information, and it will be interesting to see if Vodacom will practice what it preaches.
If Knott-Craig truly feels as strongly as he suggested about accurate information in the telecoms industry, he will make use of most media avenues to rectify Vodacom’s mistake.
In their recent press statement regarding the reduced data prices Vodacom had a perfect opportunity to apologize about the false advertisement claim and supply the correct information and ‘to present the facts to the public at large’, but nothing was said about this issue.
Vodacom has done great things in the mobile broadband arena of late with the introduction of HSDPA, lowering rates and keeping South Africans on the cutting edge of mobile broadband services. Their free 3G/HSDPA card-swap decision could cost the company as much as R 100 Million, which gives an indication of their dedication to consumers.
Let’s hope they show the same dedication to providing the public with accurate information through their advertising. The company was not hesitant in spending thousands of Rands on proclaiming that they are the cheapest in the world. It will be interesting to see if they are willing to go to similar “great lengths to present the facts to the public at large”, as Knott-Craig claims.
Or as one MyADSL forumite pointed out, they can always adapt their prices to fall in line with their claim.
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