Many Mobile Phone Adverts Are Confusing and Misleading
A regional investigation into contract mobile phone advertising has revealed that most are confusing as they don’t allow consumers to work out the real cost of the phone, whilst some are downright misleading!
These were some of the findings in an extensive Central England region-wide survey of mobile phone advertising conducted by Warwickshire County Council Trading Standards and its CEnTSA (Central England Trading Standards Authorities) partners.
The sale of mobile phones is a significant area of complaint for Trading Standards Services across the UK. Between January and June 2007, 1167 mobile phone complaints were received across the CEnTSA region.
In response an extensive Central England survey of mobile phone advertising was carried out by CEnTSA (Central England Trading Standards Authorities).
22 officers from 13 different authorities took part with the aim of establishing whether consumers would be able to find out the true cost of both purchasing and using a mobile phone, without any assistance from sales staff.
The survey found that:
- Nearly 25% of the mobile phone ads examined were misleading.
- Nearly 2/3rds of the ads failed to state the minimum term contract period and/or the cost of the monthly line rental.
- Nearly 1/4 failed to state the applicable network and tariff.
- Information in retail outlets relating to specific advertisements was often unavailable or incomplete.
- Officers gave a rating of their overall experience of finding out the cost of purchasing and using an advertised mobile phone package, and in nearly 2/3rds of cases, officers rated this as being difficult. The main reasons being that in-store brochures were not user-friendly; information was hard to locate or was contained in very small print; or information was not found at all.
The results of the survey show that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to find information relating to the cost of purchasing and using a mobile phone, without assistance from sales staff in retail outlets. Sales techniques used by the mobile phone industry are confusing, with price schemes and terms and conditions information generally complex and not easy to understand.
The survey also revealed that in a couple of cases officers, posing as a consumer, were approached by sales staff who were pushy and forceful in their attempt to get the officer to sign up to a contract.
Warwickshire County Councillor Richard Hobbs, Portfolio Holder for Community Protection said:
“The advertising of mobile phone packages is generally uninformative and confusing, and does not enable consumers to know exactly what is being advertised.
“Anyone wishing to buy a mobile phone should be able to make accurate comparisons from the information supplied in advertising and marketing material. They should not have to visit every retail outlet and ask staff directly.
“It is clear from our investigation that current legislation and codes of practice do not adequately regulate the sale of mobile phone packages.”
The report sets out some recommendations that include:
Information contained in advertisements and associated information in retail outlets should be available and presented to consumers in a common format.
A paper summarising this project be sent to the Office of Communications and the Office of Fair Trading with a view to adding and amending the recently published code of practice for the sales and marketing of subscriptions to mobile networks.
Further and more in-depth research into the advertising and distance selling of mobile phone packages.
Advice for consumers
Prior to purchase, make sure you are fully aware of the full cost of purchasing a mobile phone package. Consumers should look at the cost of the handset, the cost of the monthly line rental, and the length of minimum contract period.
For example, a free handset on a 12 month contract at a cost of £30 per month, will cost a total of £360. Consider handsets which are not necessarily free as the total cost may work out cheaper. For example, a handset which costs £100 on a 12 month contract at a cost of £18 per month, will cost a total of £316.
If the mobile phone package is part of a cashback deal, look at the cost of the monthly line rental which is required to be paid up-front before any cashback can be obtained. Cashback deals are often tied to mobile phone packages with high priced line rental and there are usually strict terms and conditions attached to obtaining the cashback.
Make sure that these terms and conditions are available and understood before signing a contract. Many complaints have been received by Trading Standards Authorities across the region relating to cashback deals which have not been honoured, leaving consumers tied to a highly priced contract.
Most mobile phone packages come with a number of free minutes and/or texts per month. If the number of free minutes or texts is exceeded within a month period, call charges will be incurred. Call charges can vary greatly, so it is important to know what they are as this will add up in addition to the total cost of purchasing the mobile phone package.
Look at the service provider contract terms and conditions before purchasing, particularly those relating to the cancellation of agreement.
If you have a consumer complaint regarding a mobile phone, then for clear, practical, consumer advice phone Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06. |