A recent iPhone 3G advertisement, stating that “leave an iStore smiling. Get an iPhone 3G on a Vodacom contract….for only R105 per month”, proved to be too good to be true.<\/p>\n
Gavin Dale lodged a consumer complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) against the email advertisement that he received from The Core Computer Business promoting the iPhone.<\/p>\n
Dale submitted that the advertisement was misleading as the entire package cost over a R1 000 per month and not R105 as advertised. <\/p>\n
The Core Computer Business responded saying that the details of the offer were to be found in the body copy of the advertisement and not in the fine print. <\/p>\n
“The message and deal details are clearly communicated and the body copy font size was intentionally made large to avoid any customer confusion. The R105 per month refers to the cost of your iPhone and the body copy clearly states the breakdown of each talk time package,” The Core Computer Business said.<\/p>\n
According to the ASA the advertisement reflected the wording “leave an iStore smiling. get an iPhone 3G on a Vodacom contract….for only R105 per month*”. It then details four different deals, totalling between “R725 per month” and “R1089 per month”. Each deal consists of a cost for the iPhone ranging from R105 to R184, depending on which deal is selected, and a fee for “Talk & Download” ranging between R595 and R925.<\/p>\n
The ASA however felt that “at the very best, the advertisement is ambiguous, as the initial impression is that one will be able to get this phone for a cost of R105 per month.”<\/p>\n
The ASA ruled that the advertisement was misleading and should be withdrawn with immediate effect.<\/p>\n